By this treaty the United States acquired the Spanish possession of Florida
Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits between the United States of
America and His Catholic Majesty
Concluded at Washington, February 22, 1819;
Ratification Advised by Senate, February 24, 1819;
Ratified by President;
Ratified by the King of Spain, October 24, 1820;
Ratification Again Advised by Senate, February 19, 1821;
Ratified by President, February 22, 1821;
Ratifications Exchanged at Washington, February 22, 1821;
Proclaimed, February 22, 1821.
The United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, desiring to consolidate, on a
permanent basis, the friendship and good correspondence which happily prevails between the
two parties have determined to settle and terminate all their differences and pretensions,
by a treaty, which shall designate, with precision, the limits of their respective
bordering territories in Nornh America.
With this intention, the President of the United States, has furnished with their full
powers, John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the said United States; and His Catholic
Majesty has appointed the Most Excellent Lord Don Luis De Onis, Gonzales, Lopez y Vara,
Lord of the town of Rayaces, Perpetual Regidor of the Corporation of the city of
Salamanca, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal American Order of Isabella the Catholic,
decorated with the Lys of La Vendee, Knight Pensioner of the Royal and Distinguished
Spanish Order of Charles the Third, Member of the Supreme Assembly of the said Royal
Order; of the Council of His Majesty; His Secretary, with Exercise of Decrees, and His
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near the United States of America;
And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their powers, have agreed upon
and concluded the following articles:
Article I
There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere friendship between the United
States and their citizens and His Catholic Majesty, his successors and subjects, without
exception of persons or places.
Article II
His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sovereignty, all
the territories which belong to him, situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by
the name of East and West Florida. The adjacent islands dependent on said provinces, all
public lots and squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and
other buildings, which are not private property, archives and documents, which relate
directly to the property and sovereignty of said provinces, are included in this article.
The said archives and documents shall be left in possession of the commissaries or
officers of the United States, duly authorized to receive them.
Article III
The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on
the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along
the western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude; thence, by a line due
north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches, or Red
River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of longitude 100
west from London and 23 from Washington; then, crossing the said Red River, and running
thence by a line due north, to the river Arkansas; thence, following the course of the
southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude 42 north; and thence, by that
parallel of latitude, to the South Sea. The whole being as laid down in Melish's map of
the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, 1818. But
if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or south of latitude 42,
then the line shall run from the said source due south or north, as the case may be, till
it meets the said parallel of latitude 42, and thence, along the said parallel, to the
South Sea: All the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, throughout
the course thus described, to belong to the United States; but the use of the waters, and
the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas,
throughout the extent of the said boundary, on their respective banks, shall be common to
the respective inhabitants of both nations.
The two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all their rights, claims,
and pretensions, to the territories described by the said line, that is to say: The United
States hereby to His Catholic Majesty, and renounce forever, all their rights, claims and
pretensions, to the territories lying west and south of the above-described line; and, in
like manner, His Catholic Majesty cedes to the said United States all his rights, claims,
and pretensions to any territories east and north of the said line, and for himself, his
heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said territories forever.
Article IV
To fix this line with more precision, and to place the landmarks which shall designate
exactly the limits of both nations, each of the contracting parties shall appoint a
Commissioner and a surveyor, who shall meet before the termination of one year from the
date of the ratification of this treaty at Nachitoches, on the Red River, and proceed to
run and mark the said line, from the mouth of the Sabine to the Red River, and from the
Red River to the river Arkansas, and to ascertain the latitude of the source of the said
river Arkansas, in conformity to what is above agreed upon and stipulated, and the line of
latitude 42, to the South Sea: they shall make out plans, and keep journals of their
proceedings, and the result agreed upon by them shall be considered as part of this
treaty, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein. The two Governments
will amicably agree respecting the necessary articles to be furnished to those persons,
and also as to their respective escorts, should such be deemed necessary.
Article V
The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured in the free exercise of their
religion, without any restriction; and all those who may desire to remove to the Spanish
dominions shall be permitted to sell or export their effects, at any time whatever,
without being subject, in either case, to duties.
Article VI
The inhabitants of the territories which His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United
States, by this treaty, shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, as soon
as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the
enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United
States.
Article VII
The officers and troops of His Catholic Majesty, in the territories hereby ceded by him
to the United States, shall be withdrawn, and possession of the places occupied by them
shall be given within six months after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty,
or sooner if possible, by the officers of His Catholic Majesty to the commissioners or
officers of the United States duly appointed to receive them; and the United States shall
furnish the transports and escorts necessary to convey the Spanish officers and troops and
their baggage to the Havana.
Article VIII
All the grants of land made before the 24th of January, 1818, by His Catholic Majesty,
or by his lawful authorities, in the said territories ceded by His Majesty to the United
States, shall be ratified and confirmed to the persons in possession of the lands, to the
same extent that the same grants would be valid if the territories had remained under the
dominion of His Catholic Majesty. But the owners in possession of such lands, who, by
reason of the recent circumstances of the Spanish nation, and the revolutions in Europe,
have been prevented from fulfilling all the conditions of their grants, shall complete
them within the terms limited in the same, respectively, from the date of this treaty; in
default of which the said grants shall be null and void. All grants made since the said
24th of January, 1818, when the first proposal, on the part of His Catholic Majesty, for
the cession of the Floridas was made, are hereby declared and agreed to be null and void.
Article IX
The two high contracting parties, animated with the most earnest desire of
conciliation, and with the object of putting an end to all the differences which have
existed between them, and of confirming the good understanding which they wish to be
forever maintained between them, reciprocally renounce all claims for damages or injuries
which they, themselves, as well as their respective citizens and subjects, may have
suffered until the time of signing this treaty.
The renunciation of the United States will extend to all the injuries mentioned in the
convention of the 11th of August, 1802.
(2) To all claims on account of prizes made by French privateers, and condemned by
French Consuls, within the territory and jurisdiction of Spain.
(3) To all claims of indemnities on account of the suspension of the right of deposit
at New Orleans in 1802.
(4) To all claims of citizens of the United States upon the Government of Spain,
arising from the unlawful seizures at sea, and in the ports and territories of Spain, or
the Spanish colonies.
(5) To all claims of citizens of the United States upon the Spanish Government,
statements of which, soliciting the interposition of the Government of the United States,
have been presented to the Department of State, or to the Minister of the United States in
Spain, since the date of the convention of 1802, and until the signature of this treaty.
The renunciation of His Catholic Majesty extends -
(1) To all the injuries mentioned in the convention of the 11th of August, 1802.
(2) To the sums which His Catholic Majesty advanced for the return of Captain Pike from
the Provincias Internas.
(3) To all injuries caused by the expedition of Miranda, that was fitted out and
equipped at New York.
(4) To all claims of Spanish subjects upon the Government of the United States arising
from unlawful seizures at sea, or within the ports and territorial jurisdiction of the
United States.
Finally, to all the claims of subjects of His Catholic Majesty upon the Government of
the United States in which the interposition of his Catholic Majesty's government has been
solicited, before the date of this treaty and since the date of the convention of 1802, or
which may have been made to the department of foreign affairs of His Majesty, or to His
Minister in the United States.
And the high contracting parties, respectively, renounce all claim to indemnities for
any of the recent events or transactions of their respective commanders and officers in
the Floridas.
The United States will cause satisfaction to be made for the injuries, if any, which,
by process of law, shall be established to have been suffered by the Spanish officers, and
individual Spanish inhabitants, by the late operations of the American Army in Florida.
Article X
The convention entered into between the two Governments, on the 11th of August, 1802,
the ratifications of which were exchanged the 21st December, 1818, is annulled.
Article XI
The United States, exonerating Spain from all demands in future, on account of the
claims of their citizens to which the renunciations herein contained extend, and
considering them entirely cancelled, undertake to make satisfaction for the same, to an
amount not exceeding five millions of dollars. To ascertain the full amount and validity
of those claims, a commission, to consist of three Commissioners, citizens of the United
States, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, which commission shall meet at the city of Washington, and, within the space of
three years from the time of their first meeting, shall receive, examine, and decide upon
the amount and validity of all the claims included within the descriptions above
mentioned. The said Commissioners shall take an oath or affirmation, to be entered on the
record of their proceedings, for the faithful and diligent discharge of their duties; and,
in case of the death, sickness, or necessary absence of any such Commissioner, his place
may be supplied by the appointment, as aforesaid, or by the President of the United
States, during the recess of the Senate, of another Commissioner in his stead. The said
Commissioners shall be authorized to hear and examine, on oath, every question relative to
the said claims, and to receive all suitable authentic testimony concerning the same. And
the Spanish Government shall furnish all such documents and elucidations as may be in
their possession, for the adjustment of the said claims, according to the principles of
justice, the laws of nations, and the stipulations of the treaty between the two parties
of 27th October, 1795; the said documents to be specified, when demanded, at the instance
of the said Commissioners.
The payment of such claims as may be admitted and adjusted by the said Commissioners,
or the major part of them, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars, shall be
made by the United States,either immediately at their Treasury, or by the creation of
stock, bearing an interest of six per cent. per annum, payable from the proceeds of sales
of public lands within the territories hereby ceded to the United States, or in such other
manner as the Congress of the United States may prescribe by law.
The records of the proceedings of the said Commissioners, together with the vouchers
and documents produced before them, relative to the claims to be adjusted and decided upon
by them, shall, after the close of their transactions, be deposited in the Department of
State of the United States; and copies of them, or any part of them, shall be furnished to
the Spanish Government, if required, at the demand of the Spanish Minister in the United
States.
Article XII
The treaty of limits and navigation, of 1795, remains confirmed in all and each one of
its articles excepting the 2, 3, 4, 21, and the second clause of the 22d article, which
having been altered by this treaty, or having received their entire execution, are no
longer valid.
With respect to the 15th article of the same treaty of friendship, limits, and
navigation of 1795, in which it is stipulated that the flag shall cover the property, the
two high contracting parties agree that this shall be so understood with respect to those
Powers who recognize this principle; but if either of the two contracting parties shall be
at war with a third party, and the other neutral, the flag of the neutral shall cover the
property of enemies whose Government acknowledge this principle, and not of others.
Article XIII
Both contracting parties, wishing to favour their mutual commerce, by affording in
their ports every necessary assistance to their respective merchant-vessels, have agreed
that the sailors who shall desert from their vessels in the ports of the other, shall be
arrested and delivered up, at the instance of the Consul, who shall prove, nevertheless,
that the deserters belonged to the vessels that claimed them, exhibiting the document that
is customary in their nation: that is to say, the American Consul in a Spanish Consul in
American ports the roll of the vessel; and if the name port shall exhibit the document
known by the name of articles, and the Spanish of the deserter or deserters who are
claimed shall appear in the one or the other, they shall be arrested, held in custody, and
delivered to the vessel to which they shall belong.
Article XIV
The United States hereby certify that they have not received any compensation from
France for the injuries they suffered from her privateers, Consuls, and tribunals on the
coasts and in the ports of Spain, for the satisfaction of whichprovision is made by this
treaty; and they will present an authentic statement of the prizes made, and of their true
value, that Spain may avail herself of the same in such manner as she may deem just and
proper.
Article XV
The United States, to give to His Catholic Majesty, a proof of their desire to cement
the relations of amity subsisting between the two nations, and to favour the commerce of
the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, agree that Spanish vessels, coming laden only with
productions of Spanish growth or manufactures, directly from the ports of Spain, or of her
colonies, shall be admitted, for the term of twelve years, to the ports of Pensacola and
St. Augustine, in the Floridas, without paying other or higher duties on their cargoes, or
of tonnage, than will be paid by the vessels of the united States. During the said term no
other nation shall enjoy the same privileges within the ceded territories. The twelve
years shall commence three months after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.
Article XVI
The present treaty shall be ratified in due form, by the contracting parties, and the
ratifications shall be exchanged in six months from this time, or sooner if possible.
In witness whereof we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries of the United States of
America and of His Catholic Majesty, have signed, by virtue of our powers, the present
treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, and have thereunto affixed our seals,
respectively.
Done at Washington this twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and
nineteen. John Quincy Adams [L. S.] Luis de Onis [L. S.]
