Republic of West Florida

The Republic of West Florida, officially the State of Florida, was a short-lived unrecognized republic in the western part of Spanish West Florida in 1810. The region had passed from France to Spain and then, after the American Revolution, back to Spain, while the United States claimed parts of it under the Louisiana Purchase. In September 1810, Anglo-American settlers in the district of Baton Rouge rose against Spanish rule, seized the fort, and proclaimed independence on 23 September. The republic adopted a constitution modelled on that of the United States and elected Fulwar Skipwith as its president, with its capital at St. Francisville. It survived for just over two and a half months. In December 1810, United States forces occupied the territory and annexed it, and the region was attached to Louisiana in 1812. Its former lands are now known as the Florida Parishes of Louisiana, and the republic is remembered as one of the earliest independence movements in the Gulf South.