<P> The Adams -- Onís Treaty of 1819 , also known as the Transcontinental Treaty , the Florida Purchase Treaty , or the Florida Treaty , was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined the boundary between the U.S. and New Spain . It settled a standing border dispute between the two countries and was considered a triumph of American diplomacy . It came in the midst of increasing tensions related to Spain 's territorial boundaries in North America against the United States and Great Britain in the aftermath of the American Revolution ; and also during the Latin American Wars of Independence . Florida had become a burden to Spain , which could not afford to send settlers or garrisons . Madrid decided to cede the territory to the United States through the Adams -- Onís Treaty in exchange for settling the boundary dispute along the Sabine River in Spanish Texas . The treaty established the boundary of U.S. territory and claims through the Rocky Mountains and west to the Pacific Ocean , in exchange for the U.S. paying residents ' claims against the Spanish government up to a total of $5,000,000 and relinquishing the US claims on parts of Spanish Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish areas , under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase . </P>
<P> The Adams -- Onís Treaty of 1819 , also known as the Transcontinental Treaty , the Florida Purchase Treaty , or the Florida Treaty , was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined the boundary between the U.S. and New Spain . It settled a standing border dispute between the two countries and was considered a triumph of American diplomacy . It came in the midst of increasing tensions related to Spain 's territorial boundaries in North America against the United States and Great Britain in the aftermath of the American Revolution ; and also during the Latin American Wars of Independence . Florida had become a burden to Spain , which could not afford to send settlers or garrisons . Madrid decided to cede the territory to the United States through the Adams -- Onís Treaty in exchange for settling the boundary dispute along the Sabine River in Spanish Texas . The treaty established the boundary of U.S. territory and claims through the Rocky Mountains and west to the Pacific Ocean , in exchange for the U.S. paying residents ' claims against the Spanish government up to a total of $5,000,000 and relinquishing the US claims on parts of Spanish Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish areas , under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase . </P>
when did spain cede florida to the us
when did spain cede florida to the us
1819
1819