- Pinckney's Treaty
Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed in
San Lorenzo de El Escorial onOctober 27 ,1795 and established intentions of friendship between theUnited States andSpain . It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on theMississippi River . The treaty's full title is Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Between Spain and the United States.Thomas Pinckney negotiated the treaty for the United States and DonManuel de Godoy representedSpain .The treaty was presented to the
United States Senate onFebruary 26 ,1796 and after several weeks of debate was ratified onMarch 7 ,1796 . It was ratified by Spain onApril 25 ,1796 and ratifications were exchanged on that date. The treaty was proclaimed onAugust 3 ,1796 .By terms of the treaty, Spain and the United States agreed that the southern boundary of the United States with the Spanish Colonies of East and
West Florida was a line beginning on the Mississippi River at the 31st degree north latitude drawn due east to the middle of theChattahoochee River and from there along the middle of the river to the junction with the Flint River and from there straight to the headwaters of the St. Marys River and from there along the middle of the channel to theAtlantic Ocean . This describes the current boundary between the present state ofFlorida and Georgia and the line from the northern boundary of the Florida panhandle to the northern boundary of that portion ofLouisiana east of the Mississippi. (The line ceases to be a border from thePearl River to thePerdido River in order to provide the states ofMississippi andAlabama with seaports.)This boundary had been in dispute since the British had expanded the territory of the Florida colonies while it was in possession of them. It had moved the boundary from the 31st degree latitude northwards to a line drawn due east from the junction of the
Yazoo River and the Mississippi, the present day location ofVicksburg, Mississippi . After theAmerican Revolutionary War , Spain claimed the British border at the day of the Treaty of Paris while the United States insisted on the old boundary.The treaty directed the United States and Spain to jointly survey the boundary line, and
Andrew Ellicott served as the head of the U.S survey party. The treaty set the western boundary of the United States, separating it from the Spanish Colony of Louisiana as the middle of the Mississippi River from the northern boundary of the United States to the 31st degree north latitude. The agreement therefore put the lands of theChickasaw andChoctaw Nations of American Indians within the new boundaries of the United States. cite book
last = O'Brien
first = Greg
title = Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830
origdate = 2002, 2005
url =
accessdate =
publisher = University of Nebraska Press
location =
chapter = Choctaw and Power
chapterurl = ] The United States and Spain agreed not to incite native tribes to warfare. Previously, Spain had been supplyingweapon s to local tribes for many years. Spain and the United States also agreed to protect the vessels of the other party anywhere within their jurisdictions and to not detain or embargo the other's citizens or vessels. The treaty also guaranteed navigation of the entire length of the river for both the United States and Spain. The territory ceded by Spain in this treaty was organized by the United States into theMississippi Territory in1798 .ee also
*
History of Mississippi
*History of Alabama
*List of treaties
*Spanish-American relations
*British Royal Proclamation of 1763
*British colonization of the Americas
*EAST Florida Citations
External links
* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/spain/sp1795.htm Text of Treaty from the Avalon Project]
* [http://www.enlou.com/documents/pinckneystreaty.htm Text of Pinckney's Treaty from Encyclopedia Louisiana]
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