The Florida War

Joshism

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From 1810 to 1819 the United States waged an undeclared war with Spain and the Seminoles the resuled in the successful acquisition of that entire territory.

In 1810, American immigrants in the western end of the territory rebelled and formed the Republic of West Florida. Less than three months later, the US annexed that republic into eastern Louisiana.

In 1812, the US unilaterally annexed the Florida territory between the Pearl and Perdido Rivers. This land became the tails of Alabama and Mississippi.

Also in 1812, American immigrants in Florida rebelled (notice a trend? Mexico better watch out with all those Americans moving into Texas!), starting The Patriot War. They were supported by Georgians and initially the US military, although the US had to withdrawal support when the War of 1812 broke out against Britain. The Patriots took Fernandina easily but a siege of St. Augustine failed due to inadequate naval support.

The Seminoles got involved, fighting against Patriot forces. The Black Seminoles were particularly keen to fight, aware Patriot conquest meant US annexation meant their likely return to slavery.

The Patriot War ended mid-1813 with the Patriots either withdrawing to Georgia or taking amnesty offered by the Spanish.

Given that conflict it's not surprising the Spanish didn't mind the British using Pensacola as a base against the US. Andrew Jackson invaded Florida in 1814, capturing Pensacola and driving off the British.

The British also established a fort on the Apalachicola River at Prospect Bluff to harbor escaped slaves and arm Indians. The British left in 1815, turning the fort over to free blacks. The US invaded Florida for the third tine in 1816 to destroy this fort. A hot shot detonated the magazine, killing or fatally wounding most of the 300+ blacks in the fort.

In 1817, the US attacked and destroyed a Seminole village in Georgia near the Florida border. The Seminoles responded by attacking a supply boat, killing most of the passengers (civilians and military).

In response, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida (the fourth invasion in six years) to destroy all the Seminole villages he could find west of the Suwannee River. He also captured and hanged two British citizens he believed were supplying the Seminoles. Jackson also seized the Spanish fort at San Marcos (St. Marks) then captured Pensacola and nearby Fort Barrancas.

The US backpedaled on the full extent of Jackson's actions, but the following year worked out the Adams-Onis Treaty to cede Florida to the US.
 

Joshism

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The acquisition of Florida most served Southern interests.

The vast majority of Florida settlers between 1800 and 1860 were Southerners, especially if you exclude Key West (which saw extensive foreign immigration, particularly from the Bahamas).

The Apalachicola River is formed by the meeting of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. It provided an important route to export from Georgia.

Middle Florida (i.e. the greater Tallahassee area) proved a bountiful cotton growing region. The Seminoles were occupying this area in 1810 so needed to be removed.

The Seminoles were also a haven for escaped slaves. Blacks living with the Seminoles, some free and some held by the Seminoles as slaves (albeit not in a chattel system like Southern plantations) were a major point of contention through the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842.
 

Joshism

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One wonders how things might have turned out if the US had been honest and declared war on Spain in 1812. St. Augustine would likely have fallen if the US Navy provided a proper blockade, probably before the Spanish or British could have intervened.

Spain was in such a condition from the Peninsular War they probably could not have done much to resist the US even in a declared war. The British might have made an effort to recapture though.
 

Kirk's Raider's

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The acquisition of Florida most served Southern interests.

The vast majority of Florida settlers between 1800 and 1860 were Southerners, especially if you exclude Key West (which saw extensive foreign immigration, particularly from the Bahamas).

The Apalachicola River is formed by the meeting of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. It provided an important route to export from Georgia.

Middle Florida (i.e. the greater Tallahassee area) proved a bountiful cotton growing region. The Seminoles were occupying this area in 1810 so needed to be removed.

The Seminoles were also a haven for escaped slaves. Blacks living with the Seminoles, some free and some held by the Seminoles as slaves (albeit not in a chattel system like Southern plantations) were a major point of contention through the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842.
I have a thread on CWT " the Confederacy was not nicer to the Indians then the Union". This would a good addition to that thread if you're still in CWT.
Kirk's Raiders
 

5fish

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Here the change over...

Spain’s hold on Florida was tenuous in the years after American independence, and numerous boundary disputes developed with the United States. In 1819, after years of negotiations, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams achieved a diplomatic coup with the signing of the Florida Purchase Treaty, which officially put Florida into U.S. hands at no cost beyond the U.S. assumption of some $5 million of claims by U.S. citizens against Spain. Formal U.S. occupation began in 1821, and General Andrew Jackson, the hero of the War of 1812, was appointed military governor. Florida was organized as a U.S. territory in 1822 and was admitted into the Union as a slave state in 1845.
 

jgoodguy

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I have a thread on CWT " the Confederacy was not nicer to the Indians then the Union". This would a good addition to that thread if you're still in CWT.
Kirk's Raiders
Copied in part from here.

Let me know of any interesting posts over there and I can repost them here.
 

5fish

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General Jackson attacks the Spainish...


The Battle of Pensacola was a battle in the War of 1812, in which American forces fought against forces from the kingdoms of Britain and Spain who were aided by the Creek Indians and African-American slaves allied with the British.[4] General Andrew Jackson led his infantry against British and Spanish forces controlling the city of Pensacola in Spanish Florida. Allied forces abandoned the city, and the remaining Spanish forces surrendered to Jackson.
 

Kirk's Raider's

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