East and West Florida underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. The two regions were established in 1763 by the British colonial government out of land taken from France and Spain after the French and Indian War. Reasoning the newly acquired territory too large to govern, the British divided it into two new colonies separated by the Apalachicola River. West Florida was based in Pensacola, and the colony included the part of formerly Spanish Florida west of the Apalachicola, plus the parts of French Louisiana taken by the British. Its northern boundary shifted several times over the years. East Florida has as its capital St. Augustine, which had been the capital of Spanish Florida. Both remained loyal to the British crown during the Revolutionary War, and served as havens for Tories fleeing the Thirteen Colonies. In 1781 Spain invaded West Florida and captured Pensacola, leading Britain to cede both to Spain following the war. The ill defined boundaries led to a series of border disputes between Spain and the nascent United States known as the West Florida Controversy. Disagreements with the Spanish government led settlers along the gulf coast to declare the area the independent Republic of West Florida in 1810. The area was soon annexed by the United States, claiming the region as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The remainder of West Florida and all of East Florida were purchased by the United States in 1819 under the terms of the Adams–Onís Treaty. Florida Territory was formed as a result.

This boldly engraved map covers East and West Florida to the Mississippi River and is a reduction of Thomas Jeffery’s The Coast of West Florida and Louisiana.... The map locates Pensacola, Ft. St. Marks and New Orleans. Lake Pontchartrain, Ascension Bay, and Cape Sable are also shown along with numerous named rivers in the region that extend north as far as Nassau River on the Atlantic coast. Tampa Bay is here named Spiritu Santo Bay. The map does not extend to show any of the Keys beyond Cape Sable. Simple oval title cartouche and distance scale with British Statute Miles. No engraver is credited. Stockwell's imprint beneath the neatline reads "Published Oct.r 18, 1794, by I. Stockdale, Piccadilly." This map was published in Jedidiah Morse’s rare London (Stockdale) version of The American Geography containing 25 maps. This map was produced in England a decade after Britain lost jurisdiction of the region to Spain in 1783. Only two listings for sales of this map in the last 30 years have been located.

References: Howes #M840; McCorkle (18th C. Geography Books) #302 [22]; Sabin #50924.

Condition: A

A dark impression on paper with a "94" watermark. There is a tiny tear in the left blank margin and a printer's crease in the right blank margin.