From Territory to State
A New Capital, painting by Christopher Still
Under the Spaniards, St. Augustine had continued to serve as the capital of East Florida. Pensacola had remained West Florida's capital. The U.S. combine the two Floridas into one territory. General Andrew Jackson set up a new territorial government in 1821. The young territory needed a new capital.
A site was chosen for the soon-to-be city halfway between the two original capitals. Tallahassee was established here as the capital of Florida in 1824. The first legislators met in a simple log cabin. Two years later, a new capitol building made of bricks was completed.
The territory's economy was based on agriculture, and enslaved people worked on numerous cotton plantations and small farms. By 1840, almost half of Florida's population consisted of Blacks, and most were enslaved. Florida became the 27th state in 1845.
1. What city in Florida is represented in this painting? (Clue: The log cabin was the first capitol.)
2. Go to christopherstill.com/fl-house-of-reps and click on the picture that matches the painting above.
3. Click on "Go to link" to learn more about how Florida became a state.
Free Play
What do you know about Andrew Jackson?
Portraits are paintings that show what people look like at a certain point in time. They can be important state and family records or a way to remember a person. Artists usually are hired to paint a portrait, but some are made because an artist is inspired by or admires a person.
How do historians use portraits?
Historians use portraits to become familiar with the person they are researching. Because artists paint from their point of view, studying a group of portraits painted by different artists can tell us much more about the person.
Your task for this Free Play is to study various portraits of Andrew Jackson to find facts about who he was.
Directions
1. Go to floridamemory.com/learn/research-tools/guides/governors/jackson.php
2. Click Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845, under "Florida Photographic Collection"
3. Use the portraits of Andrew Jackson to answer the questions below.
1. What differences do you notice about Jackson's appearance in different portraits? What similarities do you notice?
2. What is he wearing in most of the portraits?
3. Go to https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/160737 to fill in the blanks below.
A. Andrew Jackson was Florida's governor.
B. He served as the governor of the territories of and Florida from March 10 until December 31, 1821.
Sketch or paste the most interesting portrait of Andrew Jackson.
Florida State Seal
Each state in the nation has a seal—a visual image that illustrates its unique character. New and different seals were made for Florida when it became a territory in 1821 and a state in 1845, and another after the Civil War. The state's current seal was adopted in 1985. It features a steamboat on the water, a sabal palm (the state tree), and a Native woman scattering flowers.
To learn more about Florida's state seal: dos.fl.gov/florida-facts/florida-state-symbols/state-seal
Use the picture on the website to color Florida's current state seal.
