The Republic of the Floridas, also called Republic of Floridas, was a short-lived attempt, from June to December 1817, to establish an independent Florida (the plural "Floridas" refers to the separate provinces of

East Florida East Florida ( es, Florida Oriental) was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of Spanish Florida from 1783 to 1821. Great Britain gained control of the long-established Spanish colony of ''La Florida'' in 1763 as part of ...

and

West Florida West Florida ( es, Florida Occidental) was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the western part of former S ...

, then Spanish territory). It was led by

Gregor MacGregor General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central Am ...

, a Scottish military adventurer, and he was joined by French adventurer and soldier of fortune

Louis-Michel Aury Louis-Michel Aury (1788 – August 30, 1821) was a French privateer operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean during the early 19th century. Early life Louis Michel-Aury was born in Paris, France, around 1788. French Navy Louis Aury s ...

and by the Scot Richard Ambrister, whose execution by General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

shortly thereafter provoked an international incident. MacGregor conquered

Amelia Island Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlantic ...

, the only territory the country consisted of, and raised the Green Cross of Florida flag over the Spanish

Fort San Carlos Fort San Carlos was a military structure built in 1816 to defend the Spanish colonial town of Fernandina, Florida, now called Old Town, which occupied a peninsula on the northern end of Amelia Island. The fort, a lunette fortification, stood on ...

Background

Starting with the American Revolution, Florida was sought after by the United States. What had begun as a Spanish colony, Florida became a British holding from 1763 until 1783 when, with the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

, it was once again returned to Spain. During those twenty years, and after, the Florida territory became a haven for British loyalists, Native Americans, and run-away slaves. Many citizens and politicians in the United States feared this haven and wished to bring Florida under control in order to protect the southern border. Aside from increasing pressure from the United States, Spain’s empire was weakened, thanks to the Napoleonic war and, more particularly, the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, and increasingly losing control on its territories, including Florida. According to a letter written at the time, Spanish East Florida had only three military establishments; a garrison of about 200 men at St. Augustine, roughly 80 men at a place called the Cow Ford (now

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

) on the St. Johns River, and "50 or 60 invalids" at Amelia Island. Tensions between the two countries, and the individuals who lived on either side of the border, escalated and led to a number of conflicts. These conflicts included an insurrection in

in 1810 and an unsuccessful attempt at a coup by the self-described Patriots in 1812 in East Florida.

Gregor MacGregor

Gregor MacGregor was a Scotsman who had fought during the Peninsular War before heading to South America and fighting for the revolutionaries in the

Spanish American wars of independence The Spanish American wars of independence (25 September 1808 – 29 September 1833; es, Guerras de independencia hispanoamericanas) were numerous wars in Spanish America with the aim of political independence from Spanish rule during the early ...

. He was also a

confidence trickster A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

and likely viewed the annexation of Florida as a worthwhile investment. On top of land investments, MacGregor also wished to become a governor in Florida, to further increase his prestige and wealth. In early February 1817, MacGregor arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, and began to gather political and financial support to “wrest Florida from Spain” and embolden “the existing disposition of the people in that section to confederate with the United States” until a more “favorable time for their admission into the Union.” He intended to use a private force so that the United States could add Florida to its holdings while avoiding responsibility for an invasion. He also had commissions and claimed to be fighting on behalf of Venezuela and Mexico, further obfuscating his intentions and that of the United States. MacGregor eventually gathered a force of roughly 150 men, mostly from Charleston. Some were veterans from the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

but most were simply mercenaries. Before taking his small force down into the Florida territory, MacGregor sent an agent in disguise to sow fear amongst the citizens of

and the garrison at

. The agent spoke of an "army of 1,000 men" that would easily sweep aside the defending troops. The propaganda worked and many citizens fled their homes before MacGregor had even embarked on his campaign.

Invasion and conquest of Amelia Island

On June 29, 1817, MacGregor and his men sailed into the harbor at Fernandina at the northern end of Amelia Island. After disembarking, MacGregor and 55 musketeers surrounded Fort San Carlos and the garrison surrendered without a shot fired. Following the capture of the fort, MacGregor had the "Green Cross of Florida" flag run up and released the Spanish garrison, who brought the news of the fort's capture to Governor Coppinger. The governor, in turn, had the garrison's commander arrested for losing the fort without a fight. In July, a Spanish force advanced on Amelia island but was repulsed by the guns on MacGregor's vessels anchored in the harbor. However, as soon as MacGregor tried to deploy one of his ships out of Amelia Island, it was overtaken by a Spanish vessel and nearly all of the American crew were killed. Due to setbacks, the revolutionary forces suffered from deseretions and by August 1817 were reduced to less than one hundred men. At the same time, local citizens were becoming increasingly unwelcoming to MacGregor and his forces.

End of the Republic

On September 4, 1817, two of MacGregor's officers resigned. Only two days later, MacGregor himself set sail from Amelia island on his own vessel. He said that his reason for leaving was to gather more recruits and funds from the Bahamas and Baltimore, yet he would end up never returning to the island. He left behind roughly forty men including a man named

Jared Irwin Jared Irwin (1750 – March 1, 1818) served twice as elected Governor of Georgia (1796–1798) and (1806–1809). He first was elected to office as a reformer based on public outrage about the Yazoo land scandal. He signed a bill that nullifi ...

, a former congressman, who was left in charge of the military and Ruggles Hubbard, a former sheriff from New York, who was named the civil leader. The "Republic" at Amelia was soon attacked again by the Spanish but managed to beat them back. Shortly after the second failed attack by the Spanish, a French-born pirate named

arrived and assumed military command, making Hubbard his adjutant-general. Within a short time, conflict and arose between the French and the American groups. Aside from a growing mountain of issues on Amelia Island itself, the United States government was also becoming increasingly unhappy about the smuggling and privateering of the "Republicans of the Floridas." On December 23, 1817, a U.S. army and naval forces overtook Amelia Island without resistance.

American conquest

Believing that the occupation of Amelia Island by the men in question meant "that it would be used as a base from which to smuggle slaves and other merchandise into the U.S.", avoiding the customs duties which were the Federal government's main source of revenue, took possession of the island in December, and President Monroe delivered to Congress on January 13, 1818, a ''Message from the President of the United States, communicating information of the troops of the United States having taken possession of Amelia Island, in East Florida''. Its first sentence reads: "I have the satisfaction to inform Congress, that the establishment at Amelia Island has been suppressed, and without the effusion of blood." Monroe included "the papers which explain this transaction": the letters of Graham and Crowninshield just cited, letters of Aury, and other documentation from Federal records.

Legacy

On December 9, 1817, "first year of the independence of Floridas", there was printed in Fernandina the ''Report of the Committee Appointed to Frame the Plan of Provisional Government for the Republic of Floridas''. It was reprinted privately in 1942 under the title ''Republic of the Floridas: Constitution and Frame of Government Drafted by a Committee Appointed by the Assembly of Representatives''. The location of

is now the Fernandina Plaza historic state park, operated by the Florida State park system.

References

{{Former sovereign or unrecognized states within the United States Spanish Florida Former republics Former countries in North America Pre-statehood history of Florida Former unrecognized countries States and territories established in 1817 States and territories disestablished in 1817 Floridas Former regions and territories of the United States