d declared West Florida a free and independent state, appealing to the
Supreme Ruler of the world for the rectitude of their intentions. What
their intentions were appeared in a petition to the President for
annexation to the United States. This was an opportune moment for the
realization of the hopes which Madison had cherished ever since the
acquisition of Louisiana. On October 27, 1810, he issued a proclamation,
announcing that Governor Claiborne would take possession of West Florida
to the river Perdido, in the name of the United States.

Not satisfied with this achievement, President Madison called attention
in a secret message to the condition of East Florida and asked Congress
for authority to take temporary possession of any part or parts of the
territory. With equal secrecy Congress gave the desired authorization,
and the President immediately sent two commissioners with large
discretionary powers to the St. Mary's River. In March, 1812, another
"revolution" took place. The Spanish governor of East Florida was forced
to surrender and to permit the occupation of Amelia Island in the name
of the United States. The farce was too broad, however, even for the
eager Administration. The President was obliged to disavow the acts of
his agents. But Amelia Island was not evacuated until May, 1813, and
West Florida was never released. After much deliberation Congress
annexed part of the region to the new State of Louisiana and joined the
rest to the Territory of Mississippi.

In the Northwest also American pioneers were overrunning the bounds, not
those fixed by international agreement, to be sure, but those marked by
Indian treaties, which commanded even less respect. A society which
believed that the only good Indian was a dead Indian was not likely to
be over-nice in its appraisal of his property rights. The line of
intercourse marked by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 had receded
somewhat as home-seekers had pushed their way up the rivers from the
Ohio into the Indiana Territory; but the vast interior around the upper
waters of the Wabash River was still closed to white men. Governor
William Henry Harrison fully shared the irritation of the settlers that
Indians should monopolize the best lands. He was therefore a willing
agent of the President when in 1804 and 1805 he took advantage of the
necessities of certain chieftains, whom he called "the most depraved
wretches on earth," to despoil whole tribes of their lands,