The Old Country
1818
Andrew Jackson
1823 map of Central Florida with Arrendondo Grant highlighted.
By 1818 the situation with settlers in Georgia to the north and slaves fleeing south had come to a head. When settlers in southern Georgia demanded that Spain control the Seminole population and capture runaway slaves, Spain replied that the slave owners were welcome to recapture the runaways themselves, and so they did, or at least tried to. Northern slave owners sent men to into Florida to retrieve slaves which the Seminoles did not turn over freely. In fact, Seminoles welcomed and incorporated the fleeing slaves into their culture and became known as Black Seminoles. The Seminoles retaliated for such incursions by making raids into Georgia. This all came to a head in December 26, 1817 when the U.S. War Department directed General Andrew Jackson to take command in person "with full power to conduct the war as he may think best" to bring the Seminoles under control.
And Jackson did so. Setting off from Georgia, he captured the Spanish fort of St. Marks before marching westward across northern Florida when he and his army occupied the Spanish controlled Pensacola, their government seat for West Florida. To make things worse, Jackson captured two British subjects who had been working with the Seminoles and after a brief trial and had them both executed. This of course caused an international incident with the British about their subjects being executed and the Spanish who had Pensacola, their government seat for West Florida, occupied.
Jackson’s action caused dissent amongst President Mondoe’s cabinet, some wanting Jackson censored for violating the Constitution while others, including John Quincy Adams supporting Jackson’s actions. The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 settled the matter with Spain selling Florida to the United States. A congressional investigation in 1819 exonerated Jackson as his “victory” was instrumental in convincing the Seminoles to sign the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823, which surrendered much of their land in Florida.