tained in them; and, in virtue of these presents, I approve and ratify them; promising, on the faith and word of a King, to execute and observe them, and to cause them to be executed and observed entirely as if I myself had signed them; and that the circumstance of having exceeded the term of six months, fixed for the exchange of the ratifications in the 16th article, may afford no obstacle in any manner, it is my deliberate will that the present ratification be as valid and firm, and produce the same effects, as if it had been done within the determined period. Desirous at the same time of avoiding any doubt or ambiguity concerning the meaning of the 8th article of the said treaty, in respect to the date which is pointed out in it as the period for the confirmation of the grants of lands in the Floridas, made by me, or by the competent authorities in my royal name, which point of date was fixed in the positive understanding of the three grants of land made in favor of the Duke of Alagon, the Count of Punonrostro, and Don Pedro de Vargas, being annulled by its tenor, I think proper to declare that the said three grants have remained and do remain entirely annulled and invalid; and that neither the three individuals mentioned, nor those who may have title or interest through them, can avail themselves of the said grants at any time, or in any manner; under which explicit declaration the said 8th article is to be understood as ratified. In the faith of all which I have commanded to despatch these presents. Signed by my hand, sealed with my secret seal, and countersigned by the underwritten my Secretary of Despatch of State.

Given at Madrid, the twenty-fourth of October, one thousand eight hundred and twenty.

EVARISTO PEREZ DE CASTRO.

FERNANDO.

[Copies of the grants annulled by the foregoing treaty will be found in 8 Statutes at Large, page 267, et seq.]

The treaty was again sent to the Senate of the United States for ratification, and ratified February 19, 1821, there being but four dissenting votes.

PROCLAMATION OF TREATY.

February 22d, 1821, two years after the signing by the agents of the respective governments, President Monroe is sued the following proclamation:

By the President of the United States: a Proclamation.

Whereas, a treaty of amity, settlement, and limits between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty was concluded and signed between their plenipotentiaries in this city, on the twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, which treaty, word for word, is as follows: [Here follows the treaty in full.]

And whereas, his said Catholic Majesty did, on the twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty, ratify and confirm the said treaty, which ratification is in the words and of the tenor following: [Here follows the ratification by the King of Spain in full.]

And whereas, the Senate of the United States did, on the nineteenth day of the present month, advise and consent to the ratification, on the part of these United States, of the said treaty, in the following words:

"IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, February 19, 1821. "Resolved, two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein, That the Senate, having examined the treaty of amity, settlement, and limits between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, made and concluded on the twenty-second of February, one-thousand eight hundred and nineteen, and seen and considered the ratification thereof made by his said Catholic Majesty on the twenty-fourth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and twenty, do consent to and advise the President of the United States to ratify the same."

And whereas, in pursuance of the said advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, I have ratified and confirmed the said treaty, in the words following, viz.: "Now, therefore, I, James Monroe, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the treaty above recited, together with the ratification of His Catholic Majesty thereof, do, in pursuance of the aforesaid advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, by these presents, accept, ratify, and confirm, the said treaty, and every clause and article thereof, as the same are herein before set forth. "In faith whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be hereto affixed.

"Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this twenty-second day of Feb

ruary, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and of the Independence of the said States the forty-fifth. "By the President:

"JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

66

Secretary of State."

"JAMES MONROE.

And whereas the said ratifications, on the part of the United States, and of His Catholic Majesty, have been this day duly exchanged, at Washington, by John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the United States, and by General Dn. Francisco Dionisio Vives, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of His Catholic Majesty: Now, therefore, to the end that the said treaty may be observed and performed with good faith, on the part of the United States, I have caused the premises to be made public; and I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office, civil or military, within the United States, and all others, citizens or inhabitants thereof, or being within the same, faithfully to observe and fulfil the said treaty, and every clause and article thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.

Done at the city of Washington, the twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and of the sovereignty and Independence of the United States the forty-fifth.

[L. S.]

By the President:

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Secretary of State.

JAMES MONROE.

THE SEVERAL ACTS AND DEEDS ACQUIRING POSSESSION OF THE FLORIDAS. Col. Robert Butler was appointed commissioner under the treaty on the part of the United States, and Don José Coppinger on the part of Spain, for East Florida.

March 3, 1821, Congress authorized, by law, the President to organize a temporary government for Florida pending legislation.

President Monroe, March 10, 1821, appointed Major-General Andrew Jackson governor, his commission vesting in him all the powers and duties heretofore held and exercised by the captain-general, intendant, and governor under Spain.

SURRENDER OF THE FLORIDAS BY SPAIN.

July 10, 1821, Don José Coppinger, appointed a commissioner by the captain-general of Cuba, and Col. Robert Butler, appointed a commissioner on the part of the United States, met at Saint Augustine and, after inventory, proceeded to turn over for Spain and receive for the United States the province of East Florida.

Copy of the paper in the English language, signed by the commissioner on the part of the United States, and the commissioner on the part of His Catholic Majesty, upon the delivery of possession of the province of East Florida to the United States.

In the place of St. Augustine, and on the 10th day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty-one, Don José Coppinger, colonel of the national armies, and commissioner, appointed by his excellency the captain-general of the island of Cuba, to make a formal delivery of this said place and province of East Florida to the Government of the United States of America, by virtue of the treaty of cession concluded at Washington on the 22d of February, 1819, and the royal schedule of delivery of the 24th of October, of the last year, annexed to the documents mentioned in the certificate that form a heading to these instruments in testimony thereof, and the adjutant-general of the southern division of said States, Colonel Don Robert Butler, duly authorized by the aforesaid Government to receive the same; we having had several conferences in order to carry into effect our respective commissions, as will appear by our official communications, and having received by the latter, the documents, inventories, and plans, appertaining to the property and sovereignty of the Spanish nation held in this province and its adjacent islands depending thereon, with the sites, public squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, and other works, not being private property, and the same having been preceded by the arrangements and formalities that, for the greater solemnity of this important act, they have judged proper, there has been verified, at four o'clock of the evening of this day, the complete and personal delivery of the fortifications, and all else of this aforesaid province to the commissioner, officers, and troops of the United States; and, in consequence thereof, having embarked for the Havana the military and civil officers and Spanish troops, in the American transports provided for this purpose, the Spanish authorities having this moment ceased the exercise of their functions, and those appointed by the American Government having began theirs; duly noting that

we have transmitted to our governments the doubts occurring whether the artillery ought to be comprehended in the fortifications, and if the public archives, relating to private property, ought to remain and be delivered to the American Government by virtue of the cession, and that there remains in the fortifications, until the aforesaid resolution is made, the artillery, munitions, and implements, specified in a particular inventory, awaiting on these points, and the others appearing in question in our correspondence, the superior decision of our respective governments, and which is to have, whatever may be the result, the most religious compliance at any time that it may arrive, and in which the possession that at present appears given shall not serve as an obstacle.

In testimony of which, and that this may at all times serve as an expressive and formal receipt in this act, we, the subscribing commissioners, sign four instruments of this same tenor, in the English and Spanish languages, at the above-mentioned place, and said day, month, and year.

ROBERT BUTLER.
JOSE COPPINGER.

[To the original act there is a certificate in the Spanish language, of which the following is a translation:]

In faith whereof I certify that the preceding act was executed in the presence of the illustrious Ayuntamiento, and various private persons assembled, and also of various military and naval officers of the Government of the United States of America. JUAN DE ENTRALGO,

Notary of the Government and Secretary of the Cabildo.

ST. AUGUSTINE, 10th July, 1821.

TRANSFER OF THE PROVINCE OF WEST FLORIDA.

The Province of West Florida was transferred to the United States July 17, 1821. It was received by General Jackson, commissioner on behalf of the United States, from José Callava, commissioner on behalf of Spain, at Pensacola.

Copy of the paper in the English language signed by the commissioner on the part of the United States, and the commissioner on the part of his catholic majesty, upon the delivery of possession of the province of West Florida to the United States.

The undersigned, Major General Andrew Jackson, of the State of Tennessee, commissioner of the United States, in pursuance of the full powers received by him from James Monroe, President of the United States of America, of the date of the 10th of March, 1821, and of the 45th of the Independence of the United States of America, attested by John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, and Don José Callava, commandant of the province of West Florida, and commissioner for the delivery, in the name of his catholic majesty, of the country, territories, and dependencies, of West Florida, to the commissioner of the United States, in conformity with the powers, commission, and special mandate, received by him from the captain-general of the Island of Cuba, of the date of the 5th of May, 1821, imparting to him therein the royal order of the 24th of October, 1820, issued and signed by his catholic majesty, Ferdinand the Seventh, and attested by the secretary of state, Don Evaristo Perez de Castro.

Do certify by these presents, that, on the seventeenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one of the Christian æra, and forty-sixth of the Independence of the United States, having met in the court-room of the government house in the town of Pensacola, accompanied on either part by the chiefs and officers of the army and navy, and by a number of the citizens of the respective nations, the said Andrew Jackson, major-general and commissioner, has delivered to the said Colonel Commandant Don José Callava, his before-mentioned powers; whereby he recognizes him to have received full power and authority to take possession of, and to occupy, the territories ceded by Spain to the United States by the treaty concluded at Washington on the 22d day of February, 1819, and for that purpose to repair to said territories, and there to execute and to peform all such acts and things touching the premises, as may be necessary for fulfilling his appointment conformably to the said treaty and the laws of the United States, with authority likewise to appoint any person or persons in his stead, to receive possession of any part of the said ceded territories, according to the stipulations of the said treaty: Wherefore, the Colonel Commandant Don José Callava immediately declared, that, in virtue and in performance of the power, commission, and special mandate, dated at Havana on the 5th of May, 1821, he thenceforth, and from that moment, placed the said commissioner of the United States in possession of the country, territories, and dependencies, of West Florida, including the fortress of St. Marks, with the adjacent islands dependent upon said province, all public lots and squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and other build

ings which are not private property, according to, and in the manner set forth by, the inventories and schedules which he has signed and delivered with the archives and documents directly relating to the property and sovereignty of the said territory of West Florida, including the fortress of St. Marks, and situated to the east of the Mississippi River, the whole in conformity with the second article of the treaty of cession concluded at Washington the 22d of February, 1819, between Spain and the United States, by Don Luis de Onis, minister plenipotentiary of his catholic majesty, and John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the United States, both provided with full powers, which treaty has been ratified on the one part by his catholic majesty, Ferdinand the Seventh, and the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, on the other part; which ratifications have been duly exchanged at Washington the 22d of February, 1821, and the forty-fifth of the Independence of the United States of America, by General Don Dyonisius Vives, minister plenipotentiary of his catholic majesty, and John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the United States, according to the instrument signed on the same day: And the present delivery of the country is made in order that, in execution of the said treaty, the sovereignty and the property of that province of West Florida, including the fortress of St. Marks, shall pass to the United States, under the stipulations therein expressed.

And the said Colonel Commandant Don José Callava has, in consequence, at this present time, made to the commissioner of the United States, Major-General Andrew Jackson, in this public cession, a delivery of the keys of the town of Pensacola, of the archives, documents, and other articles, in the inventories before mentioned; declaring that he releases from their oath of allegiance to Spain the citizens and inhabitants of West Florida who may choose to remain under the dominion of the United States. And that this important and solemn act may be in perpetual memory, the within named have signed the same, and have sealed with their respective seals, and caused to be attested by their secretaries of commission, the day and year aforesaid.

ANDREW JACKSON.

By order of the Commissioner on the part of the United States.

R. K. CALL,

Sec'y of the Commission.

JOSÉ CALLAVA.
Por mandato de su senoria el Coronel Com-
isario del Gobierno de España.
JOSÉ Y. CRUZAT,

El Secretario de la Comision.

July 17, 1821, the date of the transfer of West Florida, General Jackson at Pensacola issued the following:

Proclamation by Major-General Andrew Jackson, governor of the provinces of the Floridas, exercising the powers of the captain-general and of the intendant of the island of Cuba, over the said provinces, and of the governors of said provinces, respectively.

Whereas, by the treaty concluded between the United States and Spain, on the 22d day of February, 1819, and duly ratified, the provinces of the Floridas were ceded by Spain to the United States, and the possession of the said provinces is now in the United States:

And whereas the Congress of the United States, on the 3d day of March, in the present year, did enact that, until the end of the first session of the Seventeenth Congress, unless provision for the temporary government of said provinces be sooner made by Congress, all the military, civil, and judicial powers exercised by the officers of the existing government of the said provinces, shall be vested in such person and persons and shall be exercised in such manner as the President of the United States shall direct, for the maintaining the inhabitants of said territories in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion; and the President of the United States has, by his commission, bearing date the tenth day of said March, invested me with all the powers, and charged me with the several duties, heretofore held and exercised by the captain-general, intendant, and governors, aforesaid:

I have, therefore, thought fit to issue this my proclamation, making known the premises, and to declare that the government heretofore exercised over the said provinces, under the authority of Spain, has ceased, and that that of the United States of America, is established over the same; that the inhabitants thereof will be incorporated in the Union of the United States as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United States; that, in the mean time, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion they profess; that all laws and municipal regulations which were in existence at the cessation of the late government, remain in full force; and all civil officers charged with their execution, except those whose powers have been especially vested in me, and except, also, such officers as have been intrusted with the collection of the revenue, are continued in their functions, during the pleasure of the governor for the time being, or until provision shall otherwise be made.

And I do hereby exhort and enjoin all the inhabitants and other persons within the said provinces, to be faithful and true in their allegiance to the United States, and obedient to the laws and authorities of the same, under full assurance that their just rights will be under the guardianship of the United States, and will be maintained from all force and violence from without or within.

Given at Pensacola this [tenth day of July for East Florida, and seventeenth day of July for West Florida,] one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one.

By the governor :

R. K. CALL, Acting Secretary of the Floridas.

ST. AUGUSTINE, EAST FLORIDA, July 10, 1821.

By the governor :

ROBERT BUTLER, United States Commissioner.

ANDREW JACKSON.

And thus the banner of Spain, which was first raised in Florida April 8, 1512, giving place temporarily to the English from 1736 to 1783, was on the 10th and 17th of July, 1821, after a period of about three hundred and eight years, replaced by the flag of the United States.

BOUNDARIES OF THE FLORIDAS.

General Jackson bad serious difficulties thereafter with the Spanish officials in obtaining documents and papers relating to the transfer.

March 30, 1822, Congress passed an organic act for the Territory of Florida, providing a civil government, and thus superseding the laws of Spain, which continued in force until this action by Congress. William P. Duval was appointed governor. The treaty stipulation in regard to the western and southern boundary of the Louisiana purchase, or eastern and western boundary of the Spanish possessions (Mexico) west of the Mississippi, were not carried out with Spain because of the war between Mexico and Spain.

January 12, 1828, the United States entered into treaty with Mexico, J. R. Poinsett acting on behalf of the United States, and S. Camacho and J. Y. Esteva on the part of Mexico, at the City of Mexico. (Ratifications exchanged April 5, 1832; proclaimed April 5, 1832.) This treaty referred to the Florida treaty of 1819, and to the boundary line which was established by Spain when Mexico constituted part of that monarchy, and confirmed the third and fourth articles of the treaty of Spain with the United States of 1819. It was ratified by the Senate of the United States with only three dissenting votes. This treaty was carried out, and the boundary between the United States and Mexico fixed as follows:

The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north along the western bank of that river to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence by a line due north to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo westward to the degree of longitude one hundred west from London and twenty-three from Washington; then crossing the said Red River, and running thence by a line due north to the river Árkansas; thence, following the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude forty-two north; and thence, by that parallel of latitude, to the South Sea; the whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, one thousand eight hundred and eightBut if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or south of latitude forty-two, then the line shall run from the said source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel of latitude forty-two, and thence along the said parallel to the South Sea, all the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas rivers, throughout the course thus described, to belong to the United States of America; but the use of the waters and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent of the said boundary on their respective banks, shall be common to the respective inhabitants of both nations.

een.

The two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all their rights, claims, and pretensions to the territories described by the said line; that is to say, the United States hereby cede to his catholic majesty, renounce forever, ail their rights, clain, and pretensions to the territories lying west and south of the above-described line;