Kingdom of Florida

  

Kingdom of Florida Reino de Florida (es)
1868–1922
Flag adopted by the kingdom in 1868 Coat of arms
Motto: In God we Trust
Anthem: "Florida National Anthem"
Capital	St. Augustine
Largest city	Miami
Common languages	English (de facto), Spanish
Religion	Roman Catholcism Protestantism (recognized minority)
Government	Federal Constitutional Monarchy
King
• 1868-1899	Antonio I
• 1900-1921	Antonio II
• 1921	Felipe
Prime Minister
• 1866-1878	John Militon (First)
• 1919-1922	Alejandro Torres y Leon (Last)
Legislature	Florida National Legislature
Historical era	Modern
• War of Contingency	1866–1868
• Independence	December 25 1868
• Union Treaty	May 1 1921
Preceded by Succeeded by State of Florida American Continental Republic

The Kingdom of Florida, or simply Florida, was a sovereign state located in southern North America, today the southern United Commonwealth. Established following the end of the War of Contingency, Florida existed as an independent country from 1868 to 1922, when it was incorporated into the United Commonwealth as the state Augustina of the American Continental Republic, following the conclusion of the Continental Revolutionary War.

The Kingdom of Florida was established on December 25, 1868 following the conclusion of the War of Contingency. Previously a state of the United States, Florida was acquired by Spain following the War of Contingency and was made an independent nation at the behest, and demand, of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Sierra. Florida operated as a Spanish puppet-state from 1868 to 1898, where it was used as a staging ground for further Spanish incursions into the Americas. Florida gained total independence and autonomy from Spain following the Spanish–American War, where its independence and right to existence was protected by the Anglo-American nations from the United Commonwealth of America.

Economic inequalities and resentment towards a unpopular and increasingly authoritarian monarchy cultivated in a rise in support for radical ideologies, such as Landonism and Continentalism, among the public. Florida intervened in the Continental Revolutionary War, siding with the Federalist-led government against the Continentalist revolutionaries. As the tides of war turned in the favor of the Continentalists, the Federalists forcibly assumed control of most of the Floridian forces, who were deployed on the front lines of the conflict to stall Continentalist advances into the American South. As Continentalist forces grew closer to Florida, Floridian officials and forces assisted in the retreat of Federalist forces to the Antilles. Florida was invaded by Continentalist forces in mid-1921, and with assistance from Floridian insurgents, forced the kingdom to surrender in 1922. Florida was recognized as territory of the newly-established United Commonwealth of Continental States through the Treaty of Bernheim and was incorporated into the American Continental Republic as the state of Augustina.

Florida officially operated as a semi-constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. However, the Monarchy of Florida held considerable influence in the proceedings of government, and by the start of the twentieth century was considered to be the de jure governing institution in Florida. The national legislature of Florida was the Florida National Legislature, from which the head of government, the Prime Minister of Florida, was selected from. As a Spanish puppet-state, Florida was considered apart of the restored Spanish sphere of influence in the Americas. After securing full political independence from Spain, Florida was considered apart of an informal association of American breakaway states, which included the Northeast Union, Acadiana, Superior, and Tournesol.

Government and politics

Military

The cruisers King of Florida (pictured) and Prince of Miami, purchased from the United Commonwealth in 1910, formed the basis of the Royal Navy of Florida.

The Royal Army of Florida had 15,000 soldiers organized into 14 regiments as of 1916, and was led by a Chief of Staff that answered to the Minister of War. The Army was mostly used for garrison and police duties during its existence, and had one officer commissioning school, the Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, a branch of the Florida Royal University. Since the Royal Army never saw combat before the Continental Revolutionary War, most of its equipment was outdated and the soldiers and officers were considered to be inexperienced compared to those of the Continental Revolutionary Army or the Federalist Army. Still the Royal Army was motivated to fight during the Continentalist invasion of Florida and had a large number of volunteers joining after King Antonio's call for a mobilization in late 1919.

The Royal Navy of Florida was established in 1892, initially consisting of gunboats and steamship transports for assisting the army, and about 700 personnel. It was expanded in 1910 with the purchase of two cruisers from the United Commonwealth, mainly for prestige, which were named King of Florida and Prince of Miami. The navy never saw combat and was of limited use during the war, mainly transporting troops. By the end of the conflict King of Florida was captured during the Battle of Tampa and later became part of the Continental Navy, while Prince of Miami was used to evacuate members of the Floridian government and some Federalist troops during the retreat of the Federalist forces to the Antilles, and would become part of the United Commonwealth Navy.

See also

• United Commonwealth
• Continental Revolutionary War
• Floridian Civil War
• Union Treaty
• War of Contingency
• Augustinia

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Kingdom of Florida, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).