Colorado: east of the Rocky Mountains and north of the

Wyoming: all but the zone in the middle, south and south

PURCHASE OF THE FLORIDAS.

As we have already seen, when Mr. Jefferson opened the negotiation through his Ministers with Bonaparte for the purchase of Louisiana, it was not the Province of Louisiana, but rather New Orleans and the Floridas, that he intended to purchase. The fact that Spain did not cede the Floridas was only later known to the United States. Therefore, the offer by Bonaparte of the entire Province of Louisiana was beyond the expectation of Mr. Jefferson.

The correspondence of Mr. Jefferson clearly shows that his original idea was to secure New Orleans and the Floridas, and thus to have for the United States a well-rounded national domain east of the Mississippi. Therefore, Mr. Jefferson must have begun the negotiation with the idea that the territory of West Florida extended as far east as the Mississippi, with 31° north latitude for its northern boundary, as settled in the treaty with Spain of 1795. If it were understood, on the contrary, that West Florida extended only to the Perdido River, then Mr. Jefferson should have given instructions to his Ministers to negotiate the purchase of both Floridas, of New Orleans, and that part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi and lying between the rivers Perdido and Mississippi. But, instead of this, as the instructions

were for the purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas, Mr. Jefferson must have taken it for granted that West Florida extended to the Mississippi, as Spain afterward claimed.

GROUNDS OF AMERICAN AND SPANISH DISPUTES.

From the above facts, there seem to be good reasons for the claim of Spain to the tract of territory west of the Perdido River. In the first place, France ceded to Great Britain, in 1763, the territory east of the Mississippi, as well as Canada, and confirmed to Spain the cession of the previous year—namely, the Province of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, with New Orleans and its island. By the same treaty Spain ceded to Great Britain the Province of Florida. Out of these cessions by France and Spain, Great Britain organized, among others, the two provinces of East and West Florida in the southern portion of her newly-acquired territory.

By the treaty of 1783 the southern boundary of the United States was recognized by England as 31° north latitude. But Spain, taking advantage of the American Revolution, wrested from England the provinces of the Floridas. She claimed the British Province of West Florida, whose northern boundary-line ran from the confluence of the Yazoo with the Mississippi on the west to the Appalachicola River on the east, as fixed by the Royal Order to Governor Elliot of May 15, 1767.' But, as we have already seen, Spain waived this claim by the treaty of 1795, and recognized the southern boundary of the United States as set forth in the definitive treaty of 1783. This treaty of 1795 settled the boundary dispute of the two nations, and Spain was once more the ruler of the Floridas and the vast empire of Louisiana.

But the secret cession to France by Spain of Louisiana in

'Laws of the United States (Duane edition), I, 451.

1800, and its purchase from France by the United States in 1803, again brought forth a fresh dispute between the United States and Spain as to the boundary-line between Louisiana and West Florida. Spain claimed the boundary-line as ceded by Great Britain in 1783, to which country France ceded her possessions east of the Mississippi in 1763. The United States claimed the ancient boundary of Louisiana as France had possessed it previous to 1763. Spain argued that France did not cede to her the territory east of the Mississippi in 1763, and that she did not cede back to France in 1800 what France did not cede to her in 1763. All the disputes arose from obscurity in the treaty of 1803 between the United States and France regarding the boundaries of Louisiana. Not only as to the eastern, but also as to the western boundary-line, the United States had a dispute with Spain, to which we shall later refer.

SITUATION OF SPANISH COLONIES AFTER THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

By the purchase of Louisiana by the United States, the Spanish colony in Mexico was separated from that in Florida by a growing nation whose interests in the development and settlement of the western country were stronger and more rational than those of an ambitious and capricious nation like the French. Spain was destined to lose both of the colonies. Mr. Jefferson saw that the United States would ultimately succeed in the acquisition of the Floridas, and was fully convinced of the vast importance of the Mississippi navigation. In a private letter to Breckenridge under the date of August 12, 1803, he wrote as follows: "Objections are raising to the eastward against the vast extent of our boundaries, and propositions are made to exchange Louisiana or a part of it for the Floridas. But, as I have said, we shall get the Floridas without, and I would not give one inch of the waters of the Mississippi to any nation, because I

see in a light very important to our peace the exclusive right to its navigation and the admission of no nation into it.".... With regard to the boundaries of Louisiana, Mr. Jefferson wrote in the same letter the following: "We have some claims to extend on the seacoast westwardly to the Rio Norte or Bravo, and, better, to go eastwardly to the Rio Perdido, between Mobile and Pensacola, the ancient boundary of Louisiana."

All

The Perdido claim, however, was not pushed by the United States, but efforts were made to purchase the Floridas from Spain by Armstrong and Bowdoin, Monroe and Pinckney, under instructions from President Jefferson. negotiations failed. In 1810 a revolutionary party in West Florida declared independence of Spanish rule and formed a State. The independents elected one Rhea for President, and asked of the United States admission to the Union. They further asked for a loan of money, and that the United States would recognize vacant lands in West Florida as the common property of the new commonwealth. President Madison did not grant the requests of the revolutionary party, but issued a proclamation to take possession of the territory east of the Mississippi under the treaty of 1803. Governor Claiborne, of Orleans Territory, was sent there to take possession.

The revolutionists from Fort Stoddart attacked Mobile, which was then held by the Spanish authority, but were repulsed. Another attack was, however, threatened, and, alarmed at the condition of affairs, Tolch, the Spanish Governor, wrote a letter to the American authorities, and intimated that he would transfer the territory to the United States unless he were soon reinforced from Havana or Vera Cruz.

On April 14, 1812, the territory lying between the Pearl and Mississippi Rivers was annexed to Louisiana, and the

'Jefferson's Works, IV, 499.

Hildreth. History of United States, VI, 223.

remaining portion, as far east as the Perdido River, was incorporated, May 14, 1812, with the Mississippi Territory.

In the meantime a fresh trouble arose in East Florida. By a secret act of Congress, General Mathews, of Georgia, was commissioned to East Florida to receive the province, if the Spanish authority would transfer it by an amicable settlement, or to take possession of the province by force if any foreign power should attempt to seize it. Mathews co-operated with the insurgents and defied the Spanish authorities. Congress disapproved his act, and replaced him by appointing Governor Mitchell, of Georgia. Mitchell pursued the same policy as General Mathews, and did not withdraw the American troops from Florida. The Legislature of Georgia passed an act November 20, 1812, that a State force should be raised to reduce St. Augustine and punish the Indians. They resolved that the occupation of East Florida was essential to the safety of the State, whether Congress should approve their act or not.

Thus Georgia apparently came in conflict with the National Government, but its legislative measure must have coincided with the policy of the administration, which was compelled by the existing state of affairs to resort to military operations, both against the hostile Indians and the British forces now in Spanish territory. On July 14, 1814, General Jackson was ordered to take possession of Pensacola, but before the order reached him a British naval force reached Pensacola and lent aid to the hostile Creeks. Jackson succeeded in driving out the British, and delivered over the town to the Spanish authorities.

In 1816 Don Orris, the Spanish Ambassador, who was recognized as such the previous year, protested against the occupation of West Florida by the United States, and insisted upon non-intercourse between the United States and Mexico,

1 Hildreth. History of the United States, VI, 311.

2 Ibid. 375.