Christopherstill.com - Fine artist known for his paintings and murals of Florida

A New Capital
A Painting by Christopher M. Still

Andrew Jackson holds up the twenty-three star American flag flown in 1821, the year Florida became a United States territory. Florida's first permanent capitol sits amid the rolling hills of Tallahassee, and a slave woman gazes into the future. This painting represents that period of great change from the early 1800s until Florida drafted its first constitution in 1838.

The Spanish flag had flown over La Florida for nearly 300 years when in 1818 Andrew Jackson crossed the border in a military expedition to end an Indian uprising. After dealing with the Indians, he brashly went on to easily capture Spanish forts in the area, making it quite clear that Spain's hold on the land was tenuous. His effort led to the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819 which would make East and West Florida into United States territory. Jackson returned to Florida in 1821 to take formal possession of the land. He served as its military governor for a brief three months-beginning the Americanization of the former La Florida.

Still divided into two parts, Florida had a capital in both St. Augustine and Pensacola. This arrangement proved extremely inconvenient and dangerous for the area's new delegates, who had to make long, dangerous journeys from one capital to the other. They quickly decided to unite Florida into one territory and choose a new, more conveniently located capital-midway between the two cities. The area of Tallahassee was selected for its beautiful landscape as well as for its location. Thirteen delegates and the new governor met in a simple log building there in the fall of 1824, established the town of Tallahassee, and began the business of governing the territory. Two years later a more permanent brick structure was built.

When acquired in 1821, Florida was mainly wilderness with pockets of Indians, African-Americans and Spaniards. Planters and settlers made their way into the territory, rapidly increasing its population, particularly in cotton growing regions. Florida's cotton plantations were soon producing as much cotton as adjoining states and a large number of Florida's new residents were black slaves.

As the territory developed and naturally began to push toward statehood, its major obstacles were the removal of Indians and problems with Spanish land grants-tracts of land given to individuals prior to U.S. occupation. Many of these grants were in litigation for years. A treaty in 1832 provided for the Indians to be moved out of the state, but many Seminoles refused to leave their homeland, resulting in the Second Seminole War.

Florida's first constitution was drafted at a territorial constitutional convention in 1838. It was ratified by a close vote, and Florida petitioned for statehood. Not until 1845 did Congress pass a bill to admit Florida to the American Union as its twenty-seventh state.

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A New Capital

1)	*General Andrew Jackson*. Andrew Jackson became a U.S. hero after defeating the British in the Battle of New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812. In 1818 he led a military expedition into Spanish Florida and put down a rebellion by Seminole Indians-burning two villages and hanging two British subjects suspected of inciting the Indians. This became known as the first Seminole War. He brazenly continued on to capture Spanish forts in the area, highlighting the weakness of Spain's control over the area. Soon afterward the Spanish negotiated the Adams-Onís Treaty making Florida a territory of the United States. Jackson returned to Florida in the summer of 1821 to take possession of the new U.S. territory and to serve as its first military governor. He resigned after only three months, but during his brief term of service he issued ordinances and orders that began to Americanize the former La Florida.
2)	*Adams-Onís Treaty*. The American Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams and Spanish Minister Luis de Onís reached an agreement in 1819 to cede East and West Florida to the United States.
3)	*American Flag*. The American flag that was raised over the new territory of Florida in Pensacola on July 17, 1821, had 23 stars. Florida did not become a state until 1845.
4)	*John Lee Williams and Dr. William H. Simmons*. Williams of St. Augustine and Simmons of Pensacola were charged with locating a more convenient spot for the new Legislative Council to meet, midway between their two cities.
5)	*Neamathla's Village*. When Williams and Simmons considered the site of Tallahassee for the territory's new capital it was inhabited by a number of Indian tribes. A concerned Chief Neamathla questioned the white men at length about their purpose there. They reassured him that their plans would not affect his people.
6)	*The Cascades*. Williams and Simmons came upon a beautiful stream cascading twenty or thirty feet into a large chasm at the base of a hill. The sight captivated Williams and was a factor in the decision to locate the capital there. Today's Florida capitol is just north and west of this stream, which no longer cascades and is barely visible.
7)	*The Log Cabin Capitol*. On March 30, 1822, the unified government of Florida was established. On March 4, 1824, Florida's first territorial governor, William P. DuVal, proclaimed the chosen site of Tallahassee as the seat of the new territory. Planters and slaves from Gadsden County quickly erected three log cabins to accommodate the next meeting of the Legislative Council.
8)	*Territorial Delegates. The Legislative Council was made up of thirteen citizens and the governor. They met in the log capitol in the fall and winter of 1824 and officially named their new town Tallahassee*. The Council also laid out plans for the town's design, established Leon county, and made provision to replace their modest log capitol with a building made of brick.
9)	Prime Meridian Marker. This marker, the southeast corner of Tallahassee's first quarter section, is the starting point from which land in Florida is measured by surveyors. A legend claims that the heavy marker, inscribed 1N 1E (one north, one east), was placed where the wagon carrying it broke down. The Marquis de Lafayette of France was offered a U.S. township anywhere in the public domain as repayment for his service during the American Revolution. He selected an area bounded on two sides by the prime meridians, adjacent to the new capital city of Tallahassee.
10)	*Second Capitol*. In 1826, a new capitol building was constructed of brick, using mortar made with lime taken from the area known as the Cascades. The only known surviving image of this building was created by French artist, Francis Conte de Castelnau in 1838, a year before the structure was demolished. The building was designed by Colonel Robert Butler, Surveyor General for Florida.
11)	*Governor DuVal*. William P. DuVal, shown here in the window of the capitol, was appointed by President Monroe to serve as the territory's first civil governor.
12)	*Governor Keith Call*. Richard Keith Call came to Florida in 1814 as Andrew Jackson's personal aide and friend. He served as the territory's third (1836-39) and fifth (1841-44) civil governor. Lafayette reportedly selected the Tallahassee area for his township because of Call's influence.
13)	*Presentation Coffee Pot*. This silver pot was presented in 1824 to John Innskeep by the North American Insurance Company in recognition of his accomplishment in settling complex land claims created by the Adams-Onís Treaty. The present day House of Representatives chambers can be seen reflected in the pot.
14)	*The First Constitution*. Florida's first constitution was drafted in 1838 at the seaport town of St. Joseph (now part of Port St. Joe). The constitution was ratified in 1839 by a narrow margin.
15)	*First Acts of the Legislature*. The initial acts of Florida's Territorial Council divided the territory into four counties and established local courts. This act is the first of a series containing acts, resolutions and memorials of the Territorial Council of 1822-44.
16)	*First Bills of the Territory*. These are hand written copies of bills passed by the first Territorial Council.
17)	*Map of Territorial Florida*. The map's many colors show the development of counties as Florida's government worked its way towards statehood.
18)	*Duel Placard*. Political discussions sometimes led to heated arguments and then to deadly duels in the territory's "wild frontier" days. This public notice pronouncing General Leigh Read to be a coward was posted by Whig party leader William Tradewell in March, 1839, after Read refused to apologize or duel following an argument. General Read, a leading Democrat, remarked at the time that if he were going to fight someone, it would be the head of the Whigs, Colonel Augustus Alston. Hearing this, Colonel Alston challenged Read to a duel. This offer was accepted and the duel set for December 12, 1839. Alston was a seasoned duelist and Read was considered to be as good as dead.
19)	*"Yager" Rifle*. General Read chose this unusual hunting rifle with a sensitive hair-trigger with which to duel. The over-confident Colonel Alston, unused to this heavy weapon, lost his balance and fired before he was able to aim. Read then calmly shot Alston in the chest, killing him.
20)	*Bullet Press and Bullet*. Although the Alston-Read duel was considered "fair", Alston's grieving sisters thought of it as murder. They removed the bullet from Alston's body, and had it melted down and poured into a press to reshape it. They sent it to their older brother-insisting he avenge his brother's death using the same bullet. General Read was shot and killed by Willis Alston in April, 1841. The bullet rests on the map precisely on top of Tallahassee. The legislature eventually put penalties in place to try to end such violence.
21)	*Florida's First Railroad*. The Tallahassee-St. Marks road was incorporated on February 10, 1834 and served the capital with a tram drawn by two mules.
22)	*Opened Slave Shackles*. Slavery was an integral part of plantation farming. Some escaped slaves found refuge with Native American tribes. Others risked treacherous voyages to the Caribbean.
23)	*Cotton*. Cotton was the primary crop that fueled the slave trade and Florida's growth.
24)	*Slave Woman*. Holding her hand over her heart and looking to the future, a young woman pledges allegiance to the American flag of the future. The light of a setting sun sends her long shadow onto the steps of the early capitol.

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