In The United States, Appellants v. The Heirs of Fernando de la Maza Arredondo, Appellees, the Supreme Court considered a dispute between the U.S. government and Spanish land grantees in Florida over title to certain lands granted by Spain prior to its cession of Florida to the United States in 1819. At issue was whether or not these grants were valid under Spanish law and if they had been extinguished when Spain ceded control of Florida to the U.S., as well as whether or not they could be recognized by American courts after that point in time. Ultimately, the court held that while some grants may have been invalidated due to their failure to comply with Spanish law at time of issuance, those which did meet all requirements would remain valid even after Spain's relinquishment of sovereignty over Florida; furthermore, it determined that such titles should be respected by American courts going forward so long as there was no evidence indicating fraud on behalf of either party involved in obtaining them from Spain originally

In the case of The United States vs. The Heirs of Fernando de la Maza Arredondo, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a Spanish grant issued in 1804 for land located in East Florida had been extinguished by virtue of Spain ceding that territory to the United States under the terms of a treaty signed between those two countries in 1819. In an opinion delivered by Justice McLean, it was held that although there were some ambiguities regarding certain aspects of this particular grant and its status following Spain's cession, on balance it should be considered valid and enforceable against both Spain and her successor state - namely, the United States. This conclusion was based largely upon principles established through prior decisions which recognized that grants made before cessions are generally respected even after such transfers have taken place unless they can be shown to conflict with specific provisions contained within treaties or other laws enacted subsequent thereto.