{"record":{"aliases":["Luis de Onís González Vara"],"appointmentIds":["spain-ccdcbbc952c79f"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/luis-onis-abe9a9e779/","countrySlug":"spain","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/luis-onis-abe9a9e779/#person","eventIds":["spain-adams-onis"],"expandedParagraphs":["Luis de Onís received his American appointment during Spain’s struggle against Napoleon, but the United States withheld recognition of his mission until 1815. Once received, he negotiated with James Monroe and then John Quincy Adams over Florida and the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase.","The 1819 settlement ceded Florida and Spanish claims in the Pacific Northwest while securing American recognition of Spanish sovereignty over Texas. Jackson’s 1818 invasion of Florida had strengthened Adams’s position.","Onís and Adams signed their agreement in Washington on 22 February 1819. Spain ceded public buildings and the archives concerning Florida’s property and government; the treaty protected inhabitants’ religious exercise and allowed those who chose to move to Spanish territory to sell or export their possessions. Spanish officers and troops were to withdraw after the exchange of ratifications, with American transport provided for their passage to Havana.","The settlement also ended long disputes over seizures and compensation. The two governments renounced defined classes of claims, and the United States undertook to pay qualifying American claims against Spain up to $5 million. A commission in Washington would examine their validity. Although the negotiators specified ratification within six months, the exchange took place on 22 February 1821, two years after signature. Onís later published a defense of his negotiations; an English translation appeared in 1821."],"id":"spain:luis-onis","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-abe9a9e779fbb5f28745.html","name":"Luis de Onís","notes":[{"sourceIds":["history-xi","onis-treaty","onis-book","mission-d17ca4bb21762c82aa2d","mission-7596b500334365758009"],"text":"Onís was appointed in 1809; the United States recognized him in 1815."}],"paragraphSources":[["history-xi","onis-treaty"],["onis-treaty","onis-book"],["great-onis-treaty-text-1819"],["great-onis-treaty-text-1819","onis-book"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-abe9a9e779fbb5f28745.html","relatedEvents":[{"basis":"documented-participant","country":"Spain","date":"1819-02-22","description":"Luis de Onís and John Quincy Adams agree on Florida’s transfer and a continental boundary. Ratification follows in 1821, after negotiations shaped by American expansion and military pressure.","id":"spain-adams-onis","note":"Onís negotiated and signed the treaty.","sourceUrls":["https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/florida","https://www.loc.gov/item/11026887/"],"title":"A boundary reaches the Pacific","url":"Spain.html#history-spain-adams-onis"}],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-11-02","revision":"c4a86ac2f003910f","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":null,"id":"history-xi","locator":"United States sections; Barros in 1824; Calderón and the 1837 dismissal","publisher":"www.exteriores.gob.es","title":"Historia de la diplomacia española, Tomo XI","type":"official history","url":"https://www.exteriores.gob.es/es/ServiciosAlCiudadano/PublicacionesOficiales/TOMO%20XI.%20LA%20EDAD%20CONTEMPOR%C3%81NEA.%20EL%20SIGLO%20XIX.pdf"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":null,"id":"onis-treaty","locator":"Onís’s reception in 1815 and negotiations with Monroe and Adams","publisher":"history.state.gov","title":"Acquisition of Florida — Office of the Historian","type":"institutional history","url":"https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/florida"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-29","date":null,"id":"onis-book","locator":"1821 edition, translated by Tobias Watkins; author and publication record","publisher":"www.loc.gov","title":"Memoir upon the negotiations between Spain and the United States — Luis de Onís","type":"library catalogue","url":"https://www.loc.gov/item/11026887/"},{"accessedOn":"2026-11-02","date":"1819-02-22","id":"great-onis-treaty-text-1819","inspection":{"inspectedOn":"2026-11-02","language":"en","representation":"published_transcription","scope":"The English treaty text in the Avalon Project’s Thorpe/Government Printing Office edition was inspected at Articles II, V–VII, IX–XI, XVI, signatures, and editorial note 1. Neither the signed English or Spanish instruments nor the original ratifications were inspected.","status":"document_inspected"},"locator":"Articles II, V–VII, IX–XI, XVI, signatures, and editorial note 1; Thorpe edition, Government Printing Office, 1909","publisher":"Avalon Project, Yale Law School","title":"Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits between the United States and Spain, 22 February 1819","type":"primary treaty","url":"https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1819.asp"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-d17ca4bb21762c82aa2d","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Spain — U.S. Chief of Protocol incoming representatives","type":"Mission record","url":"https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/94445.htm"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-7596b500334365758009","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Repertorio diplomático español","type":"Mission record","url":"https://www.exteriores.gob.es/es/ServiciosAlCiudadano/PublicacionesOficiales/Repertorio%20Diplom%C3%A1tico.pdf"}],"topics":["Adams–Onís Treaty","Florida"]},"schemaVersion":1}