Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the
Treaty of San Lorenzo or the
Treaty of Madrid, was signed in
San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and established intentions of friendship between the
United States and
Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the
Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the
Mississippi 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 Don
Manuel de Godoy represented Spain.
The treaty was presented to the
United States Senate on February 26, 1796 and after several weeks of debate was ratified on March 7, 1796. It was ratified by Spain on April 25, 1796 and ratifications were exchanged on that date. The treaty was proclaimed on August 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 the
Chattahoochee 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 the Atlantic Ocean. This describes the current boundary between the present state of
Florida and
Georgia and the line from the northern boundary of the Florida panhandle to the northern boundary of that portion of
Louisiana east of the Mississippi. (The line ceases to be a border from the
Pearl River to the
Perdido River in order to provide the states of
Mississippi and
Alabama with seaports.)
This boundary had been in dispute since the
British had expanded the territory of the Florida colonies while it was in their possession. They 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 of
Vicksburg, Mississippi. After the
American 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 the
Chickasaw and
Choctaw Nations of
American Indians within the new boundaries of the United States
[ ]
. The United States and Spain agreed not to incite native tribes to warfare. Previously, Spain had been supplying
weapons 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 the
Mississippi Territory in 1798.
In 1800, under duress from Napoleon of France, Spain ceded an undefined portion of West Florida to France. When France then sold the Louisiana Territory to the US in 1803, a dispute arose again between Spain and the US on which parts of West Florida exactly had Spain ceded to France, which would in turn decide which parts of West Florida were now US property versus Spanish property.
See also
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