- Spain's control was especially weak in Florida. Spain couldn't stop enslaved African Americans who escaped from plantations in Georgia and Alabama from crossing into Florida. Andrew Jackson attacked and destroyed Seminole villages. His attack on Florida showed that the United States could take over Florida whenever it wanted. Spain decided to give up the territory because it couldn't protect Florida. In the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819, Spain ceded, or gave up, Florida to the United States
- James Monroe and John Adams were worried that France and Russia might help Spain regain its colonies. Britain suggested that the two countries issue a joint statement, which would announce their determination to protect the freedom of the new nations of Latin America. Adams believed a joint statement would make the United States look like Britain's junior partner, and Monroe agreed. The president stated what is known as the Monroe Doctrine, which didn't allow Europeans nations to create American colonies or interfere with the free nations of Latin America.
- Britain gave more powers of self-government to the Canadians, because they could no longer deny rights to them. The Act of Union of 1841 was a major step in that direction. It merged Canada's two parts into a single unit governed by a Canadian legislature. Canada and the United States had their own disagreements. Tensions were high when the United States tried to invade Canada during the War of 1812 unsuccessfully.