Talk:West Florida

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is part of WikiProject Florida, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to the State of Florida on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.

	This articleis within the scope of WikiProject Former Countries, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of now-defunct states. If you would like to participate, visit the project page to join.
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the quality scale. (FAQ).
Additional information: This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar: not checked Supporting materials: not checked To fill out this checklist, please add the following to the template call: <!-- 1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points are appropriately cited. --> |B-Class-1=yes/no <!-- 2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain major omissions or inaccuracies. --> |B-Class-2=yes/no <!-- 3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content. --> |B-Class-3=yes/no <!-- 4. It is free from major grammatical errors. --> |B-Class-4=yes/no <!-- 5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams. --> |B-Class-5=yes/no An appropriate infobox needs to be added to this article, or the current infobox needs to be updated. Please refer to the list of infoboxes for further information. Once the requested infobox is added, remove the |infoboxneeded=yes parameter from this template. An editor has requested that a coat of arms image be added to this article and placed within the infobox. Once the requested image is added (or if this state never had a coat of arms), remove the |coatneeded=yes parameter from this template.
WP Former Countries - Things to do: Open tasks for WikiProject Former countries      Edit Correct links: Correct any wikilinks that you find anywhere on Wikipedia where the link is to the wrong version of the state. Some examples of bad links: Referring to the former Free City of Lübeck (an independent entity for 711 years), but the link goes to the modern city of Lübeck. Referring to Napoleon's France, where the link instead goes to modern France. Create redirects: If the article for the correct state does not yet exist, create a redirect to the nearest existing article (if possible) and place {{WPFC|class=Needed}} on the redirect's talk page. Whether or not a redirect has been created, list the wanted article below under "Needed". Article improvement After performing any of these tasks, re-rate the entry via the WPFC banner, and remove the article from the relevant list. Expand: Confederation of the Rhine, Straits Settlements, Belgian Congo, Free City of Lübeck, Kingdom of Ireland, North German Confederation, Spanish East Indies Stubs: Adamawa Emirate, Baranya-Baja Republic, Kingdom of Redonda, Piratini Republic, United States of Colombia Needed: Kingdom of Bavaria Nyasaland Assess: Anjouan, Austrian Empire, German East Africa, Orange Free State Articles requiring particular elements After providing the requested element, please remove the relevant tag from the article's WPFC banner and remove the article from this list. Flag: Alta California, Baranya-Baja Republic, Bishopric of Liège, Duchy of Lucca, Lordship of Ireland, Mexican Empire Coat of Arms: Adamawa Emirate, Anjouan, Baranya-Baja Republic, Confederation of the Equator, New Spain, West Florida Map: Baranya-Baja Republic, California Republic, Republic of Manitoba Venezuela (second republic) Infobox: Anjouan, Austrian Empire, Baranya-Baja Republic, Belgian Congo, Orange Free State Quality watch: 5 FA-Class former country articles - 7 GA-Class former country articles.

On my map the Perdido River seems to be exactly the border between modern Florida and modern Alabama. Assuming this, it seems that the Free and Independent Republic of West Florida, as defined in the article, contained none of modern Florida (a small exception might be a piece of the barrier island Perdio Key?). I am not a historian.

Yes and no. As the boundaries are described in the article, you are correct that the Perdido river is the boundary between present day AL and FL. Unfortunately, the boundaries were somewhat fluid as the territory changed hands from the Spanish to the British and back to the Spanish again (and the French may have at least had nominal control for a time). I have seen some accounts of West Florida that included what is now Pensacola. This article is on my list of things I'd like to improve on when I get time to do more research. As a lifelong midwesterner, the history of this area is somewhat foreign to me, so I've been putting it off while I hack away at things that are more familiar to me. older ≠ wiser 00:34, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It was definitely under French control for a time. The towns of Mobile, Alabama and Biloxi, Mississippi, located in the region, were established by the French in the early 1700s. Funnyhat 07:14, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 The West Florida Controversy 2 Republic 3 Borders 4 Constitution 5 DBWF

[edit] The West Florida Controversy

The West Florida Controversy page was created to link several elements of the historic United States together, and especially to tie that specific name (which is used in several places, including the title of a book) to the West Florida page. However, some information might be pulled from that page and (where not already present) placed here.

The secondary reason for creating that page was to fill out the Wikipedia Missing Encyclopedic Articles list.

If that page were turned into a redirect, it would not be a great crime. However, if that is done, then this page should be closely examined to make sure that no connections or information are lost. -Harmil 14:46, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Republic

I'm thinking of splitting off Republic of West Florida into a separate article (the link currently redirects back to this page). This will match with other self-declared nations that have separate articles (e.g., California Republic, Vermont Republic) I think there is enough information here for a separate article, and more can be added later. --JW1805 22:12, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Borders

I'm trying to make a map, and the borders of W. Florida have perplexed me. This is what I've come up with:

1. When Spain owned it, it was simply Florida.
2. When Britain gained it, they split it into West Florida and East Florida; West Florida's borders were the the Mississippi to the Apalachicola, the Gulf, and 32'28 North.
3. When the Spanish gained it, question: Did they keep the British division of West and East?
4. With the Treaty of San Lorenzo, West Florida's northern boundary shank to 31 North.
5. The Republic of West Florida, and the subsequent US annexation of West Florida, only mention a region west of the Perdido.

Likewise, the maps we have in the article both cite the Perdido and the Apalachicola. So, question: Is this simply a confusion in borders, or did the border between W and E Florida shift westward at some point? I'd really like to know this. Further confusing things - when Florida Territory was organized in 1822, the wikipedia article says that it combined East Florida and part of West Florida, meaning that West Florida still extended to the Apalachicola. (the Perdido is the modern western boundary of Florida).

Please help make sense of this. --Golbez 03:31, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

If you look at primary source maps, they seem to universally show the border as that Apalachicola River.

http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/us_states/florida/index.html Baldwin and Gibson maps have the borders. Mind, this was under the British government.

http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/southeast/1800-1850.html

Two good examples between Louisiana and Adams-Onis. here here

And so far as I know, the Spanish kept the distinctions. It's not in my historic atlas of Mexico, and I don't trust historic atlases of world history (actually I'm suspicious of my localized atlases too though, but the Mexico one seems to be pretty good in general), so I can't say for sure. The maps show it, but that could be a British-American thing rather than an administrative history.

Any rate, the border was certainly the Apalachicola in name at the time, and the borders in fact were so fluid, porous, poorly charted, and imprecise that that matters more than whatever the actual control was, in terms of the map.

I don't know why so many American history texts show the pre-Onis border at the Perido, maybe because that's what Florida territory's was, or maybe we didn't hold Pensacola and did hold Mobile. Or maybe it's just more Lies My Teacher Told Me.

--71.192.116.43 03:38, 1 January 2007 (UTC) (used to be Quintucket)

[edit] Constitution

According to this, WF had a constitution with seperation of powers, etc, but, does anyone still have a copy of this? If not, where are these facts coming from? 68.39.174.238 01:39, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

• Read the article. There is a copy in the LA state archives. The Bice book has a reproduction. --JW1805 (Talk) 23:10, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DBWF

What ever happened to the article for the Dominion of British West Florida —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.134.123.62 (talk • contribs) 22:08, November 17, 200..

• It was deleted because it was not notable. --JW1805 (Talk) 23:08, 17 November 2006 (UTC)