In 1630 Charles I granted to some of his followers that part of America which extended "from Virginia to Florida and westward to the Great Ocean." West Florida was from 1682 until 1763 a part of the French colony of Louisiana. At the end of the French and Indian War, Britain received the Spanish colony of Florida and a portion of the French colony of Louisiana lying between the Mississippi and Perdido rivers and north of Lake Pontchartrain. The British organized this territory into the provinces of East Florida and West Florida. West Florida was bounded by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain in the west, by the 31st parallel on the north and the Apalachicola River on the east. The British capital of West Florida was in Pensacola. Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763) in exchange for Havana, Cuba, which the British had captured from Spain during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). This treaty also established the principal of toleration for Catholics in the newly Anglican British West Florida (article XX of the treaty). Spain evacuated Florida after the exchange, leaving the province virtually empty. At that time, St. Augustine was still a garrison community with fewer than five hundred houses, and Pensacola also was a small military town.


The British had ambitious plans for Florida. British surveyors mapped much of the landscape and coastline and tried to develop relations with a group of Indian people who were moving into the area from the North. The British called these people of Creek Indian descent Seminolies, or Seminoles. Britain attempted to attract white settlers by offering land on which to settle and help for those who produced products for export.

Proclamation of 1763

The proclamation also established or defined four new colonies, three of them on the continent proper. Quebec, which was of course already well settled, two colonies to be called East Florida and West Florida and off the continent, Grenada. These facts were established immediately, but most of the proclamation is devoted to the subject of Indians and Indian lands. It asserted that all of the Indian peoples were thereafter under the protection of the King. It required that all lands within the "Indian territory" occupied by Englishmen were to be abandoned. It included a list of prohibited activities, provided for enforcement of the new laws, and indicted unnamed persons for fraudulent practices in acquiring lands from the Indians in times past. Resolution of the hostilities of the French and Indian War was a difficult problem for the Crown. Most of the Indian tribes had been allied with the French during the war. In this proclamation the King sided with the Indians. Moreover, it provided, and Parliament soon after executed, British royal posts along the proclamation boundary. The English were interested in improving the fur trade, which involved the Indians and independent trappers who lived out on the frontier.

Charlsie Russell (An Ardent Anti-Seditionist) published this interesting article on Trade in the new Colony of British West Florida (during the First Restoration Period 1763-1783).

In 1767, the British moved the northern boundary to a line extending from the mouth of the Yazoo River east to the Chattahoochee River (32.28 north latitude), consisting of approximately the lower third of the present American States of Mississippi and Alabama.




In 1768, His Majesty, King George the Third, with the Parliament Assembled created the Office of Secretary of State for the Colonies. The aim of this action was to allow a more focused approach to the American Colonies. The creation of this office was seen by the Loyal Colonies of the North which became the Dominion of Canada, and the Southern Colonies of East and West Florida, and Greneda as proof that the King was aware of their special status and needs. Unfortunately it was seen by the unstable Middle 13 as a subterfuge. The efforts of His Majesty's government to maintain order and stability in the colonies ultimately failed.

The events of 1776 and following

It may be difficult for us to realize the mind-set of the Dominion of British Florida in 1776, but is seems pretty clear that its heart did not swell with admiration upon reading Thomas Jefferson's petulant letter to His Brittanic Majesty, King George the Third. When news came of the Declaration, an angry mod gathered in St Augustin'es public square to announce its displeasure with the reasonous colonies. They burned the likenesses of John Adams and John Hancock in effigy. In 1778 the colony of West Florida issued a proclamation declaring, "We hold in abhorrence the present unnatural and unparalleled rebillion raging in our neighboring colonies, with its leaders and abettors." 1778 was also the year of Carlisle Peace Commission, which was authorized by His Majesty King George III, and the Parliament of London to offer what would later be termed 'Dominion Status' to the Colonies. Under the Carlisle Commission Peace Plan, the colonies would have been granted local self-government, representation in Parliament, and retained King George III as Soveriegn. The present Government of British West Florida operates in the spirit of the Carlisle Commission.

As the Revolutionary War dragged on, both Floridas became problematic for His Majesty. In 1781, the Kingdom of Spain entered the war, and soon captured Pensacola. British loyalists who flocked to Florida during the Revolution were then forced to leave, and the Spanish inherited large plantations that the British had worked so hard to cultivate.

Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the U.S. with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River. The treaty's full title is Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Between Spain and the United States. Thomas Pinckney negotiated the treaty for the U.S and Don Manuel de Godoy represented Spain.

The treaty was proposed to the U.S. Senate on February 26, 1796 and ratified by the U.S. on March 7, 1796. It was ratified by Spain on April 25, 1796 and ratifications were exchanged on that date. The treaty was proclaimed on August 2, 1796.

By terms of the treaty, Spain and the U.S. agreed that the southern boundary of the U.S. with the Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida was a line beginning on the Mississippi River at the 31st degree north latitude drawn due east to the middle of the Chattahoochee River and from there along the middle of the river to the junction with the Flint River and from there straight to the headwaters of the St. Marys River and from there along the middle of the channel to the Atlantic Ocean. This describes the original border of the Colony of West Florida and the current boundary between the Dominion of British West Florida Proper and the Crown Lands in the American States of Alabama and Mississipi. The portion of British West Florida between this line and the Old Border (1767) is reserved as Crown Lands for the use of Native Peoples. The Dominion considers all persons resident at the time of its reassertion of Sovereignty to be Native Peoples.

Return of Sovereignty to the British Crown, and the Events after Napoleon.

In 1808 The Spanish King (Charles IV of Spain) and his son (Ferdinand VII), under threat of French arms, were removed from power and replaced by Napoleon's brother Joseph. It was at this time our historians and legal advisors tell us that Sovereignty over Florida reverted to the King George the Third (See Governor Skipwith's Speach of 1810), King of the Untied Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. (King George was King of the Untied Kingdom of Great Britain when the Treaty granting Florida was signed, Ireland was added to the Empire in 1801). The actions of any other Government are deemed Null and Void with regard to the Dominion of British Florida, and the Dominion of British West Florida in particular denies the effectiveness of any Treaty or Order issued by any other Sovereign.

Second Restoration Effort.

In 1810, the Loyal British Subjects, in conjunction with newly arrived persons from the United States of America rebelled against the Spanish Occupation. An Indpendent Republic of West Florida existed for Seventy-Four days (23 September - 10 December). Unfortunately, Governor Fulwar Skipwith (Himself a Citizen of the United States) was forced, by American Arms to accept occupation by the United States. The Annexation by Proclamation of the United States President James Madison was and is illegal, and of no moral standing. The people of the Dominion of British West Florida have and will continue to reject any and all attempts by Foreign Powers to take Our Nation by Proclamation or Force of Arms.

The unlawful annexation of the terriroty of the Dominion of British West Florida, known at that time as the Republic of West Florida, was completed by force of arms in 1813 when the future United States President, Gen. Andrew Jackson took Pensacola and drove out the British, with whom the United States was at war. The United States government continued to use excessive force against British Citizens in East Florida (at that time under Spanish Protection), even to the point of murdering British Citizens under the cover of the First Seminole War (1816-1818).

The United States government recognized its responsibilities to Spain, and paid under the Florida Purchase Treaty $5,000,000.00 to Spain for the territories of East and West Florida. No mention is ever made of the United States Recognizing its Duty to the Republic of West Florida, or the Citizens.

Slavery was abolished throught the British Empire during the reign of William the Fourth (1830-1837). Durung his reign it could truly be said that in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, all men where Free Subjects of a Constitutional Monarch. The detestable, and barbaric practice of hereditary human slavery would continue in our neighboring American States for a generation.

Our History continues with the Third Restoration Effort

Her Majesty, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Dominion of British West Florida, and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, has not yet granted our Petition, nor authorized this web site.