Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed on October 27, 1795, by the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
It defined the border between the United States and
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...
, and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. With this agreement, the first phase of the ongoing border dispute between the two nations in this region, commonly called the
West Florida Controversy, came to a close.
Thomas Pinckney negotiated the treaty for the United States and Don
Manuel de Godoy represented Spain. It was presented to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
on February 26, 1796, and, after debate, was ratified on March 7, 1796. It was ratified by Spain on April 25, 1796, and ratifications were exchanged on that date. The treaty was proclaimed on August 2, 1796.
Background
In 1763,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
established two colonies,
East Florida and
West Florida, out of territory along the northern
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
coast ceded from France and Spain after the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
, which formed part of the larger
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
. The British received all of
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...
from Spain and received the portion of
French Louisiana
The term French Louisiana ( ; ) refers to two distinct regions:
* First, to Louisiana (New France), historic French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by Early Modern France, France during the 17th and 18th ...
east of the Mississippi River,
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, from France as well as all of French Louisiana west of the Mississippi that had been secretly given to Spain the previous year. Both East Florida and West Florida were never extensively settled by the British and were
ceded to Spain (which ruled both provinces as separate and apart from
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
) in the
1783 Treaty of Paris at the end of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. When the transaction was made however, the boundaries of West Florida, which had changed while under British sovereignty, were not specified.
In 1763, West Florida's northern border was initially set at the
31st parallel north, but it was moved in 1764 to 32° 28′, the junction of the Mississippi River and the
Yazoo River and now the location of
Vicksburg, Mississippi, to give the West Floridians more territory, including the
Natchez District and the
Tombigbee District. After reacquiring the colony, Spain insisted that its West Florida claim extended fully to 32° 28′, but the U.S. asserted that the land between 31° and 32° 28′ had always been British territory and so rightfully belonged to the United States.
In 1784, the Spanish closed New Orleans to American goods coming down the Mississippi River. In 1795, the border was settled, and the United States and Spain concluded a trade agreement.
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
was reopened, and Americans could transfer goods without paying cargo fees, the right of deposit, when they transferred goods from one ship to another.
Terms
Article II
The southern boundary of the United States with the Spanish colonies of
East Florida and
West Florida was established as a line beginning on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
at the
31st parallel north, the 1763 line, drawn due east to the middle of the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...
, then downstream along the middle of the river to the junction with the
Flint River, then due east to the headwaters of the
St. Marys River, and then along the middle of the channel to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
.
Article III
A joint Spanish–American team was stipulated for
surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...
the
boundary line.
[
]
Article IV
The western boundary of the United States with the Spanish colony of Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
was established as the middle of the Mississippi River from the northern boundary of the United States (how far north the Mississippi extended was still unknown) to the 31st degree north latitude, and both Spanish subjects and U.S. citizens would have free navigation along the full length of the Mississippi from its source to the ocean.[
]
Article V
The United States and Spain agreed not to incite native tribes to warfare and to promote mutually-beneficial trade relationships by tribes on both sides of the border.[ Previously, Spain had supplied ]weapons
A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
to local tribes for many years. The agreement put the lands of the Chickasaw
The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
and Choctaw
The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
Nations of American Indians in the new boundaries of the United States.
Articles VI and VII
Spain and the United States also agreed to protect and defend the vessels of the other party anywhere in their jurisdictions and not to detain or embargo each other's citizens or vessels.[
]
Ramifications
A joint Spanish–American team surveyed the boundary line. Andrew Ellicott served as the head of the U.S. contingent. The region that Spain relinquished its claim by Pinckney's Treaty was organized by Congress as Mississippi Territory
The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that was created under an organic act passed by the United States Congress, Congress of the United States. It was approved and signed into law by Presiden ...
on April 7, 1798. Natchez was the territory's first and only capital.
Grant (1997) argues that the treaty was critical for the emergence of American expansionism, later known as "Manifest destiny
Manifest destiny was the belief in the 19th century in the United States, 19th-century United States that American pioneer, American settlers were destined to expand westward across North America, and that this belief was both obvious ("''m ...
," because control of the Natchez and Tombigbee districts was needed for dominance of the Southwest by the United States. The collapse of Spanish power in the region was inevitable, as Americans poured into the district, and very few Spaniards lived there. Spain gave up the area because of international politics, not local unrest. Spanish rule was accepted by the French and British settlers near Natchez. Relations with the Indians were tranquil. However, with the loss of Natchez, Spain's frontier was no longer secure, and the rest of its territory was gradually lost.
Under the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso
The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between Spain and the French Republic by which Spain agreed in principle to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany. The terms we ...
of October 1, 1800, Spanish Louisiana, comprising both the vast territory west of the Mississippi and New Orleans, was formally retroceded to France, but Spain continued to administer it. Again, as in 1783, the boundaries of the territory being exchanged were not specified. As a result, when France and the United States concluded the Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
in 1803, a new dispute, the second phase of the West Florida Controversy, arose.
This time, the disagreement was over whether the portion of West Florida that was first under British and then Spanish control since 1763 (between the Mississippi and Perdido Rivers) was included in the 1801 treaty and thus the Louisiana Purchase. The United States laid claim to the region by asserting it to be included. Spain held that such a claim was baseless. While the politicians squabbled, American and British settlers in the region declared an independent Republic of West Florida in 1810. Its capital was located at St. Francisville. It was quickly annexed by the United States and incorporated into the Territory of Orleans
The Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from October 1, 1804, until April 30, 1812, when it was Admission to ...
, which joined the Union as the state of Louisiana in 1812. The present-day Louisiana civil parishes
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...
(equivalent to counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
elsewhere in the United States) which had been part of the former republic are referred to as the " Florida Parishes."
Also in 1812, the U.S. annexed the Mobile District of West Florida between the Perdido and Pearl Rivers and declared that it had been included in the Louisiana Purchase. Spain disputed that and maintained its claim over the area. The following year, a federal statute was secretly enacted authorizing the president to take full possession of the area with the use of military force as deemed necessary."An Act authorizing the President of the United States to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi territory and west of the river Perdido"
/ref> Accordingly, General James Wilkinson occupied this district with a military contingent. The Spanish colonial commandant offered no resistance. The annexed land was incorporated into the Mississippi Territory and partitioned five years later when the Alabama Territory
The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when i ...
was established.
In 1819 the United States and Spain negotiated the Adams–Onís Treaty in which Spain ceded all of both West Florida and East Florida into the United States. Since the mid-19th century, the southern (east–west) boundary established by Pinckney's Treaty has formed the state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
line between:
* Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
* Florida and Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
between the Chattahoochee and Perdido Rivers
* Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
and Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
between the Pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...
and Mississippi Rivers
The line is not a state line between the Pearl and Perdido Rivers to provide Mississippi and Alabama with access to the Gulf of Mexico.
See also
Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808)
References
Sources
*
External links
Full text of the "Treaty of San Lorenzo" or "Pinckney's Treaty", signed on October 27, 1795
Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Between Spain and The United States; October 27, 1795
Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut
{{George Washington
1795 in American law
1795 treaties
1796 treaties
18th century in Spain
Boundary treaties
Choctaw
History of United States expansionism
Presidency of George Washington
Spain–United States relations
Treaties of the Spanish Empire
Treaties of the United States
West Florida
Eponymous treaties