Why Aren't We Celebrating the Bicentennial?

Why Aren’t We Celebrating the Bicentennial?

On a foggy Tuesday morning 200 years ago just before daylight – September 23, 1810 – a small band of brave men led by Philemon Thomas snuck through a cattle gate at the rear of the Spanish Fort located on the banks of what is now Capitol Lake.

Thomas was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War who owned a hardware store in old downtown Baton Rouge. He was among the leaders of a group who wanted to make the Spanish colony of West Florida part of the United States of America.

In a brief skirmish: (1.) two Spanish soldiers lost their lives; (2.) Fort San Carlos the seat of Spanish government for the colony fell into the hands of the revolutionaries; and (3.) the West Florida Rebellion was underway.

To understand the importance of this event we need to know a little more of the history of our fair city. This is because most of us assume that Baton Rouge was added to the U.S. by the Louisiana Purchase, but this is not true. LaSalle claimed all the lands drained by the Mississippi River for France in 1682 but Baton Rouge is drained by the Amite River. Our town was not included.

Here is what really happened:

In 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War and France its territory in North American to Britain and Spain. Spain got New Orleans and all the French land west of the Mississippi. Britain got all of the French land east of the Mississippi New Orleans). Our town became part of the newly-created British colony of West Florida and had strategic significance as the southwestern-most corner of British North America. The British were in charge from 1753 until 1779 and they changed our town’s name to New Richmond. had to give up
On July 4, 1776 the 13 American colonies declared their independence and proceeded to whip the British. But many people in the southern colonies of North and South Carolina and Georgia were not in favor of the American Revolution, so these southern tories shore of Lake Pontchartrain which was then the British colony of West Florida. headed west and a bunch of them wound up in the St. Francisville area and along the north
In 1779 Spain entered the Revolutionary War on the American side. The Spanish under Gov. Bernardo Galvez then successfully attacked the British and defeated them in battles at Natchez and Baton Rouge. Thus West Florida once again became a Spanish colony and Baton Rouge was once again the capital.
Then in 1800 France regained sovereignty over the western territory in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. But, strained by obligations in Europe, Napoleon decided to sell the territory to the United States in 1803. That ended France’s presence in Louisiana.

By 1810 it was a real mess. America was on the west side of the Mississippi and the Spanish colony of West Florida was on the east side. Baton Rouge was the capital and it was a powder keg. Spies from several countries were running around and secret plots were about to be hatched everywhere. The British were already making plans for the War of 1812 and their big invasion of New Orleans that came in 1814.

And let’s get one thing straight right now, no matter what the teacher said about the Battle of New Orleans being fought two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent was signed ending the War of 1812. But for a bunch of very brave and very tough citizens of the Pelican State and those Tennessee Volunteers led by Andrew Jackson (with guns and ammunition supplied by Pirate Jean Lafitte) you and I would be speaking with a British accent today.

The West Florida Rebellion and the establishment of the Nation of West Florida in 1810 happened at exactly the right time. It helped to get our ducks in a row before the British invaded New Orleans in 1814. There was no doubt about who owned what by then, thanks to Philemon Thomas, Fulwar Skipwith, Thomas Hickey, Gov. C.C. Claiborne, President James Madison and a bunch of other American heroes both here and in Washington. Louisiana became the 18^th state in 1812 and the future of our nation was reassured by the fact that it was very clear to one and all that the United State of America included both sides of the Mississippi River and the entire northern Gulf Coast.

In other cities the bicentennial of the West Florida Rebellion would be cause for an enormous celebration, but folks in Baton Rouge If you agree with me that this is not as it should be, you can write and tell us so at neighbors@neighborsmag.com. seem to be impervious to our town’s interesting, exciting and important history.

Maybe next year on the 201^st anniversary we can get together down by Capitol Lake and raise a glass to the brave soldiers from Spain and America who participated in the battle that helped decide who owns the territory south of the 31^st parallel, west of the Perdido River, and east of the Mississippi River, but north of Lake Pontchartrain and then south along the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Florida.