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Andrew Jackson: Spanish Florida
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When the war ended, Jackson returned to his plantation. However, he soon resumed military duty to subdue Indian raids along the southern frontier emanating from Spanish Florida. In a series of rapid moves he invaded Florida, subdued the Seminole Indians, extinguished Spanish authority, and executed two British subjects for inciting Indian attacks. Despite an international furor over this invasion, President James Monroe defended Jackson's actions and prevailed upon Spain to sell Florida to the United States for $5 million. Jackson served as governor of the Florida Territory briefly, but he was highhanded, was antagonistic to the Spanish, and tried to exercise absolute authority. He quit in disgust after serving only a few months.
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Jackson served in the military again during the First Seminole War. He was ordered by President James Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek Indians. Jackson was ... charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His directions were to "terminate the conflict."[9] Jackson believed the best way to do this would be to seize Florida. that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."[10] Monroe gave Jackson orders that were purposely ambiguous, sufficient for international denials.
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Following the War of 1812, Jackson continued to battle the Native Americans. In 1815 and again in 1818, Jackson marched against the Seminole Indians in Florida. As a result of his attack in 1818, the Spanish government realized that it could not defend Florida against the United States. In 1819, Spain sold Florida to the United States, and in 1821, President James Monroe appointed Jackson governor of the Florida Territory.
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[D]uring the First Seminole War of 1818, Jackson captured two British citizens in Spanish Florida, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot. The former was an ex-Marine turned mercenary who was apparently working with area blacks and American Indians to undermine the Spanish. The latter was a private businessman and trader who, from a combination of humane concern and his own economic self-interest, sought peace between the Seminoles and the United States. Because they were English, because they collaborated with Native Americans, and because they interrupted his burning and looting of native villages, Jackson demanded satis-faction.
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Jackson was called into action in 1817 against the Seminole Indians. In the spring of 1818 (in the First Seminole War) he pursued the Indians into Spanish Florida, where he apparently exceeded his instructions by deposing the Spanish authorities and executing two British subjects: one a young officer, the other an elderly Scottish trader whom he charged with aiding the Indians. Jackson subsequently insisted that his actions had the tacit prior approval of the Monroe administration, and efforts of his enemies to secure his censure by Congress failed. His actions helped lead to the U.S. acquisition of Spanish Florida in 1819. Jackson resigned his army commission in 1821 and served briefly as territorial governor of Florida in the same year.
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Retaining his major generalship after the war, Jackson in 1818 pursued Indians into Spanish Florida and again occupied Pensacola. The Monroe administration reluctantly supported him, using the conquest to force Spain to sell the Floridas to the United States. Jackson resigned his commission in 1821. Except while acting as commander in chief during his presidency, he never held another command.
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