In 1821, Jackson's tenure as Governor of Florida could not have been described in starker contrast. According to President Monroe,
"[Jackson served] from a high sense of duty to his country, being willing to contribute to the consummation of an event which would insure complete protection to an important part of our Union, which had suffered much from incursion and invasion, and to the defense of which his very gallant and patriotic services had been so signally and usefully devoted."
But according to Eligious Fromentin who was appointed to be Judge of West Florida there was a treacherous sign in Florida,
"[Jackson] is a Captain General; he is an Intendent; he is a Governor; he is a supreme judge' he is a chancellor; he is ________ what is he not? What he may claim a right to do, nobody knows; nobody can tell."
Which was it?
On June 27, 1821 President James Monroe appointed Eligius Fromentin Esquire of New Orleans to judge of West Florida and part of East Florida west of the Cape Florida Judge Fromentin was to report Pensacola where he would take the duty of office and reside. The Spanish authorities had just recently delivered possession of both Floridas to General Jackson who had setup a temporary government under his leadership as governor. Unfortunately, there was some confusion over Fromentin's role as judge. Fromentin assumed he was being appointed as a Territorial judge with additional jurisdiction extended to those ares where no district court of the Unite States had been established, but instead orders from General Jackson were that his jurisdiction was confined to only revenue laws and the slave trade. Fromentin had assumed that he would be responsible for the command of the judiciary under the temporary government, but Jackson had already established a Territorial court with 5 judges appointed. One of the judges was only 22 years old, 3 years under the limit of 25. Fromentin was very uneasy about this setup, and on August 20th, he reached out by letter to Secretary of State to express these concerns and get some clarification of his role.
If this weren't bad enough, just 3 days later General Jackson had arrested the previous Spanish governor Colonel Don José María Callava, for failing to turn over documents related to deeds of private land. In a letter dated August 26, 1821 to the Secretary of State, Judge Fromentin expressed with outrage the full details of the situation and how he had become involved. After Colonel Callava had been arrested in his own house and carried to jail, people of "all descriptions and languages" called upon Fromentin with a request for a writ of habeas corpus. Without a Marshall to execute the orders, there was none with the authority to demand it. Even if he had the legal authority, Fromentin questioned whether anybody could have obtained a copy of the warrant from General Jackson. Fromentin was very anxious. He was the only one who should have the authority to release Colonel Callava from confinement, yet did not have the power to do so. In fact, Fromentin had consulted the Congressional acts and did find that as judge, he had the right to issue a writ of habeas corpus, but General Jackson said that the writ of habeas corpus was not extended to the Florida territories. Jackson reminded the judge, that his authority was restricted to revenue laws and the slave trade. Fromentin was taken aback. Where, in the acts of Congress did General Jackson get the authority to establish his own criminal court in the territories. Fromentin was not suggesting that Callava was innocent in the matter, but where was protection for the liberties of the people? Where was the trial by jury? What protected the people from the "ravings of ungovernable tyranny"?
Fromentin was determined to let justice prevail, and he proceeded to grant a writ of habeas corpus without the approval of General Jackson. Fromentin drafted the writ and promised Callava release from prison under a security bond of $40,000 and a provision that the requested documents be delivered to the United States court. A draft of the writ was then delivered to the prison guard where Cavalla was being held, and a separate copy was presented to General Jackson. Despite his severe rheumatism that made walking difficult, Fromentin walked to General Jackson's office himself and determined an answer. According to Fromentin, Jackson then accused him of interfering with his authority. Jackson went as far as accusing Fromentin of working under the direction of the Captain General of Cuba, that is the Spanish administration. Fromentin stood strong, and told Jackson that he was not serving under Spanish authority, but rather he was serving the the writ of habeas corpus under the direction of the President of the United States. Jackson demanded that Fromentin put that in writing, and the judge obliged. At this point in the letter, Fromentin suggested that he would not be surprised to find that General Jackson had added to his list of "pompous titles" that of "grand inquisitor". Fromentin suggested that General Jackson would have sent him to the stake for nothing more than having books that were formerly prohibited by Spain in his library.
Fromentin continued with the most damning words about General Jackson one could ever read. Fromentin accused Jackson of establishing an authoritarian government in Florida which went against not only the American Constitution, but the Spanish Constitution which was sworn to in Florida just 16 months earlier. Under Jackson, Fromentin claimed that the inhabitants of Florida had lost the liberties that they enjoyed under Spain and ewer now just a step above "a state of absolute slavery". Fromentin had tried to express these concerns to Jackson directly in his office, but he was asked to leave. Fortunately with no physical injuries, just his "feelings as an American". And in conclusion, he wrote these words:
"The American Flag, it is true - the flag of liberty - waves on our fourts; a treacherous sign in Florida. Sir the bohon upas (poisonous) tree of slavery overshadows our town. Sir, it is reluctantly that I speak of a man whom I once delighted to honor; but I owe you the truth, and painful as the task may be, I must discharge my duty."
Over the next few days, Judge Fromentin sent the Secretary of State a number of letters to share written references to common law of England which supported the principles upon which he granted the writ of habeas corpus, and to further explain his conduct. In one letter dated August 31, he explained how was completely unprepared for the position that General Jackson had established for himself. If he were only a military chief an an executive officer, he could have resisted his authority, and at worse been imprisoned. But, according to Fromentin, General Jackson claimed "unlimited powers".
"He is a Captain General; he is an Intendent; he is a Governor; he is a supreme judge' he is a chancellor; he is ________ what is he not? What he may claim a right to do, nobody knows; nobody can tell."
Fromentin had feared for his life, and now he feared that his name and reputation would be slandered as Fromentin was now at direct odds with the General Andrew Jackson. In a letter dated September 3rd from Jackson to Fromentin, Jackson replied,
"But when you attempt to transcend [my authority], and interfere with my legitimate powers, recollect the admonition I gave you when before me on the 24th ultimo, and attend to it; or you will be treated and punished as you may deserve, regardless of your boasts of blood flowing etc., which pass by me as the fleeting breeze".
Fromentin wrote many letters to respond to Jackson, and to share with the Secretary of States opinion of the authoritarian grip that Jackson had on the Florida territories. It was clear that the situation was maddening for Fromentin. Finally on October 26th, Judge Eligius Fromentin received a letter from the the Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Mr. Adams acknowledged that the letters were received and that they were submitted to the President. President Monroe directed Mr. Adams to inform Mr. Fromentin that the territories of Florida were only subject to the revenue and slave trade laws. And to those laws, ad only those laws was he commissioned as a judge. The President did not have the authority to extend any other laws to the territory, Congress alone had that authority. And until the next session of Congress met, only a temporary government in Florida could be established. The Secretary of State, ended the letter with these simple words that seemed to close the matter with little fanfare.
"In the different view which you have taken of the subject, he is persuaded that your motives and intentions were entirely pure, though he deeply regrets the collision of authority and misunderstanding which has arisen between the Governor of the Territory and you".
In President Monroe's 1821 Annual Address to Congress, he briefly touched on the situation in Florida. He started with emphasizing that "the execution of the laws of the United States relating to the revenue and the slave trade" were the only ones extended to the provinces of Florida. The whole territory was divided into three "collection districts" and revenue officers were appointed along with two judges and one Marshall. The decision to only extend the revenue and slave trade laws was made to avoid expense, and subject the government to claims which may not be met after Congress established a more permanent government in Florida.
"Due attention was likewise paid to the execution of the laws of the United States relating to the revenue and the slave trade, which were extended to these Provinces. The whole Territory was divided into three collection districts, that part lying between the river St. Marys and Cape Florida forming one, that from the Cape to the Apalachicola another, and that from the Apalachicola to the Perdido the third. To these districts the usual number of revenue officers were appointed; and to secure the due operation of these laws one judge and a district attorney were appointed to reside at Pensacola, and likewise one judge and a district attorney to reside at St. Augustine, with a specified boundary between them; and one marshal for the whole, with authority to appoint a deputy.President Monroe then continued to explain that there was a ' a collision arose between the governor of the Territory and the judge appointed for the western district". And in this manner, President Monroe defended the actions of Andrew Jackson while not laying blame on either side. Monroe explained that General Andrew Jackson only accepted the office of governor reluctantly "from a high sense of duty to his country, being willing to contribute to the consummation of an event which would insure complete protection to an important part of our Union, which had suffered much from incursion and invasion, and to the defense of which his very gallant and patriotic services had been so signally and usefully devoted." Nevertheless, President Monroe urged Congress to consider a more permanent and organized government of the territory as early as possible.
In carrying this law into effect, and especially that part relating to the powers of the existing Government of those Provinces, it was thought important, in consideration of the short term for which it was to operate and the radical change which would be made at the approaching session of Congress, to avoid expense, to make no appointment which should not be absolutely necessary to give effect to those powers, to withdraw none of our citizens from their pursuits, whereby to subject the Government to claims which could not be gratified and the parties to losses which it would be painful to witness."
"It has been seen with much concern that in the performance of these duties a collision arose between the governor of the Territory and the judge appointed for the western district. It was presumed that the law under which this transitory Government was organized, and the commissions which were granted to the officers who were appointed to execute each branch of the system, and to which the commissions were adapted, would have been understood in the same sense by them in which they were understood by the Executive. Much allowance is due to officers employed in each branch of this system, and the more so as there is good cause to believe that each acted under the conviction that he possessed the power which he undertook to exercise. Of the officer holding the principal station, I think it proper to observe that he accepted it with reluctance, in compliance with the invitation given him, and from a high sense of duty to his country, being willing to contribute to the consummation of an event which would insure complete protection to an important part of our Union, which had suffered much from incursion and invasion, and to the defense of which his very gallant and patriotic services had been so signally and usefully devoted.http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29463
From the intrinsic difficulty of executing laws deriving their origin from different sources, and so essentially different in many important circumstances, the advantage, and indeed the necessity, of establishing as soon as practicable a well-organized Government over that Territory on the principles of our system is apparent. This subject is therefore recommended to the early consideration of Congress."
American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Volume 10; Volume 38 pgs 833-867
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