In 1804, the Mobile Act proclaimed by Jefferson was believed to have settled the territorial disputes with Spain over the Mobile river and West Florida. Yet, both the United States and Spain laid claim to the land between the Mobile and the Perdido rivers. This continued through 1810, when many secret meetings of those who resented Spanish rule held open conventions in the Baton Rouge District. Out of these meetings grew the West Florida rebellion and the establishment of the independent Republic of West Florida. On September 23, 1810, armed rebels led by Philemon Thomas stormed the ramshackle Fort San Carlos at Baton Rouge. The rebels then raised the flag of the new republic, a single white star on a blue field. Three days later the revolutionaries signed a declaration of independence and delivered it to the the governors of Orleans and Mississippi territories with a request for annexation by the United States and protection from Spanish counterattacks. The governors informed President James Madison who wanted to move quickly to annex the district but knew that military operations would require congressional approval. Congress was not meeting until December 10, yet Madison feared that if he did not move fast, West Florida could fall into unfriendly hands, namely the British. So, Madison acted without clear constitutional authority. Citing executive authority on the grounds that a crisis was at hand, Madison issued a proclamation on October 27th directing the governor of Orleans to take possession of West Florida. Six weeks later, on December 10th, the American flag was raised over Baton Rouge. The independent Republic of West Florida was ended, just seventy-four days after it came into existence.
On December 5th, Madison used his annual address to justify to Congress why he took such quick executive action. Madison first explained, that Spanish authority in West Florida had been "subverted" and a situation arose which could lead to ulterior events which might "affect the rights and welfare of the Union". By this, Madison meant that the rebellion left the door wide open for Great Britain to strike. There were already many British subjects living in West Florida. Therefore, Madison explained that he did not delay in intervening to claim the territory which he believed was already rightfully ours based upon titles drawn up in 1804. Madison provided the proclamation to Congress and left it to Congress to consider the legality and necessity of the course he pursued.
"Among the events growing out of the state of the Spanish Monarchy, our attention was imperiously attracted to the change developing itself in that portion of West Florida which, though of right appertaining to the United States, had remained in the possession of Spain awaiting the result of negotiations for its actual delivery to them. The Spanish authority was subverted and a situation produced exposing the country to ulterior events which might essentially affect the rights and welfare of the Union. In such a conjuncture I did not delay the interposition required for the occupancy of the territory west of the river Perdido, to which the title of the United States extends, and to which the laws provided for the Territory of Orleans are applicable. With this view, the proclamation of which a copy is laid before you was confided to the governor of that Territory to be carried into effect. The legality and necessity of the course pursued assure me of the favorable light in which it will present itself to the Legislature, and of the promptitude with which they will supply whatever provisions may be due to the essential rights and equitable interests of the people thus brought into the bosom of the American family."
Madison's critics were quick to condemn him for acting without proper authority and for superseding Spanish jurisdiction. Yet ,on January 15, 1811 Congress passed a joint resolution providing for the temporary occupation of the disputed territory and declaring that the territory should remain subject to future negotiation. On March 11, 1811 the rebels once again raised the Lone Star flag forcing Governor Claiborne to dispatch troops, and it was not until 1819 that Spain finally agreed to relinquish it's title to the Untied States.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29452
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_West_Florida
http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1478
http://dos.myflorida.com/media/8124/west_florida_499x335.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/1806_Cary_Map_of_Florida,_Georgia,_North_Carolina,_South_Carolina_and_Tennessee_-_Geographicus_-_NCSCGAFL-cary-1806.jpg
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