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Photograph of painting.

Biographical Note

The English colonies of East and West Florida remained faithful to the Crown during the American Revolution. Tory refugees crowded Saint Augustine during border fighting between American and British forces.

The Treaty of Paris, 1763, ending the Seven Years War between English and French (and late-entering Spanish) saw England take Canada from the French. Havana, captured by the English, was returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. British East Florida, with Saint Augustine and its 900 buildings as capital stretched from the Atlantic to the Apalachicola River. British West Florida, with Pensacola as capital, reached from the Apalachicola to the Mississippi. In the area of present-day Florida, however, there yet was little beyond Saint Augustine and Pensacola except San Marcos de Apache, the fort and settlement at the head of the Gulf of Mexico. All the rest was wilderness. The English endeavored to attract investors and settlers.