This weekend as you toast our rebellious ancestors for their glorious win against the British in 1781, you can also tip your pint to the early settlers of the Gulf Coast, the long-forgotten members of the 14th Colony.
That’s right. Your history teachers had it wrong.
There were in fact 15 colonies that would later become part of the United States, not 13. The West Florida Colony, of which Alabama was part of, was number 14.
Never heard of it? Weird, because that colony was super disorganized. And had a penchant for bowing to the king. And earned a reputation for being a safe haven for British loyalists. And was considered an inconsequential fringe outpost during the era.
But, those who created the colorful and often tumultuous history of the Gulf Coast’s 14th Colony, now known as the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, helped to form the earliest American history for the region we all call home.

And they were rewarded by being almost completely written out of the history books. Until now.
Mike Bunn, director of Historic Blakeley State Park in Spanish Fort, has recently released Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America’s Revolutionary Era.
“The Gulf Coast has a story to tell that is intriguing but is one that most people aren’t aware of,” Bunn said. “We don’t try to make the case that this story is more or less important, but it is a part of that big Revolutionary-era story, and it’s an important piece of local heritage and national history that we’ve collectively forgotten.”
In 1763 the 14th Colony was erected along the Gulf Coast by the British at the end of the Seven Years’ War on land that was formerly held by French and Spanish colonials. The area grew slowly and as calls for revolution flared along the Atlantic seaboard, residents along the Gulf Coast faced their own deluge of issues that left them out of the fight for freedom.
Bunn said several factors contributed to the 14th colony’s disappearance from Revolutionary War retellings.
First, there was no large-scale fighting between American Continental forces and the British along the Gulf Coast.
Second, the colony never officially rebelled against the British. When the first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in the fall of 1774 West Florida was invited to send delegates. However, the governor at the time took no action and decided the Gulf Coast would remain loyal to the crown. After the Second Continental Congress met trade was banned with West Florida and other loyal colonies.
On July 5, 1775, the Earl of Dartmouth declared West Florida and its surrounding colony “to be secure asylum for persecuted loyalists,” Bunn writes in the book’s opening chapter. A year later the Declaration of Independence, largely penned by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted and the young nation went to war.
While their countrymen fought, residents of the Gulf Coast settled in as a stronghold for British loyalists.
From 1775 – 1779 nearly 2,500 people flooded the colony as they fled patriot strongholds in other parts of the continent. Many made homesteads in and near Mobile, Bunn explains in the book.
Since the 14th Colony was formed just years before the revolution began, much of the region didn’t have regularly functioning, representative governments similar to what could be found in the more northern colonies, Bunn said.
“In other colonies they had a forum for discussion but here there were no newspapers, communities were not connecting,” he said. “Add that to the fact that the colony was young, thinly populated, on the far fringes of what was perceived as civilization and you end up with a colony that has become an afterthought,” Bunn said.
“I really hope this book awakens people to the fact that this is a pretty intriguing story,” he said.
In fact, the region was stolen by the Spaniards during the war. Those forces recognized that the British were distracted by the revolution. From 1779 to 1781 Spain launched a stunning campaign to seize the 14th colony and forced Britain to divert vital resources from other far flung Revolutionary War campaigns. Bunn writes that this war within a war aided the rebellion’s efforts, even if it resulted in the Gulf Coast falling to Spanish control.
Bunn said he hopes the book is a “fun, new history for a lot of folks to read about who are reflecting on American independence.”
“We didn’t’ have George Washington down here fighting but we do play a part in that overall story of the American Revolution that connects us to the broader story,” he said.