History of Baton Rouge - Republic of West Florida (1810)

Republic of West Florida (1810)

As a result of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, Spanish West Florida was almost entirely surrounded by the United States and its possessions. The Spanish fort at Baton Rouge became the only non-American post on the Mississippi River.

Several of the inhabitants of West Florida began to have conventions to plan a rebellion, among them Fulwar Skipwith, a Baton Rouge native. At least one was held in a house on a street that has since been renamed Convention Street in their honor. On September 23, 1810, the rebels overcame the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge, and unfurled the flag of the new Republic of West Florida, known as the Bonnie Blue Flag. The flag had a single white star on a blue field. The Bonnie Blue Flag inspired the Lone Star flag of Texas. The West Florida Republic existed for only ninety days, during which St. Francisville served as its capital.

Seizing the opportunity, President James Madison ordered W.C.C. Claiborne to move north and seize the fledgling republic to annex into the Territory of Orleans. Madison used the premise that the territory had always been a part of the U.S., citing the terms of the Louisiana Purchase, an explanation largely believed to be a deliberate error. Composed largely of American settlers,the rebels provided no resistance to Claiborne's forces. With minor resentment, they watched the "Stars and Stripes" raised on December 10, 1810. For the first time, all of the land that would become the State of Louisiana lay within U.S. borders.