In 1763, Spain ceded the Florida territory to Britain in exchange for the Havana, a result of allegiances during the French and Indian War.  Known as the British Period (1763-1783) it marked the beginning of England’s colonization attempts on the peninsula. The dividing line between East and West Florida became the Apalachicola River, with the British colony of Georgia to the north, and the Mississippi River to the west. The territory was sparsely populated with most of the European colonists living in and around St.