Spain had long rejected repeated American efforts…
1818 CE
Spain had been exhausted by the Peninsular War in Europe and needs to rebuild its credibility and presence in its colonies.
Revolutionaries in Central America and South America are beginning to demand independence.
Spain is unwilling to invest further in Florida, encroached on by American settlers, and it worries about the border between New Spain (a large area including today's Mexico, Central America, and much of the current U.S. Western States) and the United States.
With minor military presence in Florida, Spain is not able to restrain the Seminole warriors who routinely cross the border and raid American villages and farms, as well as protect formerly enslaved refugees from slave owners and traders of the southern United States.