Editing History of Florida (section)

====Republic of East Florida====
{{main article|Republic of East Florida}}
In March 1812, a small independent band of Americans took control of [[Amelia Island]] on the Atlantic coast. They declared that they were now an independent republic free from Spanish rule in what would become known as the [[Patriot War (Florida)|Patriot War]]. The revolt was organized by [[George Mathews (Georgia)|General George Mathews]] of the U.S. Army, who had been authorized to secretly negotiate with the Spanish governor for American acquisition of East Florida. Instead, Mathews organized a group of frontiersmen in Georgia, who arrived at the Spanish town of [[Fernandina, Florida|Fernandina]] and demanded the surrender of all of Amelia Island. Upon declaring the island a republic, he led his volunteers along with a contingent of regular army troops south towards St. Augustine. Upon hearing of Mathews' actions, the government became alarmed that he would provoke war with Spain. Secretary of State [[James Monroe]] ordered Matthews to return all captured territory to Spanish authorities. After several months of negotiations on the withdrawal of the Americans and compensation for their foraging through the countryside, the countries came to an agreement, and Amelia Island was returned to the Spanish in May 1813.<ref>James G. Cusick, ''The Other War of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida'' (University of Georgia Press, 2007).</ref>

A similar filibuster action took place in September 1817, when the Scottish veteran and con-man [[Gregor MacGregor]] led a private force and captured Amelia Island and declared it part of the [[Republic of the Floridas]]. By December 1817, the United States seized the island.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doyle |first1=Patrick W. |title=Unmasked: The Author of 'Narrative of a Voyage to the Spanish Main in the Ship ''Two Friends'' ' |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |date=Fall 1999 |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=192–193 |url=http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A25534 |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref>