Making Their Way To The Mississippi

From the Magazine Of American History:

English traders from the seaboard colonies had for some time prior to this been making their way as far west as the Mississippi, notwithstanding the distrust with which they were viewed by the French of Fort Rosalie (Natchez) and other river settlements. When West Florida came within English jurisdiction an Anglo-American immigration set in, which did not long continue, however, for England did not remain long in possession of the territory. A decade had scarce passed since its acquirement, when the contest for English liberty in America culminated in the American Revolution. In the war that followed, England soon found her old antagonist, France, espousing the cause of the Americans. Spain had offered to mediate between the contestants, but received a direct snub. Smarting under the real or fancied wrong, and seeing an opportunity of winning back the much-coveted fortress of Gibraltar, she allied herself with France and was soon actively engaged in hostilities (1779).