Fulwar Skipwith and The Republic of West Florida
Fulwar Skipwith was the first and only Governor of the independent nation of West Florida.
Published 11/13/18 - Updated 9/28/21
Fulwar Skipwith
Fulwar Skipwith was only 16 years old when he dropped out of the College of William and Mary to join the Continental Army…just in time to participate in the Victory at Yorktown.
A distant cousin of Thomas Jefferson, Skipwith began a career as a merchant, specializing in tobacco.
By 1786, Fulwar traveled to London on business, remaining in Europe for the better part of a decade.
Consul-General
Soon after George Washington assumed the presidency, Skipwith was chosen as an American Consul which made him a diplomat and representative of the United States in foreign policy. This seems to have been a position at which he excelled and by 1795 Fulwar was chosen as the Consul-General to Paris.
In this position, he served directly under then Minister to France James Monroe.
Unfortunately, Monroe’s time as Minister was not to Washington’s liking and after two years he was recalled. This reflected poorly on Skipwith for a brief time.
Eventually, Fulwar returned to North American, just in time for another revolution…
West Florida
Skipwith moved to what was then West Florida which covered most of southern Mississippi and was then apparently part of the Louisiana Territory.
Whether or not this land was part of the Louisiana Purchase was still in question, but it was technically still being run by Spain.
Shortly after Fulwar’s arrival, this area broke out into rebellion.
An influx of Americans had arrived in area that was filled with Loyalists who had moved there after the Revolutionary War.Along with the Spanish who governed the area, these three groups all vied for power.
Skipwith’s camp (the Americans) took control of the region and declared an independent nation.
The first Governor of the independent State of Florida was Fulwar Skipwith.
Governor
President James Madison was not happy about this situation.
He did not want to send soldiers into an area which was occupied by Spain, a friendly nation who was a vital ally during the Revolutionary War. On the other hand, he believed it was technically American territory.
Most of all, Madison was upset with Florida declaring itself independent. Skipwith wanted to negotiate terms for his new State instead of simply being annexed, given a territorial governor, and being told what to do.
Madison made the decision to send soldiers in and take control of the area.
The Floridians, who were greatly outgunned and out-manned, read the situation correctly and soon conceded defeat. Truthfully, Skipwith always expected to be absorbed into the Unite States (hence why he was Governor and not President). He just wanted West Florida to be its own State.
Instead, West Florida was absorbed into Louisiana and Mississippi.
All in all, Fulwar Skipwith, having officially served for just twelve days, was the first and only person ever chosen as Governor of the independent State of Florida.
If you’d like to learn more about Founders who spent time as diplomats in Paris, check out my articles on Gouverneur Morris and Robert Livingston.
As for Skipwith, there is not a lot of literature out there about him. There is a brief discussion in ‘How the States Got Their Shapes’ which is a great book that tells a lot of interesting stories from across the United States. You can pick it up from Amazon through our affiliate link below.
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