The Forgotten Story of the Independent Republic of West Florida
A short lived state in the American South
Spanish Florida, the predecessor to the American state of Florida, was once far larger than its modern equivalent. The Florida Panhandle once stretched all the way to the Mississippi River and encompassed nearly all of the Gulf Coast Between Jacksonville and New Orleans. The remnant of this former territory can be seen in the fact that Georgia and a large portion of Alabama are denied access to the Gulf of Mexico via the current Florida Panhandle.
Florida was long a source of contention and confusion during the time of the American Revolution. France and Spain readily traded lands back and forth between themselves during the Napoleonic Wars to thwart and frustrate British and American interests in the region. After a number of treaties, it was unclear whether the western-most parts of Spanish Florida were owned by Spain or France.
In 1803, seeking an influx of cash to fuel its war machine, France sold its massive Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million. This sale immediately thrust western Florida into a territorial dispute. The United States claimed that West Florida, as it was to be called, had been a part of the Louisiana Purchase. Spain contended that West Florida was Spanish territory and…
