The Conquest Of Florida Essay

The Conquest of Florida Florida, the land of sunshine and palm trees and some people’s favorite place to vacation. However, Florida has not always been as accessible as it is now. In 1818, Spain still retained their foothold in America just south of the states, albeit by a “slender thread” (1, 202). With the Spanish empire in a state of disarray, America sought to enlarge her domain and opened contract negotiations to purchase Florida. Despite these negotiations, Andrew Jackson marched into Florida and began to conquer both the Spaniards and the Seminoles, the native tribe of Native Americans. To this day, the conquest remains a difficult path to trace and whether or not Jackson should have taken action is still debatable. Either

Obviously, the illegality of the military campaign draws attention to the president, at the time James Monroe. How did arguably one of our greatest presidents allow such a detestable act to take place? Initially, Monroe and Adams, his secretary of state, sought to gain possession of Florida legally and to avoid overtly ripping Florida from Spain’s grip. After all, they were at peace with the Spaniards and did not wish to spark another conflict with a country across the Atlantic. However, Monroe may have erred when he dispatched General Andrew Jackson to defeat the Seminole who inhabited the north of Florida. Proximity to several plantations led the Native Americans to begin raiding American plantations and harboring runaway slaves. Of course, this could not stand and so Jackson was sent to deal with the Seminole menace, having been ordered by John Calhoun, secretary of war, to “adopt the necessary measures” (1, 202). With the secretary of war’s involvement, it seemed inevitable that this conflict would grow in scale, and indeed it did. Despite these facts, it remains unclear the exact persons who are to blame or congratulate for Florida’s “acquisition”. Meanwhile, the path towards sunny Florida vacations still held several