British West Florida
| West Florida | |||||
| Colony of Great Britain | |||||
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| Capital | Pensacola (1763) | ||||
| Governor | |||||
| • | 1763 | George Johnstone | |||
| History | |||||
| • | Treaty of Paris (1763) | 10 February 1763 | |||
| • | Peace of Paris (1783) | 1783 | |||
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West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783 when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Peace of Paris.
British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Effective British control ended in 1781 when Spain captured Pensacola. The territory subsequently became a colony of Spain, parts of which were gradually annexed piecemeal by the United States beginning in 1810.
In 1762 during the Seven Years' War a British expedition attacked and occupied Havana, the capital of Cuba. To secure the return of this valuable city, Spain agreed to cede its territory of La Florida to Great Britain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris. France also ceded a large segment of New France to Great Britain, including everything on the east bank of the Mississippi River, except for the city of New Orleans. The British divided these new territories into two separate colonies East Florida, with its capital in St Augustine and West Florida, with the former Spanish settlement of Pensacola as its capital. By a separate treaty Spain was given the western side of the Mississippi, which formed Spanish Louisiana with its capital at New Orleans at the mouth of the river. Many of the existing Spanish inhabitants of Florida were evacuated to Cuba, and new British and American settlers arrived to take over the land.
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