Chapter 6: Florida as Part of the U.S. (starting 1819) From Bad to Worse Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819, but it wasn’t formally organized as a US Territory with a legislative council until 1822. It wasn’t difficult to guess which way the new Florida government would lean in regard to the rights of Blacks and slaves. When this legislative body was formalized, it soon started passing ever more restrictive laws that made it clear that the Spanish view of slavery would no longer be the prevailing practice in Florida. Francis II clearly saw the writing on the wall, and knew he had to do everything in his power so that Eve and his children would never be considered slaves. In 1821 he officially freed his slave Eve and their six children. He had purchased her from his friend John McQUEEN back in 1809.1 In the Notice of Declaration of Freedom that he signed, he made it clear that he had been negligent in not carrying out the manumission paperwork sooner, but that Eve had been free since May 24, 1809 and any offspring born of her, a free woman, were naturally free themselves. Francis II’s two biracial children from a previous relationship are not mentioned in these manumission papers. He might have already freed these children, Fortune and Ana, by the time he bought Eve in 1809.
Francis’ Finances This was undoubtedly an extremely stressful and chaotic time for Francis II and his family. Was there any alternative to emigrating to another country? If not, where would they move? Would they all move en masse to their new country, or move slowly over many years? Would they separate – each one deciding independently where to move? If returning to Haiti was a possibility, would they be able to return to his childhood plantation in St. Marc? Could Francis II afford to finance whatever the final decision(s) would be? Francis II was definitely concerned with having enough cash on hand to cover all these upcoming expenses. On top of all of these difficult decisions and questions, he was also trying to keep his sawmill running smoothly. Courthouse records from this time document Francis II’s growing financial distress. • •
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1820 – Francis II mortgages two slaves (St. John and St. Augustine) to William GIBSON for $1,719. Francis does not pay in full by Jan. 1, 1822, the due date.2 1822 - Francis II mortgages three tracts of land totaling 16,600 acres of land, his sawmill, cotton gins, grist mill house, farm, livestock, and farming tools to his good friend Antonio ALVAREZ for $10,900. Basically everything he owned except his house and his slaves.3 March 1823 – Francis II renegotiates his debt to GIBSON, promising to pay $1,136 by Jan. 1, 1824.4 1824 – Francis II increases his debt to ALVAREZ to $16,084 by adding his slaves to the mortgage.5