# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/16th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 39

Chap. XXXIX.—An Act for carrying into execution the treaty between the United States and Spain, concluded at Washington on the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the ​President authorized to take possession of east and west Florida. And remove Spanish troops, according to treaty. May employ the army, navy and militia.United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to take possession of, occupy, the territories of east and west Florida, and the appendages and appurtenances thereof; and to remove and transport the officers and soldiers of the king of Spain, being there, to the Havanna, agreeably to the stipulations of the treaty between the United States and Spain, concluded at Washington, on the twenty-second day of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, providing for the cession ​of said territories to the United States; and he may, for these purposes, and in order to maintain in said territories the authority of the United States, employ any part of the army and navy of the United States, and the militia of any state or territory, which he may deem necessary.
Organization of government, as the President may direct. Revenue laws, and laws prohibiting the importation of persons of colour, to be in force. President authorized to establish collection districts, and appoint officers.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, until the end of the first session of the next Congress, unless provision for the temporary government of said territories be sooner made by Congress, all the military, civil, and judicial, powers exercised by the officers of the existing government of the same territories, shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the President of the United [States] shall direct, for the maintaining the inhabitants of said territories in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion; and the laws of the United States relating to the revenue and its collection, subject to the modification stipulated by the fifteenth article of the said treaty, in favour of Spanish vessels and their cargoes, and the laws relating to the importation of persons of colour, shall be extended to the said territories. And the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized within the term aforesaid, to establish such districts for the collection of the revenue, and during the recess of Congress, to appoint such officers, whose commissions shall expire at the end of the next session of Congress, to enforce the said laws, as to him shall seem expedient.
President to appoint a commissioner and surveyor, &c. President may take all other measures necessary, &c.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint, during the recess of the Senate, a commissioner and surveyor, whose commissions shall expire at the end of the next session of Congress, to meet the commissioner and surveyor who may be appointed on the part of Spain, for the purposes stipulated in the fourth article of said treaty; and that the President be, and he is hereby, further authorized to take all other measures which he shall judge proper, for carrying into effect the stipulations of the said fourth article.
Board of commissioners, according to the 11th article of the treaty. President may organize the board. Secretary. Clerk. Compensation.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That a board of three commissioners shall be appointed, conformably to the stipulations of the eleventh article of the said treaty: and the President of the United States is hereby authorized to take any measures which he may deem expedient for organizing the said board of commissioners, and, for this purpose, may appoint a secretary well versed in the French and Spanish languages, and a clerk; which appointments, if made during the recess of the Senate, shall, at the next meeting of that body, be subject to the nomination for their advice and consent.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the compensation of the respective officers, for whose appointment provision is made by this act, shall not exceed the following sums:
Of commissioner under the 4th article.The commissioner to be appointed conformably to the fourth article, at the rate, by the year, of three thousand dollars.
Of surveyor.To the surveyor, two thousand dollars.
Of the commissioner under the 11th article.To each of the three commissioners to be appointed conformably to the eleventh article of the treaty, three thousand dollars.
To the secretary of the board, two thousand dollars.
Of the secretary.To one clerk, one thousand five hundred dollars.
Clerk. 100,000 dollars for carrying this act into execution.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, for carrying this act into execution, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be, and hereby is, appropriated, to be taken from any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Approved, March 3, 1821.