Republic of West Florida

Short-lived independent state
(area disputed between Spain and the United States from 1803–1821)

1810

Flag

Capital

St. Francisville

Government

Republic

Governor

•

1810

Fulwar Skipwith

Legislature

Senate and House of Representatives

Historical era

U.S. westward expansion

•

rebel capture of Fort San Carlos at Baton Rouge

September 23, 1810

•

declaration of independence from Spain

September 26, 1810

•

Madison proclaims "possession should be taken"; sends Claiborne to do so

October 27, 1810

•

St. Francisville acquiesces to U.S. Army

December 6, 1810

•

surrender of Baton Rouge to U.S. Army

December 10, 1810

Preceded by

Succeeded by

New Spain

Territory of Orleans
New Spain

Today part of

United States
On July 17, 1821, Spain's governor of its West Florida province formally delivered it to U.S. General Andrew Jackson under the Adams–Onís Treaty.

Flag

The Republic of West Florida was a short-lived republic in the western region of Spanish West Florida for several months during 1810. It was annexed and occupied by the United States later in 1810 and is today an eastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana.

The boundaries of the Republic of West Florida included all territory south of parallel 31°N, east of the Mississippi River, and north of the waterway formed by the Iberville River, Amite River, Lake Maurepas, Pass Manchac, Lake Pontchartrain, and the Rigolets. The Pearl River, with its branch that flowed into the Rigolets, formed the eastern boundary of the republic. A military expedition from the republic attempted but failed to capture the Spanish outpost at Mobile, which was situated between the Pearl and the Perdido River, farther to the east. Despite its name, none of the Republic of West Florida was within the borders of the present-day state of Florida, but rather entirely within the present borders of Louisiana.

Louisiana parishes once part of the Republic of West Florida are:

Before 1762, France had owned and administered the land west of the Perdido River as part of La Louisiane. In 1762, France signed a secret treaty with Spain that had effectively ceded all French lands west of the Mississippi River, plus the Isle of New Orleans, to Spain. At the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, France ceded its remaining lands east of the Mississippi River (which included the land between the Perdido and Mississippi Rivers) to Great Britain, while Spain ceded its Florida territory to Britain.

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Wikipedia