When did Florida become a U.S. territory?
Florida Territory
Beginning in late 1835, Osceola and the Seminole allies began a guerrilla war against the U.S. forces.[3]:105–110 Numerous generals fought and failed, succumbing to the heat and disease as well as lack of knowledge of the land. It was not until General Thomas Jesup captured many of the key Seminole chiefs, including Osceola who died in captivity of illness, that the battles began to die down.[3]:137–160 The Seminoles were eventually forced to migrate. Florida joined the Union as the 27th state on March 3, 1845.[8] By this time, almost all of the Seminoles were gone, except for a small group living in the Everglades.
Constitution of Florida
Florida became subject to the military authority of the federal government in 1867. Pursuant to an Act of Congress, General John Pope, Commander of the Third Military District, issued an order on April 8, 1867, dividing the 39 counties of the State into 19 districts for the election of delegates to a convention to frame a new State Constitution. The Constitution had to conform with the Federal Constitution and with the 13th and 14th Amendments. The Convention met in Tallahassee on January 20, 1868. As the Convention began its functions, bitter factions were formed. "The radical delegates were in the vast majority and backed by a large militant black electorate."[4] For two weeks, the "radical" and "moderate" factions, the latter "a powerful organized lobby of Southern planters, Northern capitalists, and capitalists",[4]:529 debated. "Moderates", under the leadership of future governor Harrison Reed, tried to give the sparsely populated white counties the same voting power as the heavily populated black counties. However, the "radicals" (28 of the 46 elected delegates, 18 of which were black and at least 15 of were former slaves, literate, "gentlemen," and "eloquent" as a Northern reporter who was present described them,[5]), would not agree to this.