Hailey Heseltine
editor@riverbendnews.org
In 1845, Florida became the 27th state to join the United States of America. This year marks 181 years since Florida's statehood began.
Florida's history, of course, began long before European colonization. Native residents had already been living in the state, utilizing its unique resources and developing complex cultures, for thousands of years by the time that Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in 1513. De Leon, after coming ashore somewhere near St. Augustine, named the area La Florida, which we still know the state by today. It was later subject to colonization attempts by the Spanish, French and English, sparking centuries of international conflict. In 1763, the British took control of Florida as payment for returning Havana and Cuba to Spain. The British split the land into East Florida and West Florida, with capitals in St. Augustine and Pensacola, respectively. British control, however, didn't last long. Florida fell back into Spain's hands in 1784, following the Revolutionary War.
Though United States citizens had already begun to inhabit the Spanish-owned land, Florida's territorial period only began in 1821, when Spain formally ceded Florida to the United States as part of the Adams-Onis Treaty. The two Floridas became one again, and Tallahassee was established in 1824 as the new capital about halfway between St. Augustine and Pensacola.
Meanwhile, Florida seemed to cast an alluring effect on citizens of other states, who moved to the state in droves, heightening tensions between many Native Floridians and new Floridians. The First and Second Seminole Wars were among the United States' attempt to oust the native tribes, and they were not entirely successful, as reservations still exist cross the state today.
By 1840, following decades of expensive wars, interest had sparked in the territory becoming a new state, to mixed reactions. A proposed state constitution had already been drafted the previous year in St. Joseph, and the constitution was ratified by a mere hundred votes. By then, nearly 55,000 people, almost half of whom were enslaved people, inhabited the state. Accordingly, its economy became heavily driven by agriculture and plantation life. Congress was hesitant to admit another slave state, but as Iowa prepared for admission as a free state, the balance of the states was no longer going to be significantly altered.
On March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted as one of the United States with William D. Moseley elected as its first governor. Its statehood was briefly interrupted during the Civil War, when Florida seceded from the Union in 1868 and rejoined it seven years later. However, this time is generally not counted in calculations.
Tuesday, March 3, 2026, marked Florida's 181st anniversary of statehood.