 In 1819 the Florida Territory was ceded to the United States by Spain as an element of the Adams – Onís Treaty. The Territory was conventionally split by the Appalachicola or later the Suwannee rivers into East and West areas. Florida State University is traceable to a plan set by the 1823 U.S. Congress to create a system of higher education. The 1838 Florida Constitution codified the basic system by providing for land allocated for the schools. In 1845 Florida became the 27th State of the United States, which permitted the resources and intent of the 1823 Congress regarding education in Florida to be implemented. In 1851 the Florida Legislature voted to establish two seminaries of higher education on opposite sides of the Suwannee River. Francis W. Eppes and other city leaders established an all-male academy called the Florida Institute in Tallahassee as a legislative inducement to locate the West Florida Seminary in Tallahassee. The East Florida Seminary opened in Ocala in 1853, closed in 1861, and reopened in Gainesville in 1866. The East Florida Seminary is the institution to which the modern University of Florida traces its foundation.
