04/08/2023
Florida, 1763-1822 ๐ฌ๐ง๐ช๐ธ๐บ๐ธ
The first formal demarcation of the Floridian colony was in the Treaty of Paris of 1763 which ended the Seven Years War.
Florida, part of New Spain did not have a discrete border especially up north. The closest thing to be a border can be attributed to the location of the furthest Spanish catholic missions inland.
In 1763, the British took control of Florida and divided it into administrations of West and East Florida. However, they relinquished their control 20 years later in the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and the Spanish regained its control.
The West Floridian border controversy primarily surrounded the dispute of the northern border between Spain and the newly established United States. The territory between 31st and 32nd parallel was added to Florida by the British, hence in 1795, the Spanish relinquished its claim and the Mississippi territory was established 3 years later. A decade later in 1812 it will experience another expansion from the lands of West Florida. It now forms the states of Mississippi and Alabama.
The far western portion of West Florida in the vicinity of New Orleans was assigned to the British in 1763, then back to the Spanish in 1783. Following the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800, ownership of Louisiana was reverted back to France, albeit its eventual acquisition to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The people of West Florida declared independence in 1810 as the Republic of West Florida. However, it was short lived and the US annexed the land into the Territory of Orleans, later known as the State of Louisiana. In contemporary etymology, the portion of Louisiana state east of the Mississippi River is known as the Florida parishes.
Following the AdamsโOnรญs Treaty of 1821, the remaining territories that constitute the Spanish colony of Florida was changed hands to the United States, and the Florida territory was established a year later.
