Mis

siss

ipp

iR

iver

St. MarysRiver

ApalachicolaRiver

ATLANTICOCEAN

Gulf ofMexico

WEST FLORIDA

UNORGANIZED

EASTFLORIDA

GEORGIA

St. AugustinePensacola

0 100 200 Miles

0 100 200 Kilometers

N

British territory

Spanish territory

Capital city

Key

05883_142b_EPSBritish Florida

revised FINAL proof8/20/03

FL2-2 Unit 2 Florida in the American Revolution

FOCUS ON FLORIDA HISTORY: 1745-1783

Unit 2 Florida in the American Revolution FL2-3

Peace ConferenceFlorida’s Choctaws resisted British attempts to reach peace agreements that would encourage settle-ment. Do you think that the artist who created this engraving believes the two sides will be able to come to an agreement?

▲ British raiders along the Florida-Georgia border during the American Revolution

During the French and Indian War, Spain had made the mistake of supporting the losing side, France. In 1763, the Spanish paid for this support. The treaty that ended the war awarded Florida to Britain. British administrators looked forward to developing Florida’s land into profitable farms and plantations.

Florida Becomes Two ColoniesAs a result of the French and Indian War, the entire Atlan-

tic coast of North America, from Quebec to Florida, came un-der British control. As you have read, the Proclamation of 1763 barred, or prohibited, American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Proclamation also split Florida into two colonies, West Florida and East Florida. Pensacola and St. Augustine became the capitals of the two Floridas.

The Apalachicola River formed the boundary between the two colonies. The southern parts of the future states of Alabama and Mississippi were parts of West Florida. The Mississippi River was its western boundary.

The British needed farmers, traders, and artisans. How-ever, the first group of settlers to arrive was the military. In the 1760s, soldiers and sailors made up a large portion of the Brit-ish population. Their salaries were very important to the economies of the two colonies.

Relations with Native Americans In order to en-courage settlement of Florida from England and the British colonies, the British tried to reach peace agreements with the Native Americans. British agents held several meetings with Native American leaders in East Florida. The Semi-noles agreed to restrict their towns to the western side of the St. Johns River. In return, the British agreed to keep their

Florida in the American Revolution

Key Terms and People

bar naturalist James WillingBernardo de Galvez

Reading Skill

Identify Sequence Events in a sequence are often connected by a cause-and-effect link. One event causes an event that occurs next. This event, in turn, can cause another event to occur. As you read, look for sequential events, and then deter-mine if they have a cause and effect relationship.Remember, however that not all events in sequence have this link.

settlements on the eastern side, within 25 miles of the Atlantic coast. Similar meet-ings in West Florida did not go as well. There, many Native Americans, includ-ing the Choctaws, had fought against the British in the recent war. They resisted any agreement that would encourage settle-ment from the British colonies.

Grand Dreams and Small Results Still, many people in Britain were inter-ested in settling the Floridas. Glowing re-ports from travelers, especially those who studied nature, such as naturalist John Bartram, raised hopes and interest in Flor-ida. Bartram reported:

In no one part of the British dominions is there found so great a variety of trees, plants and shrubs as in East Florida.

–John Bartram, quoted in An Account of East-Florida, by William Stork (1766)

The British government granted thousands of acres of land in East Florida to investors. There, they hoped to build plantations to grow rice and indigo. Early plantations used indentured servants as laborers. These were often imprisoned criminals and unemployed Londoners. Conditions were difficult, and many workers deserted. In some cases they were replaced by enslaved Africans. Other attempts to settle East Florida had similar results. In 1768 Dr. Andrew Turnbull arrived with 900 workers for his plantation at New Smyrna Beach. This venture lasted nine years before workers deserted. By contrast, West Florida attracted colonists from other North American colonies. In the 1770s, many settlers from Georgia and South Carolina established themselves on West Florida’s fertile riverbanks. They used the rivers to ship their produce to the Gulf of Mexico and onto market.

The Florida Colonies and the American Revolution

When the American Revolution began, the Patriots hoped that the two Floridas would join in the rebellion. But the Floridas remained loyal to Britain. Soldiers made up an important part of the Florida population. They had few of the complaints felt by farmers and merchants in the 13 colonies. In fact, the Floridas became a place of refuge for fleeing Loyalists from the former colonies.

Each of the Florida colonies saw fighting during the war. Captain James Willing led an American force from Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh)

VIewING HISTORY: Peace Conference

Britain Divided Florida Into east and west

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

SS.8.A.2.6 Examine the cause, course, and consequences of the French and Indian War

SS.8.A.3.16 Examine key events in Florida history and impact on Revolution

FOCUS ON FLORIDA HISTORY: 1787-PReSeNT

Biography Quest

FL2-4 Unit 2 Florida in the American Revolution Unit 2 Florida’s System of Government FL2-5

down the Mississippi River to raid West Florida. In East Florida, groups of Americans fought against British and Loyalist forces on both sides of the Geor-gia-East Florida border.

The Spanish Retake west Florida

Spain entered the war against Britain in 1779. Spain brought to the fight two centuries of knowl-edge of Florida’s lands and harbors and a military force experienced in local fighting.

Galvez Attacks west Florida Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana realized that the defenses on the Mississippi River were West Florida’s weak spot. In a series of attacks, he captured the British posts of Manchac, Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola. With the loss of these settlements, West Florida ceased to be a British colony.

By contrast, British retained control of East Flor-ida until the end of the Revolutionary War. More than 13,000 Loyalists from South Carolina and Geor-gia poured in. More than half of the newcomers were Africans escaping slavery.

As part of the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, Britain returned Florida to Spain. British control had lasted less than 20 years.

Even before he assisted the Americans, Bernardo de Galvez had served Spain well. At 16, he served as a lieutenant in a war against Portugal. At 19, he was sent to New Spain where he fought against the Apaches and was twice wounded.

He then returned to Europe, and in 1775 he faced combat again, this time in North Africa. In 1777, he became Louisiana’s governor.

why would a distinguished Spanish official like Galvez support the struggle of the Americans against colonial rule?

▲ Seal of Florida’s House of Representatives

Florida’s System of Government

Florida’s state government is organized much like the federal government. Like the federal government it has three main divisions-executive, legislative, and judicial.

A governor, elected by the state’s voters to a four-year term, heads the executive branch. A lieutenant governor of the same political party is elected with the governor. The lieu-tenant governor is second in command in the executive branch, similar to the Vice President in the federal govern-ment. Top executive branch officials make up the governor’s cabinet. In Florida, three cabinet officers are elected: the at-torney general, the chief financial officer, and the commis-sioner of agriculture. The governor and the three elected cab-inet officials act together to make certain important decisions. The governor appoints the other department heads.

Responsibilities and Organization of Florida’s Government

The legislative branch passes the laws that the executive branch carries out. Like the U.S. Congress, the Florida state legislature has two houses. The House of Representatives consists of 120 members, who are elected to two-year terms. The representatives are elected from relatively small districts (a county or part of a county in some cases, more than one county in others). The districts are roughly equal in popula-tion. The Senate consists of 40 senators, who serve four-year terms. They are elected from larger districts, also equal in population. Half the senators are elected every two years.

Florida’s judicial branch consists of three layers of courts. At the bottom are county courts, with at least one in each of the state’s 67 counties. At the next level are 20 circuit courts,

Key Terms

lieutenant governor ombudsman

Reading Skill

Compare and Contrast You have read about how the U.S. government was created in this textbook. In addition to the federal govern-ment, each state has its own government. One way to remember and to keep track of different government processes is to compare and contrast. As you read this section, recall what you learned about the Federal government and compare it to Florida’s government.

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

SS.8.C.1.4 Identify forms of civic and political engagement

SS.8.C.1.5 Apply rights and principles of Constitution to citizens today

Bernardo de Gálvez 1746–1786

For: Self-test with instant helpVisit: PearsonSchool.com/amhist

Check Your Progress

SS.8.A.2.6,SS.8.A.3.16

Key Terms5. Identify Explain the significance of

(a) Bernardo de Galvez, (b) James Willing.

6. Define (a) bar, (b) naturalist.

writing8. Though he lived only 38 years,

Bernardo de Galvez had an exciting and eventful life. Use the Internet to research Galvez’s life and write a mini-biography.

Comprehension and Critical Thinking1. Recall How did Bernardo de

Galvez help eject the British from Florida?

2. exploring the Main Idea Create a cause-and-effect chart showing how Britain first gained and then lost its Florida colonies.

3. Analyzing Information Explain why Florida’s Seminoles might side with the British in the American Revolution.

4. Supporting a Point of View How might the history of the United States have been different if Spain had support-ed Britain instead of the United States in the American Revolution.

Reading Skill5. Relate Events in a Sequence.

What events led to the Ameri-can Revolution? How did these events impact Florida?

For: Self-test with instant helpVisit: PearsonSchool.com/amhist

FL2-6 Unit 2 Florida’s System of Government Unit 2 Florida’s System of Government FL2-7

which handle more complex civil cases as well as more serious crimes. Most of Florida’s jury trials occur in circuit courts. The State Supreme Court is the highest court in the state. It has seven justices, appointed by the governor from a list of qualified persons drawn up by a Judicial Nominating Commission. When a justice’s term expires, voters cast yes-or-no ballots to decide whether the justice should serve again.

How Florida’s Constitution Protects Individual Rights

Like the federal government, Florida has rules aimed at protecting people’s rights. The most basic rules are laid down in the Florida Con-stitution. That document establishes the principles of democratic and limited government. First adopted in 1838, it was rewritten after the Civil War to abolish slavery, and has been amended many times since.

Laws passed by the state leg-islature are another way of pro-tecting the people’s rights. For example, Florida has a “Govern-ment -in-the-Sunshine” law that is designed to shed light on how Florida’s many layers of govern-ment operate. The law requires most meetings of governmental bodies at the local and state level to be open to the public. The meetings must be announced in advance. Records of what was said in these meetings must be available to the public. In that way, people can learn what pub-lic boards and commissions are doing. Government officials are considered to be servants of the public, and this “sunshine” law gives citizens a way to watch over them.

Another type of Florida law deals with the financing of elec-tion campaigns. Florida laws re-quire candidates to file extensive

reports on who contributed to their campaigns and how much they contributed. There is a limit of $500 on how much anyone person or group can contribute to a single campaign. The Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections maintains an online database where campaign contribution information is made available to all citizens.

Getting Involved with Public IssuesWhen a class of middle school students in the south Florida city of

Hialeah wanted to eliminate drug dealers from local parks, they thought new state law might help. They contacted elected officials at the local and state level. It took a couple of years and a trip by four of the students to the State Capitol in Tallahassee, but they achieved their goal. In 2003, the state legislature passed a law expanding the drug-free zone around each public facility from 200 to 1,000 feet. The stu-dents (and their civics and law studies teacher, Jackie Viana) won a prize for their project.

Perhaps you too have ide as about how local or state laws could be changed or improved. In order to be effective, though, you must know what level of government deals with your area of interest. You must also know who represents you at that level. Within Florida there are more than 400 cities and about 1,000 special districts. The districts deal with such issues as public transportation.

A local library or community Web site can help you learn about the layers of government that serve your local area. A good place to learn about many issues is the state of Florida’s central Website,www.My-Florida.com. It links to many government agencies and offers ways to deal with such matters as renewing a driver’s license, getting a fishing license,or checking county records.

Some state agencies have appointed ombudsmen, or special offi-cials who help people with certain problems. In Florida, councils of ombudsmen across the state carry out inspections of nursing homes and serve as patients’ advocates. The state Department of Transporta-tion has its own ombudsman to help people who have transportation problems, such as disabled people.

Reading Skill

Make Comparisons How do Florida’s campaign finance laws compare with those of the federal government? Use your library to research federal state and laws.

Key Terms5. Define (a) lieutenant governor,

(b) ombudsmen.

writing8. With a partner, write a scene

between a Florida citizen and an ombudsman about a particular problem of importance to the people of Florida.

Comprehension and Critical Thinking1. List three ways the organization

of Florida’s government is similar to that of the federal govern-ment.

2. List two Florida law that protect the people of Florida and describe how the laws work.

3. Explain why it is important to be able to contact your government representatives.

4. exploring the Main Idea Rank in order the five most important responsibilities of state and local government.

5. Drawing Inferences What kinds of abuses can arise if government activities are not open to public scrutiny?

Reading Skill6. Compare and contrast the

structure of Florida’s state government to the United States federal government.

Check Your Progress

SS.8.C.1.4, SS.8.C.1.5

VIewING HISTORY: NASA Kennedy Space Center

NASA Kennedy Space CenterPresident Kennedy’s goal of landing on the moon led to the expansion of an air force base on Merritt Island, Florida. This base eventually became the Kennedy Space Center. In the image above there is a satellite and a space shuttle. What relationship, do you think, a federal agency like NASA has to a state government?