Affects on West Florida
West Florida was a region straddling the Gulf of Mexico with the Mississippi River in the west, the Cattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers in the east, and went as far north as the confluence of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. The territory was sparsely populated when the British took control, only containing the port of Penasacola, and the former French settlements of Mobile, Biloxi, and Natchez. The British military oversaw the colony and supervised the transfer of authority from Spain in the east and French in the west. Britian wished to channel future settlers into either Canada or one of the two Floridas because of the reserve area made west of the Appalachians for the Indians in the Proclamation Act of 1763. This wish forced the Britsh to try and build good relations with the Choctaw, Chicksay, and Creek Indians, and set up a government for West Florida in Penascola. George Johnstone was given governorship after having done a year of military rule in West Florida. He succesfully negotiated treaties with the Choctaw and Chicakaws and had some limited success to open trade with Spanish ports in the Carbbean. Also with help from his council he created the first laws for the colony. However, the governor's belligerent and overbearing manner caused him to quarrel with the military and antagonize his staff. This ended up splitting the populace into two warring factions which compelled King George III to remove Johnstone. It was important for the civil and military officials to settle their disagreement, becuase the British Board of Trade directed them to take the lead among all the colonies in the implementing the Proclamation line from the Proclamation act in 1763.
Later, Indian difficulties would arise due to abuse by colonial traders in West Florida. Also after the French and Indian War, farming and trade continued to be the basis for economic life in the area. Most farmers grew indigo, tobacco, and other crops and the slave population remained steadily the same. The increasing number of land grants given to attract settlers caused mercantile and shipping businesses to develop along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, though for the most part the river still remained a primitive fronteir region.
Overall from this it can be said that without British expansion into West Florida, two things would never have happened. First being the soon to be settled area of West Florida by the British. Unlike the Spanish, the British had the ability to recruit permanent settlers. To pioneers and their families they offered 100 acres of land and 50 acres per family member. The other thing that would not have happened was the feud in West Florida. The two warring factions began because George Johnstone was put as governor until 1767. Also the Leuitenant governor of West Florida, persauded the British government to retain a military regiment in the Natchez area, ten years later it would become the town of Natchez.
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