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Florida
SPOTLIGHT ON
Florida
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Early Inhabitants
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Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed on the
island of Puerto Rico in 1508; by 1511 he had conquered
the island for Spain. In 1513 Ponce de León sailed north
in search of an island where he hoped to find the legendary Fountain of Youth. Ponce de León landed on the
east coast of Florida near present day St. Augustine and
promptly named it Florida after Pascua Florida, or feast
of the flowers, an Easter celebration in Spain. Ponce
de León continued his explorations of Florida, moving
around the peninsula’s coastline from east to west.
Today Pascua Florida is a state holiday celebrated on
April 2.
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European Exploration and
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Eventually, Florida’s early peoples built villages which
included large temple mounds, such as the Pinellas
Point Temple Mound found near St. Petersburg.
Archeologists believe the temple mound was built
approximately 1,000 years ago by the Tocobaga, a
culture group from the Mississippian era (AD 900–1500).
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St. Augustine
When the first inhabitants arrived in Florida about 12,000
years ago, they encountered a peninsula that was about
twice as large as it is today, and a climate that was much
drier. Lower sea levels at the time resulted in far more
exposed land. Today that land is covered by the ocean.
Mammals were abundant in prehistoric Florida, including
such extinct animals as the saber-tooth tiger, mastodon,
and giant armadillo.
Archeologists believe the first inhabitants lived mostly
on small game, using stone tools and weapons, as well
as their skill and ingenuity. They settled in areas with
an abundance of firewood and a steady supply of fresh
water. Though it may be hard to imagine today, it was
not easy for Florida’s first inhabitants to find sources of
fresh water. Sinkholes served that purpose. Sinkholes
form when water flowing in underground aquifers dissolves limestone, salt beds, or carbonate rock. The
water pushes toward the surface and the rock base
collapses, forming a sinkhole. One such sinkhole is the
Little Salt Spring, formed during the last Ice Age. Items
found there, such as a sharpened stake that might have
been used to hunt animals and bones of an ancient
ground sloth, are helping archeologists form a more
complete picture of Florida’s early inhabitants.
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Establishing a colony in Florida was important to Spain.
In 1521 Ponce de León returned to Florida with 200 men,
horses, tools, and other necessary items to establish a
farming community. His hopes for colonization ended
when the Calusa, a native tribe, attacked the settlers,
wounding Ponce de León in the thigh with an arrow. The
group hastily fled to Cuba, where Ponce de León died
from his wounds.
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Other explorers followed Ponce deah07bs_c02map016aa_rev
León to Florida,
but instead of searching for legendary waters ofFinal
youth,
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they sought gold and silver. In 1539 Hernando de Soto
began his search for wealth in Florida, and from there
traveled west. He died in 1542 near the Mississippi
River. In 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano established
a settlement near present-day Pensacola Bay, but
abandoned the effort two years later. In 1565 Pedro
Menéndez de Avilés established St. Augustine as the
first successful permanent European settlement in what
would become the United States. Soon the Spanish
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were establishing Roman Catholic
missions
the Atlantic coast as far north ah07bs_c02leg016aa_rev
as present day South
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Carolina.
Spain’s Hold Contested
By 1600 Spain had established colonial dominance over
Florida. Efforts by the English to colonize the United
States stayed north of Florida, where they first settled
Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, and then further north at
Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Meanwhile, French
SS.8.A.2.1 Compare the relationships among the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch in their struggle
for colonization of North America.
Hostilities between Spanish and English colonists
flared in 1702 when Colonel James Moore, leading
a group of Carolina colonists and Creek Indian
allies, attacked and destroyed the town of
St. Augustine. However, they were unable to
capture Castillo de San Marcos, the town’s fort.
Hostilities erupted again two years later when
British colonists destroyed the Spanish missions
between St. Augustine and Tallahassee. In 1719
the French captured Pensacola. In 1740, British
colonists from neighboring Georgia carried out
a month-long siege against the Castillo de San
Marcos. Though the Spanish fort held, the attack
heightened British interest in the region.
British Florida
©Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
In 1763, Britain finally gained control of Florida,
returning to Spain the port of Havana, Cuba,
which it had captured during the Seven Years’
War (also known as the French and Indian War).
Spanish colonists soon left Florida to settle in
Cuba. At the same time, France relinquished an
area lying between the Mississippi and Perdido
rivers to Britain, not including New Orleans. Britain
then divided the entire area into two colonies:
West Florida, with Pensacola as its colonial seat
of government, and East Florida, (most of present
day Florida), with its government in St. Augustine.
Soon British settlers began moving into the
region. The British attempted to gain the trust of
the Creek living in the region, referred to by the
British as the Seminole.
Britain’s hold on Florida was short-lived. With
the defeat of Great Britain by the United States
and its allies, in 1784 Florida was returned to
Spain. Spanish settlers flowed back into Florida,
attracted by land grants offered by Spain.
Enslaved Africans escaped to Florida where
the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law did not apply. Yet,
Florida’s northern border remained in dispute.
That controversy was ultimately settled in 1795
by Pinckney’s Treaty. With it, Spain agreed to
recognize 31°N latitude as the southern border of
the United States. Controversy surrounding the
border of West Florida continued, however, and
escalated when Americans began moving into
the disputed Spanish territory. Tensions remained
until the issue was finally settled in 1819 with
the Adams-Onís Treaty. With it, Spain renounced
claims to West Florida and at the same time
ceded East Florida to the United States. In return,
the United States gave up claims to Texas.
The Seminole Wars
First Seminole War (1817–1818) Growth of the United States meant displacement
of American Indians from their ancestral lands as
whites moved west and south. By 1815 many Creek
Indians had moved from Alabama to Florida. Also
finding safety among the Seminole were escaped
slaves. Slave catchers raided and burned Seminole
villages looking for runaway slaves, sparking the First
Seminole War. Some 3,000 soldiers commanded
by Major General Andrew Jackson attacked and
destroyed Seminole settlements and captured the
Spanish fort of Pensacola in May of 1818.
Andrew Jackson established Florida’s government following signing of the Adams-Onís Treaty.
He created Escambia County out of West Florida.
East Florida became St. Johns County. Jackson
appointed William Pope DuVal as governor. Florida
became a United States territory on March 30, 1822.
In 1823 the Seminole were presented with the Treaty
of Moultrie Creek and told that they must move
south, and, in particular, could no longer provide a
safe haven for runaway slaves. In return, the United
States made the Seminole a promise of four million
acres of land. Tallahassee, an area once inhabited
by the Seminole, became the territory’s capital.
Seminole leader Osceola
Spotlight On Florida FL27
Spotlight on Florida…>
adventurers were exploring the Mississippi River
valley and moving east along the Gulf of Mexico.
SS.8.A.4.18 Examine the experiences and perspectives of different ethnic, national, and religious
groups in Florida, explaining their contributions to Florida's and America's society and culture during the
Territorial Period.
It did not take long for whites from Georgia,
Alabama, and other states to settle the Florida
Territory. Florida Crackers, self-reliant pioneering men, women, and children, were Florida’s
early homesteaders. They built log cabins, herded
cattle, and established villages. The Florida
Cracker culture remains strong today. By 1840 new
Floridians numbered more than 54,000, with slaves
making up almost half of the territory’s population.
Florida was formally divided into three areas: East
Florida, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Suwannee River; Middle Florida, set between the
Suwannee and the Apalachicola rivers; and West
Florida, stretching from the Apalachicola River to
the Perdido River.
Florida’s economy was centered in Middle Florida,
where cotton plantations drove the politics of
the state and its unyielding support of slavery.
Plantations in East Florida, such as the Bulow
Plantation near St. Augustine, grew sugar cane and
rice. The Bulow Plantation was one of the most
prosperous plantations in the 1830s. However it,
like other East Florida plantations along the
St. Johns and Halifax rivers, was destroyed during
the Second Seminole War. Today, the ruins of the
Bulow Plantation provide visitors with a glimpse
into Florida’s pre-Civil War plantation system.
On March 3, 1845, Florida joined the United States
as its twenty-seventh state. William D. Moseley
was elected its first governor. Tallahassee served
as the state capital. Within five years the state’s
population topped 87,000, more than a third
of which were enslaved. Cotton was essential
to the economy of Florida, and slavery essential to the plantation system that supported the
cotton economy. Voters in Florida—white males
age twenty-one and older—viewed northern
Republicans with suspicion and resented talk by
abolitionists promoting an end to slavery.
In 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected
President of the United States. On January 10, 1861,
Florida formally left the Union, joining five other
southern states to form the Confederate States of
America. In all, eleven states would secede.
John Charles McGehee presided over the
Florida Secession Convention. Sixty-two
delegates voted to approve the ordinance,
with seven opposing secession.
We, the people of the State of Florida in
Convention assembled, do solemnly ordain,
publish and declare: That the State of Florida
hereby withdraws herself from the Confederacy
of States existing under the name of the
United States of America, and from the existing Government of said States; and that all
political connection between her and the
Government of said States ought to be and the
same is hereby totally annulled, and said union
of States dissolved; and the State of Florida is
hereby declared a Sovereign and Independent
Nation; and that all ordinances heretofore
adopted in so far as they create or recognize
said Union, are rescinded; and all laws or parts
of laws in force in this State, in so far as they
recognize or assent to said Union be and they
are hereby repealed.
©Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
Done in open Convention,
January 10th, A. D. 1861.
The Civil War and
Reconstruction
Cotton plantations supported the economy of
Middle Florida.
On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on
Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.
Though Union forces attempted to repel the attack,
the fort was surrendered on April 14. The short
battle signaled the opening of the Civil War.
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Statehood
SS.8.A.5.7 Examine key events and peoples in Florida history as each impacts this era of American
history.
Florida served important military and economic roles in
the Confederacy, and became a strategic supply route
for the South. The state’s farmers and ranchers supplied
significant amounts of sugar, salt, beef, and pork for
Confederate troops, and cotton for trade. Some 16,000
Floridians fought for the South, many earning honors as
part of the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern
Virginia. Florida had its share of military conflict during
the Civil War. Two battles were of particular significance:
the Battle of Olustee and the Battle of Natural Bridge.
Union and Confederate soldiers clashed on February 20,
1864, at the Battle of Olustee, near Lake City, as part of
a large-scale Union military operation into Florida. The
intent of the mission was to occupy East Florida, secure
needed supplies of beef and timber, cut off Florida’s
Confederate supply lines, and reorganize Florida’s
government with individuals loyal to the North. About
10,000 Union and Confederate soldiers engaged in heavy
battle with staggering casualties on both sides. Among
Northern forces taking part in the Battle of Olustee was
the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry, as part of the
Thirty-fifth United States Colored Troops. The soldiers
of the Fifty-fourth were credited with preventing a Union
disaster at the Battle of Olustee. In the end defeated
Union forces retreated, preventing the government in
Jacksonville from falling to Union control, though the city
remained under the watchful eye of Union troops.
The Battle of Natural Bridge took place on March 6,
1865, just south of Tallahassee, on the banks of the
St. Marks River. With the aid of a Union naval blockade,
Union forces came ashore at St. Marks with the intent
of occupying Tallahassee in Florida and Thomasville,
Georgia, to the north. The military advance, however, did
not proceed as Union forces hoped. Confederate forces
met and thwarted Union troops, culminating with the
Battle of Natural Bridge. After heavy fighting, victorious
Confederate forces turned back Union forces, preventing
Union troops from occupying Tallahassee.
The Battle of Natural Bridge was one of the final
Confederate victories of the Civil War. On April 9, 1865,
General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Northern Army
of Virginia, signally the defeat of the South and an end
to the Confederacy. On May 10, 1865, federal troops
occupied Tallahassee. The difficult business of unifying
the country would soon be at hand.
Josiah Thomas Walls was elected to the United
States House of Representatives in 1870 and 1872.
FL30 Spotlight On Florida
On June 8, 1868, Florida ratified the Fourteenth
Amendment granting citizenship to all people born in the
United States, except Native Americans, and opening
the door for Florida to be readmitted to the Union. On
July 4, 1868, the state ratified a new constitution. Then
on March 30, 1870, Congress ratified the Fifteenth
Amendment, which prohibited states from denying
voting rights “on the basis of race, color or previous
condition of servitude.” In 1870 Josiah Thomas Walls,
born into slavery in 1842, became Florida’s first African
American elected to the United States Congress.
©Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
Federal Control of Florida Reconstruction is
the term used for the many changes that were imposed
on the South by Congress following the Civil War.
Foremost was the process of readmitting each state that
had joined the Confederacy, a process that began in
1865 and finally came to a close in 1877. Until that time,
federal troops occupied much of the South, including
Florida. The Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery was
ratified by Congress on December 18, 1865. Florida’s
plantation owners attempted to rebuild the state’s
cotton economy by hiring former slaves. Ultimately,
however, Florida land came under cultivation through
tenant farming and sharecropping arrangements. Ports
at Jacksonville and Pensacola flourished by supplying
needed lumber to rebuild cities.
Spotlight on Florida…>
Notable Floridians
William Bartram (1739–
1823) Naturalist, writer,
artist. William Bartram
traveled throughout
Florida during the 18th
century, composing poetry
that celebrated Florida’s
animals and landscape.
He also wrote of the
customs of the Seminole.
His work influenced 19th
century botanists, and is
still valued today.
John James Audubon (1785–1851) Artist and
American naturalist. John James Audubon did not
live in Florida but spent several years studying and
recording Florida’s birds and their environments
along the state’s east coast region. The outbreak of
the Second Seminole War prevented his studying
of birds found in Florida’s western area. Audubon’s
detailed drawings of birds native to Florida continue to be enjoyed today.
Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931) Inventor.
Thomas Alva Edison was born before the outbreak
of the Civil War and lived to see his inventions,
including the electric light, the phonograph, and
motion pictures become part of everyday life in
20th century America. Beginning in 1901, Edison
spent winters in Florida and found inspiration for
many of his inventions in his Fort Myers home.
(all photos) ©Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
©Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
Henry Morrison Flagler (1830–1913)
Businessman. As a founding member of the
Standard Oil Company, Henry Morrison Flagler
dedicated much of his professional life developing Florida’s East Coast. He established railroads
and hotels, built streets, installed water and power
systems, and was instrumental in promoting
Florida as an attractive state for development.
John James Audubon, Summer red bird, Tanager
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
(1811–1896) Author. An
accomplished writer,
Harriet Beecher Stowe
is best known for her
anti-slavery novel Uncle
Tom’s Cabin, published
in 1852. The novel highlighted the plight of the
enslaved and called for
an end to slavery. Stowe
purchased property in
Mandarin, Florida, in the
1860s. Living in Florida inspired her writings about
the state. Her book Palmetto Leaves, published
in 1872, includes stories and drawings about her
beloved Florida home.
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