On March 10, 1821, President James Monroe appointed General Andrew Jackson to take possession of Florida and gave him the full powers of governor. Jackson accepted the office only on the condition that he could resign as soon as the territorial government was organized.(1) On July 17, 1821, Spain transferred Florida to the United States, and Jackson sent his resignation to the president in November. In all, Andrew Jackson visited Florida only three times: in 1814 during the War of 1812, in 1818 during the First Seminole War, and in 1821 to organize the first territorial government.(2) The change from Spanish to American rule was not a smooth transition. The Spanish population quickly realized the unruly settlers who visited their homes and establishments had neither the money nor inclination to purchase their property at fair market value. The volatile Mayor of St. Augustine Juan Entralgo refused to cooperate with Jackson, and when the Spanish Governor Don Jose Callava protested Jackson’s policies, Jackson threw him in jail.(1) Few Spaniards elected to remain under American rule. Many elected to strip their homes of anything useful and burnt the foundations so the Americans were left with ruins.
The new Territory of Florida was second only to Georgia in land area east of the Mississippi River. This huge size, coupled with the state’s under populated peninsular, posed serious problems to the state’s future development. Northern Congressmen feared that Florida would be divided into two slave states, thus disrupting the delicate balance of having equal slave and free states in the United States Senate.(3) Jackson felt there were more obvious problems: a lack of population, the absence of decent roads and physical resources, and the presence of hostile Seminole Indians.(1) Territorial Florida had a simple governmental structure. The Governor, a three-year appointee of the President, had to operate with a minimum of Federal funding. The Territorial Council, elected by the people, could only borrow money, issue licenses, and organize a state militia. As the population grew, the legislature began to charter counties with appointed commissioners to handle local civil and criminal cases. It was essential to resolve the territory’s financial indebtedness so that Florida could construct the transportation and economic ties to the rest of the South. The only forms of state revenue were taxes on land sales, license fees, and poll taxes.
The Essay on Judicial Merrit Retention In The State Of Florida
Merit Retention Merit Retention is a system of appointing State Supreme Court Justices that was established in Florida in the 1970s. Whenever a State Supreme Court vacancy occurs, a Judicial Nominating Commission submits to the Governor the names of three to six nominees, from which he must select one to fill the opening. Once appointed, the new Justices name will appear on the ballots in the next ...
Two political groups soon developed out of this struggle to finance Florida’s development. The Jacksonian Democrats, benefiting from their location in Middle Florida at the center of the plantation and political, often joined the Whig Party. Florida’s Whigs supported increased spending on railroads and state banks, which they deemed essential to the maturation of the Florida economy. East Florida, dominated by small farmers, disliked the willingness of the Whigs to spend public funds on such economic projects. The anti-Call forces were led by two men from St. Augustine, lawyer Robert Raymond Reid and sugar planter David Yulee Levy. They organized a ferocious attack on Call when the Pensacola Bank, which Call endorsed, collapsed, harming many small West Florida farmers. These Democrats gained the support of frontiersmen with their opposition to the planter aristocracy and appeal to less taxes. The election of David Yule Levy, a European Jew, in a traditionalist Protestant was an indication of the acceptance of the anti-Call platform. Despite their belief in less spending, both Levy and Reid were firm supporters of Florida statehood.(1) By 1840, Florida had taken its place as a member of the Old South.
Its leading citizens, many of neighboring Georgia and Alabama, had formed economic and political ties to all the institutions of Southern society. Florida was an agrarian society and this predominance of agriculture, with its definable class and caste, would leave an notable mark on Florida history. The plantation leaders led Florida in wealth and political power. There remained in most counties only the urban professionals to challenge this plantation elite and many of them were firmly entrenched in the cotton culture. The townsfolk represented a middle strata of shopkeepers, merchants, artisans, and builders. The small farmer and the stock tender represented the lower economic groups, while the black freedmen and the slave held the least status and power. Two of the best-operated plantations in Florida were owned by the Folsom Brothers, of Jefferson County. They were pioneers of the latest farming techniques and outspoken critics of many of the cruel abuses of the overseer system. Cotton was their chief crop, but as was the case in Florida’s small farms, corn was raised for livestock and sugar cane was raised along the river. Both Folsoms maintained their own blacksmith shops and smokehouses.(1) Slavery was also a major part of the Florida economy and culture until the Thirteenth Amendment ended the practice.
The Essay on Slavery In Florida Slave Slaves Book
The scope of this book ranges from the year 1500- 1865. It starts its beginning with Florida when it was still a territory of Spain. It is here that the Larry Rivers tries to piece together the African presents in Florida before the institution of slavery is established. The author uses a wide range of sources to his point. He utilizes a lot of research that focuses on Africans who were free when ...
According to the Black Codes of the 1828 Florida Constitution, the African-American slave was personal property. Only the kindness or economic selfishness of the slave-owner could make any aspect of a slave’s existence bearable. Slaves knew that the existence of laws of cruelty were mainly for the protection of slave owners, not the slave. Slaves had as diverse a range of skills as the white population. Freedmen engaged in many jobs despite attempts to limit their skills and goals. Freedmen were also still subjected to whippings and fines for abusive language to whites or for associating with slaves without permission. On the well-managed plantations, slaves lived in small cabins, heated by fireplaces. The Florida peninsular swallowed up the early settlers and the sandy soil was not conducive in most areas to successful plantation life. The small farmer adopted to the tropical summer heat. Many of the early pioneers were Scots-Irish and non-Anglican English from Georgia and Alabama, who found the inexpensive lands outside Middle Florida ideal for a new life.(1) The rich soils of the Tallahassee Hills was the only Florida region conducive to the large-scale plantation economy.
The Essay on A Troublesome Property: Master-Slave Relationships In Florida
Master-Slave Relations in Florida talked about religion on the plantations. In places such as Duval County slave master Zephaniah Kingsley didn’t like the idea of his slaves being religious because he claimed that the slaves were harder to manage, disobeyed his orders, and stole more food. In other counties like Madison slaves were not permitted to attend religious gatherings, but some of the ...
Hope for eternal salvation and a decent crop were tempered by their realistic outlook to the unyielding demands of frontier life. Every hour meant making decisions that could effect the success of the household. It was this freedom to control their destiny rather than their possibility of becoming a rich planter that was the source of personal pride. The farmer felt he was the equal of any other farmer. If the farmer did not participate in Territorial politics, he had a firm belief in representative institutions. The small farmer feared the arrival of planters and investors and Northern speculators. He knew the arrival of these groups signaled the end of their independence and political control. The frontier farmer was also poor, but quite proud of his subsisting way of life. His menu came from the crops and livestock of his labor, supplemented only by a weekend outing to town or a fishing trip to a lake or the shore. The small farmers survived the Civil War and rebuilt the South long after the strength of the plantation society collapsed.
