The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 157
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Immigration Policy of Governor Esteban Mir6
an extension of four months had expired, the remaining residents in
West Florida petitioned Governor Mir6 for permission to remain on
their lands under the same terms as they had been living since the
Spanish assumed control.8
The West Florida residents were British subjects who entered in
the years after 1763, when Britain acquired Florida, and Americans
who came in mostly during the Revolutionary War. In West Florida
they were settled in Mobile, Pensacola, Manchak, and especially in the
Natchez District where they were most numerous. Under normal
conditions they would not have qualified for residence in the colony
because Spanish immigration laws limited entry to Catholics, and
most of them were Protestants. Those who remained after the evacu-
ation were destitute, and Governor Mir6 feared that, if forced out
by land, they would merely resettle nearby on the edge of the prov-
ince, where others would join them, and together threaten the
colony's security.'
It was at this point in 1785 that Mir6 unveiled a plan that would
reappear elsewhere and be presented by others in the next two years.
Concluding that the interests of the colony demanded that the Anglo-
American residents remain, the governor proposed a way by which
the Protestant settlers might be converted and assimilated through
the use of English-speaking Irish missionaries. Already in West Flor-
ida since the Spanish conquest, Catholicism was the official religion
and the only public worship allowed. In this situation Mir6 sug-
gested using the Irish missionaries to proselytize among the adults
while requiring that their children be baptized and instructed in the
Catholic faith. Also public schools would teach the children to be-
come Spaniards, and in time, the governor hoped, they would forget
their origins. Those not willing to submit to these conditions would
be required to quit the colony, and, if necessary, their transportation
expenses would be defrayed by the Crown. Mir6 sent his suggestions
to Bernardo de GAilvez, now viceroy in Mexico, who forwarded them
to Spain."
... desde el atio de 170o hasta el dia (Madrid, 1843), 587-588; Caroline Maude Burson,
The Stewardship of Don Esteban Mird, x782-1792 (New Orleans, 1940), 24-25-
sMemorial of Harris Alexander et al. to the count of Galvez (Bernardo de Galvez),
March 1, 1785, AGI, PC, leg. 2,352; Bernardo de Galvez to Mir6, October 20, 1785, ibid.
9Mir6 to Bernardo de Galvez, September 5, 1785, Archivo Hist6rico National (Madrid),
Estado, leg. 3,888bis, no. 2. The Archivo Hist6rico Nacional, Estado, will hereafter be cited
as AHN, Est. In 1784 a census of the Natchez District revealed a population of 1,619.
AGI, PC, leg. 116.
"0Count of Galvez to Jos6 de Galvez, October 27, 1785, AHN, Est., leg. 3,888bis, no. 56.157
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/179/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.