Florida is admitted into the Union as the twenty-seventh state on this date in 1845! After over three centuries of Spanish rule, twenty years of British control, and almost twenty-five years as a U.S. territory, Florida became a U.S. state. Floridians had voted in a referendum in favor of statehood in 1838 and a state constitution was approved in 1839. However it was not until the U.S. Congress approved the act in 1845, admitting both Florida and Iowa, that it became official. The State Legislative Council quickly began to organize its first statewide election, which occurred in May of 1845, to elect a governor, a member of the U.S. Congress, seventeen state senators, and forty-one state representatives. The total population of Florida in 1845 was approximately 66,000.
