July 4th is celebrated as the day America declared independence from Britain, but one region of modern America remained far outside its battle, Florida’s east coast. Unlike the rebellious 13 colonies, East Florida stood firmly as a loyal forward post of the British Empire.
Today, Florida is woven into the American structure, but its revolutionary war story is one of British loyalty, American military failures, and changes in colonial power dramas.
Southern Loyalist Base
When the War of Independence broke out in 1775, East Florida, invading modern Miami from the Georgia border, had only been under British rule for just 20 years. The land was transferred by Spain in 1763, and the small population of settlers in towns like St. Augustine was mostly merchants with no appetite for recent British transplants, military personnel and rebellions.
“There was no similar level of anti-British sentiment we saw in Boston or Philadelphia,” says historian James Cusic, curator of the PK Yongel Library of Florida History. “People who lived in East Florida gave the crown their livelihoods, their safety and subsidies for their land.”
The UK subsidies were economically floating around the area. I had little experience with autonomy or local councils.
Failed American invasion
That didn’t stop the US military from trying to take it.
Between 1776 and 1778, the Patriot militia and the Continental Army launched a series of failed invasions of East Florida, hoping to take away territory that was separated from British rule. One such attempt ended with a disaster at the Battle of Thomas Leak near Jacksonville today. There, Georgia militia were ambushed and scattered by the Loyalist Rangers and Creek Warriors.
Logistics challenges and swamp terrain, combined with a strong resistance to loyalty, meant that American forces had never passed the Florida border.
“East Florida has been heavily defended,” explains Cusic. “The British viewed it as a buffer to protect valuable Caribbean colonies, especially Jamaica. They were not going to abandon it easily.”
There is no voice in the revolution
Unlike colonies that are far from England, East Florida never sent representatives to the Continental Congress. The opportunity was provided to take part in the rebellion, but residents refused. Many were refugees themselves, loyalists who fled violence in Georgia and Carolina, and found protections at the UK station in Florida.
With America freed, Florida stayed firmly in the hands of the Empire.
And when the Revolutionary War ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris, East Florida was not handed over to the newly formed United States. Instead, it was returned to Spanish control as part of a separate agreement between the UK and Spain. Both fought in wars against the other side.
The road to the nation
It will take nearly 40 more years for the American flag to fly around Florida. After years of instability and sporadic border skirmishes, the United States eventually acquired both East and West Florida through the Treaty of Adams Onis with Spain in 1819, and in 1821 it officially made American rule.
Over the course of several years there were short-lived uprisings in America, such as the so-called “The Republic of East Florida” in 1812, but they were unable to achieve independence or change the fate of the region.
Today, as fireworks brightened the sky in the cities from St. Augustine to Miami, few people remember that Florida’s east coast was once a steady forward post of British power.
