FREE ESSAY ON TERRITORIAL FLORIDA

TERRITORIAL FLORIDA

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. 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. 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. 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.