Southeastern Louisiana University

Commission planning for West Florida Republic bicentennial

Contact: Christina Chapple

7/6/09

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     The West Florida Republic Bicentennial Commission, created by recent legislation sponsored by State Rep. John Bel Edwards, met for the first time on June 23 at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, which will serve as planning headquarters.

     Southeastern history professor Sam Hyde, director of the center and an authority on Florida Parishes history, said the bicentennial’s goal is “overcoming the ignorance and mystery that surrounds the event that gives the Florida Parishes its distinctive identity and makes the area the most unique region of Louisiana.”

     Serving with Hyde on the planning commission are State Archivist Florent Hardy and representatives from each of the Florida Parishes, including Jeannine Bickham, Washington Parish Tourist Commission; Betty Stewart, Tangipahoa Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau; Renee Kientz, St. Tammany Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau; Rita Allen, St. Helena Parish Tourist Commission; David Norwood, West Feliciana Parish representative; Audrey Facine, East Feliciana Parish Tourist Commission; and Eric Edwards, Livingston Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau.

     Hyde will chair the commission with Norwood as vice chairman and Stewart as secretary-treasurer.

     “Most people fail to realize that the Florida Parishes were not a part of the Louisiana Purchase,” said Hyde. “Instead, the region remained a part of the Spanish Empire. After a failed effort in 1804 to overthrow Spanish authority in the region, a far more organized rising occurred in 1810.”

     Hyde said armed rebels stormed the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge early in the morning of Sept. 23, 1810, and “in a sharp and bloody firefight wrested control of the region from the Spanish.” Meeting at St. Francisville, the West Florida Assembly elected Fulwar Skipwith governor of the new republic and commissioned an army under General Philemon Thomas to march across the territory, subdue opposition to the insurrection, and secure as much Spanish held territory as possible.

     “Eventually the territory of the republic extended from the Mississippi to the Pearl River,” Hyde said. “The republic endured for 74 days before being forcibly annexed by the United States, an event that essentially completed the Louisiana Purchase.”

     Hyde said support for the revolt was far from unanimous. “Residents of the western Florida Parishes proved largely supportive of the revolt,” Hyde said, “while the majority of the population in the eastern region of the Florida Parishes opposed the insurrection. Thomas’ army violently suppressed opponents of the revolt, leaving a bitter legacy in the Tangipahoa and Tchefuncte River regions.”

     For additional information about the bicentennial planning, contact the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, 985-549-2151