British Colonial Office CO 5 West Florida Records Annotated List of Contents A DLAR Finding Aid British Colonial Office CO 5—West Florida Records Annotated List of Contents Introduction Contents: Themes Timeline Bibliography The history of the British colony of West Florida represents a tiny microcosm of unique experience within the much larger history of the developing British Empire in the late 18th Century. As such, it provides for historians an interesting example of one small colony’s attempt to emulate the accepted model for imperial development—and its ultimate failure. Although this British colony’s existence was legally terminated by European geopolitics, it had not achieved viability, either economically or politically, by the time it was terminated. The colony’s territory consisted of a fringe of coastal lowlands along the Gulf of Mexico, with alternating sandy and swampy areas, and a large, forested interior. The British sought to colonize the former, especially at Pensacola and Mobile, while the latter remained, for the British, undeveloped wilderness occupied by several tribes of Native Americans. The exception was the interior up the Mississippi River, especially settlements at Baton Rouge and Natchez, which were accessible by water, and which offered richer river-delta soil for agriculture. Geopolitically, this British colony existed for only 20 years, framed by two Treaties of Paris. The first, at the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, gave Spanish West and East Florida to victorious Britain. The second, at the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, gave West and East Florida back to victorious Spain. (See the timeline of British West Florida history below.) British West Florida’s foreign relations were focused on Spain, which retained control of Louisiana and its capital New Orleans (after brief French rule); on the Native American tribes in the interior; and, after 1775, on the American “rebels,” who came by boat down the Ohio to the Mississippi River to harass the British river settlements, teaming up with the Spanish in New Orleans. Since the Mississippi River was the western boundary of the West Florida colony, maintaining safe, reliable water transportation was both a high priority and constant problem for the British. A planned canal to bypass the Mississippi delta and New Orleans was not completed. Source: Bernard Bailyn, Voyagers to the West, Vintage, 1968, page 476, adapted from Cecil Johnson, British West Florida 1763-1783, Yale University Press, 1943. Source: The Internet (public domain) While British West Florida existed geopolitically for 20 years, British colonizing efforts, as measured by the existence of British civilian government, lasted less than 17 years, from October 1764 through May 1781. Evidently few Spanish subjects remained resident in West Florida when the British arrived. Pensacola and Mobile were small, primitive towns, and most of the colony’s territory was “Indian country” or “wilderness” or both. Essentially, the British started from scratch. Themes The archived and microfilmed British Colonial Office CO 5 papers for West Florida reveal many interesting aspects of the British attempt to create a viable colony along the Gulf Coast. Some of the recurring themes are as follows: Power conflicts for political advantage, especially between civilian and military officials but also among civilian officials; these conflicts were raised, by the first governor, to the level of constitutional issues, which debilitated the governing process in the colony for its duration. Greed-motivated machinations and intrigues for economic advantage, designed in particular to influence the size, location, and official approval of huge land grants; although land-grant plantations were initially expected to generate great wealth, in practice, few were agriculturally successful, and the colony never developed an agricultural product that could be profitably exported to the mother country. Corruption among public officials, resulting from power struggles generated by greed. Biased relations with Native American tribes designed to benefit British interests by pacifying the Indians and/or by rousing them to ally with the British against the Spanish and/or American rebels; heavy reliance on a strategy of making the Indians dependent on British trade goods, drawing them into a British network of traders, who themselves were motivated by power and greed considerations and frequently operated beyond the control of British officials. Inadequate resources from Britain to finance and support settlement, economic development, civil government infrastructure, and military security; although the British government in London appropriated substantial sums of British taxpayers’ money to develop and support the new colony, the amounts received were small compared to the huge task of developing this colony essentially from scratch. Incompetence on the part of some public officials, which, often combined with corruption, led to the waste of large amounts of the public funds received to develop and support the West Florida colony. Inadequate and delayed communications between Pensacola and London, which made planning and governing in either seat of power a matter of guesswork and inaccurate assumptions; this was the inevitable result of handwritten paper communications conveyed back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean by sailing ships; average delivery time for a letter or dispatch was perhaps about five months, with another five months required for its response to be delivered. Built-in tensions of being essentially an unimportant backwater place in the context of Britain’s larger global interests but also a necessary pawn (specifically in relation to Spain) in Britain’s global geopolitical game for power and wealth; meanwhile the colony was always under pressure to meet the standards expected of any colonial entity—to prosper and to contribute to the mother country’s prosperity, and to govern itself consistent with the British constitution and the King’s wishes. Timeline A listing of major events/dates in the history of British West Florida: February 10, 1763 Treaty of Paris gave East and West Florida, which had been Spanish colonial holdings since the 16th Century, to Britain by July 1763 George Johnstone appointed governor for the new British colony of West Florida September 1763 British military forces took control of Pensacola from the Spanish, established British military rule over West Florida October 21, 1764 Governor Johnstone arrived in Pensacola and instituted British civilian government over West Florida, focusing early settlement and development in the Pensacola and Mobile areas January 10, 1767 Governor Johnstone left Pensacola for England, having been relieved of his office January 1767-April 1769 Lieutenant Governor Montfort Browne led the civilian government, in the absence of a governor, until a new governor arrived March 1767 John Eliot appointed governor of West Florida but delayed traveling to Pensacola because of turmoil in the colony April 2, 1769 Governor Eliot arrived in Pensacola, assuming civilian governmental control May 2, 1769 Governor Eliot committed suicide in his office May 1769-February 1770 Lieutenant Governor Browne led the civilian government in the absence of a governor, until he was replaced January-August 1770 Elias Durnford appointed (ruling) lieutenant governor in place of Browne, until a new governor arrived Summer 1770 Peter Chester appointed governor of West Florida August 10, 1770 Governor Chester arrived in Pensacola, assuming civilian governmental control, putting priority on settling and developing West Florida’s fertile interior Mississippi River territory, especially settlements at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez April 19, 1775 The American colonial rebellion against Britain began with military action at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts; West Florida (and East Florida) remained staunchly loyalist and declined to join the rebellion March 1778 American rebels who had come down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from western Pennsylvania, captured Natchez, and floated on down the river to New Orleans, where they linked up with the Spanish, thus seriously disrupting British control of its interior settlements along the Mississippi River June 1779 Spain entered the American Revolutionary War on the side of the French, against Britain September 1779 Spanish military forces captured Manchac and the Baton Rouge and Natchez districts of British West Florida March 1780 Spanish military forces captured British Mobile May 8, 1781 Spanish military forces captured British Pensacola, after a siege begun on March 9, thus controlling all of West Florida September 3, 1783 Treaty of Paris gave British East and West Florida back to Spain September 23, 1810 In what became known as the West Florida Rebellion, American settlers in Spanish West Florida captured Fort San Carlos in Baton Rouge, leading to the overthrow of Spanish rule and establishment of the independent Republic of West Florida December 10, 1810 The Republic of West Florida was annexed, in a friendly transfer, to the United States of America, raising an international conflict with Spain February 19, 1821 Adams-Onis Treaty ratified, after being negotiated in 1819, to expand American territory to include all of Florida and more, as Spain’s New World power was waning Bibliography A suggestive list of useful secondary sources on aspects of the history of British West Florida: Bernard Bailyn, Voyagers to