Treaty between the United States and Spain, ceding Florida to the U.S. (1819)
Transferred Florida to the United States and established the first defined transcontinental boundary between U.S. and Spanish territories.
Key Facts
- Date Signed
- February 22, 1819
- Signatories
- John Quincy Adams (US) and Luis de Onís (Spain)
- Territory Acquired
- Florida ceded to the United States
- US Concession
- Renounced claims to Spanish Texas
- Treaty Formally Terminated
- 1902
- Border Recognition with Mexico
- 1828, following Mexican independence
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tensions between the United States and Spain over the undefined southern and western borders of the Louisiana Purchase, combined with U.S. military incursions into Spanish Florida by Andrew Jackson and Spain's weakening colonial grip in North America, created pressure for a diplomatic resolution to territorial disputes.
On February 22, 1819, U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish Minister Luis de Onís signed a treaty in Washington D.C. under which Spain ceded Florida to the United States. The agreement also renounced U.S. claims to Spanish Texas and drew the first transcontinental boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.
The treaty gave the United States full control of Florida and a clearly defined western boundary extending to the Pacific coast. Its provisions held until Mexican independence was recognized in 1821, after which the defined border was reestablished as the U.S.–Mexico boundary in 1828. The treaty remained formally in effect until 1902.
Political Outcome
Spain ceded Florida to the United States; the first U.S. transcontinental boundary was established; U.S. renounced claims to Spanish Texas.
Spain held Florida and disputed western boundaries with the United States
United States gained Florida and a defined transcontinental western border