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The area known as West Florida was originally claimed by Spain as part of La Florida, which included most of what is now the southeastern United States.Spain made several attempts to conquer and colonize the area, notably including Tristán de Luna's short-lived settlement in 1559, but it was not settled permanently until the 17th century, with the establishment of missions to the Apalachee.
Spanish West Florida (Spanish: Florida Occidental) was a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 until 1821, when both it and East Florida were ceded to the United States. The region of West Florida initially had the same borders as the erstwhile British colony .
The borders of East and West Florida varied. In 1783, when Spain acquired West Florida and re-acquired East Florida from Great Britain through the Peace of Paris (1783), the eastern British boundary of West Florida was the Apalachicola River, but Spain in 1785 moved it eastward to the Suwannee River.
British West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783, when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Peace of Paris. British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Effective British control ended in 1781 when Spain captured Pensacola.
In 1783 Great Britain returned East Florida and transferred West Florida to Spain, who ruled both provinces as separate and apart from Louisiana. In 1800, under duress from Napoleon of France, Spain agreed to restore Louisiana and the island of New Orleans to France, who in conversation had promised to return them to Spain should France ever ...
The U.S. claimed that West Florida was part of the Louisiana Purchase, a claim disputed by Spain, as it had controlled West Florida as a province separate from Spanish Louisiana since 1783. There was an influx of Americans into West Florida in the early years of the 19th century.
In early 1780, Gálvez embarked on an expedition to capture Mobile, which was one of only two major British military establishments left in West Florida; the other was the capital, Pensacola. Assembling 750 men in New Orleans , he sailed for Mobile on January 11, reaching Mobile Bay on February 9 after being delayed by storms.
John Forbes and Company operated in West Florida under the protection of the Spanish Crown. When the United States annexed Mobile and part of West Florida in 1814, Forbes and his partners, James and John Innerarity, claimed Spanish citizenship by residence, and obtained decrees from the Spanish governor verifying their status. [ 17 ]