Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Florida SPOTLIGHT ON Florida 30˚ Early Inhabitants N 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. FL26 Spotlight On Florida CE DE L W 70˚W S EÓ 60˚W 13 15 European Exploration and Settlement PON N 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). E 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. N ˚N 20 Bahama Islands Cuba Puerto Rico 0 0 150 150 300 Miles Hispaniola 300 Kilometers Ponce de León’s 1513 C aRoute ribbean Sea 80˚W 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. HRW FL US History Spotlight Other explorers followed Ponce deah07bs_c02map016aa_rev León to Florida, but instead of searching for legendary waters ofFinal youth, 2/16/11 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 HRW FL US Historyalong Spotlight were establishing Roman Catholic missions the Atlantic coast as far north ah07bs_c02leg016aa_rev as present day South Final 1/28/05 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. Spotlight On Florida FL29 Spotlight on Florida…> 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 6-8_SFLAESE607511_FM_FL26-FL31.indd 31 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. Spotlight On Florida FL31 2/22/11 1:21:47 PM