Republic of West Florida

Origins

The strip of Gulf Coast between the Mississippi and Perdido rivers remained Spanish after the Louisiana Purchase, though the United States claimed it. Many settlers in the Baton Rouge district were Americans. On 23 September 1810 rebels stormed the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge, and three days later a convention declared independence.

Rule and society

The republic adopted a constitution modelled on American practice, elected Fulwar Skipwith as governor and set its capital at St. Francisville. It flew a blue flag with a single white star, later known as the Bonnie Blue Flag. Its leaders hoped for admission to the United States on favourable terms, and it raised a small militia that tried to march on Mobile.

Decline and legacy

President James Madison proclaimed the territory part of the United States in October 1810, and American troops took over in December. Most of it became the Florida Parishes of Louisiana; the area east of the Pearl River later went to Mississippi and Alabama.