West Florida ( English West Florida ) - a British colony that existed in North America in the second half of the XVIII century.
| colony of Great Britain | |
| West florida | |
|---|---|
| English West florida | |
 West Florida in 1767 | |
←  ←  →1763 - 1783 | |
| Capital | Pensacola |
| Form of government | monarchy |
During the Seven Years' War, Great Britain captured Havana in 1762. To return this valuable city, Spain in 1763 agreed to transfer a colony of Florida to Great Britain under the terms of a peace treaty . Under the terms of the same treaty, France transferred the territory of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. Britain considered that the newly acquired territory was too large for effective management, and divided it along the Apalachicola River into two colonies: East Florida and West Florida.
The administrative center of West Florida was the settlement of Pensacola ; in 1764 the Colonial Assembly was established. The administrative structure of the new colony was the same as that of most other British colonies in North America. Although many Spanish settlers, after the transfer of the territory of Great Britain, left for Cuba, new lands attracted a large number of immigrants from Britain, and the colony began to develop actively.
In 1774, West Florida received an invitation to the First Continental Congress , but rejected it, and when the US War of Independence started, it supported Britain. In 1778, local police independently repelled the invasion of small separatist forces moving along the Mississippi.
In 1779, in accordance with the Aranjue Treaty, Spain entered the war on the side of France and the United States. Spanish troops under the command of Bernardo de Galves took Baton Rouge and Mobile, and in 1781 captured Pensacola . In 1783, in accordance with the terms of the peace treaty, Great Britain returned both Florida to Spain.