Reasons for Loyalty

• Recent Immigrants: Most residents were recent immigrants from Britain or other colonies who identified strongly as British subjects rather than having deep American roots.

• Economic Dependence: The colony was not economically independent and relied heavily on British trade and subsidies to survive.

• Military Presence: West Florida served as a British military garrison, and the local economy (merchants and ranchers) relied on the British army for business and protection.

• Loyalist Haven: The British government offered free land to those who could prove their loyalty, attracting "Tories" fleeing the northern colonies.

• Lack of Democratic Tradition: Unlike the 13 northern colonies, West Florida had no history of local democratic institutions like town halls, making the revolutionary "no taxation without representation" argument less resonant.

• Concerns Over Spanish Power: Local leaders were more concerned with the threat posed by neighboring Spanish Louisiana and New Orleans than by British rule. 

Loss of the Colony

Although it stayed loyal to Britain, West Florida did not remain British for the duration of the war. Spain joined the conflict in 1779 as an ally of France and launched a successful military campaign. Spanish forces under Bernardo de Gálvez captured British outposts at Baton Rouge, Natchez, and Mobile, eventually taking the capital, Pensacola, in 1781. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Britain officially ceded both Floridas back to Spain