Download African-Americans in Antebellum Florida

“African-Americans in Antebellum Florida”
Summary
Students will discuss the political changes in Florida from 1784 to 1860 and the effects that these
changes had on Florida’s African-American population in pre-Civil War years. Students will also
discuss the how slavery changed as an institution with the dominance of Middle Florida in state
politics during the 1820’s and 1830’s.
Objectives
1) Students will create a timeline detailing contributions made by black Africans and AfricanAmericans in Florida history from the beginning of the second Spanish era in 1784 to
1860;
2) Students will explore racial policies of the Spanish, English, and American colonial
territorial governments prior to Florida becoming a state;
3) Students will differentiate between the treatment of slaves in Middle Florida and in East
and West Florida after Florida became a part of the United States.
U.S. History Event
This lesson primarily covers the institution of slavery in Florida from the later years of the
eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, just prior to the American Civil War. It is
preferred that the students would have already been introduced to slavery of African-Americans
during the colonial era and the early years of the United States. This lesson should follow the
previous lesson entitled “Africans in Colonial Florida.”
Grade Level
Middle school or high school
Materials
Each student will need a copy of Graphic Organizers #1 and #2 and colored pencils. You will
need transparencies, an overhead projector, and a large white board with colored markers, as
well as transparencies of the Pictures D-E (located in the back of this lesson.
Lesson Time
This lesson could be completed in a 45-minute class period. However, if you are on a block
schedule, it can be adapted to a full block period by allowing students to begin their Processing
assignment at the end of the lecture.
Lesson
Lesson Procedures
-The following procedures for this lesson may be adapted to fit individual classroom needs.
Please be sure to look over all materials before implementation due to the sensitive nature of the
topic. Students should know after the completion of this lesson that while the institution of slavery
in Florida had been very different under Spanish colonial rulers when compared with slavery in
the surrounding English colonies, attitudes about slavery in Florida changed greatly when Florida
became an American possession in 1821. Also, students should know what caused Middle
Florida to become the dominant region in state politics before 1860.
1.) Begin the lesson with one of the following preview activities.
A) Give the students a short pretest on the material that will be covered in this lesson
(provided with lesson in back).
B) Write the term “antebellum” on the board in front of the room and have students take
a few minutes (no more than 3-5) to come up with a definition to share. Then
explain the meaning of the word comes from the Latin word “ante-“, meaning
“before,” and “bellum,” the Latin word for “war.” Allow students to share other words
that begin with “ante-“ or contain “bellum” (i.e., “bellicose). Ask students to think of
why this period in Florida history is called the “antebellum era.”
C) Show transparency of Picture A-2-3 (located in back of lesson). Have students write
down in words what they think when they see this picture. Discuss their responses,
then pose the following question: “Slavery was a terrible tragedy that afflicted our
nation and our state for too long. Do you think that all slave owners treated their
slaves in this way? What would be some benefits to not doing this to your slaves?
Why, then, would some slave-owners treat their slaves in this fashion?
2.) Explain to students that they will now participate in a discovery dealing with the AfricanAmerican experience in antebellum (pre-Civil War) Florida, from the era of the second
Spanish period in Florida beginning in 1784 to just before hostilities erupted between the
United States (the North, or the Union) and the Confederate States (the South) of
America. Encourage students to find differences in treatment and views of AfricanAmericans, free or enslaved, between the Spanish colonial government and the British
and later the Americans. In this way, students will recall prior knowledge and use it in a
new way.
3.) Pass out Timeline Information Sheet. Students should be encouraged to take notes on
this lesson in their notebook while filling in pertinent information on their information
sheets. Students will also need to use colored pencils to show the four eras of Florida
before the Civil War (the first Spanish colonial era of 1565-1763, the British era of 17631783, the second Spanish era of 1783-1821, and the American era after 1821) on their
timelines. Students may need to attach the timeline from the previous lesson.
4.) During this lecture, you may model for students by filling in pertinent information on a
master timeline information sheet. Optional: You may also want to keep a transparency
for notes for students to copy.
5.) Use the Teacher’s Guide to highlight the main ideas of the lecture. Note: The
information in the Teacher’s Guide is meant to serve as background information for you.
It is not meant to be read as a script, but rather to be a source from which you can extract
the most relevant points to teach your students, depending on what you believe is most
important and what should be emphasized in your class.
Teacher’s Guide to Lesson –“African-Americans in Antebellum Florida”
Introduction: Most historians agree that the issue of slavery was a primary cause of the
American Civil War. In the mid-1800s, many people in the North believed that slavery was an evil
institution with no place in the future of America. Others believed that slavery was an antiquated
agricultural method that should be replaced by automated means. But the wealthy planters in the
South disagreed. The labor of their bonded servants enabled them to sell their cash crops on the
world market, and sell them very cheaply. In the Upper South, large plantations produced
tobacco, wheat, and vegetables, while cotton, rice, indigo, and sugarcane were the main staples
of the Deep South, including Georgia and the Carolinas. This made the planter class very rich,
and with their increasing wealth, they bought more land to grow more crops, which required more
slaves to work. The nation’s economy had evolved in the mid-nineteenth century to include the
beginnings of manufactured goods, but it still depended on the plantation crops of the South as
well. At the outbreak of war in 1861, cotton accounted for over 58% of the nation’s total exports.
The wealthy planters of the South lived like royalty. They owned fine furniture, herds of cattle,
and many slaves to do the work in the house and fields. Their main crop was cotton, and they
could sell it faster than they could plant it. So the more slaves one owned, the more cotton they
could raise.
Slaves were the most valuable property a person could own. A field slave was worth at least
$200; if trained in carpentry or bricklaying, his worth would be twice that. Because so much of
their wealth depended on slave labor, the wealthy planters of the South never considered any
other options.
In geographic location, Florida was as far south as any American could travel in the 1850s.
However, the institution of slavery and attitudes that whites held toward African-Americans, slave
or free, were not quite like the rest of the true Deep South. The reasons for this went back
hundreds of years, to the beginnings of the Spanish exploration of the New World in the early
sixteenth century, which we discussed in the previous lesson. Today, we will continue with the
reacquisition of Florida by the Spanish in 1784.
Picture A-2-1: Map of the Louisiana Purchase
What do you see in this map? Can you locate Florida? What do you recognize
about Florida that is the same today as it was two hundred years ago? What was
different about Florida in 1804 (it stretched west all the way to the Mississippi)?
After 1803, the United States owned all lands immediately north and west of Florida.
How do you think the Spanish felt about this development? Do you think that the
proximity of Florida to the United States combined with British desires to control New
Orleans (boundary between Florida and Louisiana) created tension between the three nations?
Map from http://www.tlaupp.com/images/LPterritory.jpg
Florida in the Second Spanish Colonial Era (1784-1821): After the American Revolution, England not only
gave thirteen of their fifteen North American colonies independence ( East and West Florida were the other
two), but they also handed over to the Americans all English-held land east of the Mississippi River (green
on the map). After losing all of this land, England saw no reason to keep Florida, so she gave it back to
Spain.
In 1803, in order to raise funds for a potential war with England, Napolean Bonaparte of France
authorized the sale of all French lands west of the Mississippi River (red on the map) to the Americans for
$15 million. With such rapid growth from 1783 to 1803, Americans felt that there was no reason that they
couldn’t take Florida, also.
In possession of its former colony again, the Spanish government attempted to strengthen its
hold on Florida. First, the Spanish governor of Florida asked the king to grant lands to Catholic
foreigners and those who would convert to Catholicism. In 1790, this was changed to include any
foreigner who would swear allegiance to Spain. Each head of household received 100 acres for
himself and fifty for every person, white or non-white, attached to the household. This
encouraged foreigners to settle Florida. Within a few months, almost 300 whites moved into East
Florida, bringing with them about 1,000 slaves. By 1804, 750 new English immigrants swore
loyalty to Spain, claimed lands, and brought over 5,000 slaves and 800 family members or white
workers with them.
Some former Spanish attitudes on slavery returned with the Spanish, as did the old threecaste system, but there were changes as a result of the English influence during their hold on
Florida and with the numbers of English and American settlers arriving in Florida. The second
Spanish government adopted a harder line towards slaves as it’s the profitability of Florida
became more dependent on a plantation economy after 1784. Slaves had to be exploited for
intense agricultural cultivation, not freed. However, the new English and American residents of
East Florida quickly learned that it was useless maintaining a system that kept slaves disgruntled
and resentful, as hundreds of the new bondservants escaped into the surrounding wilderness.
So, while fewer slaves were released from bondage in the second Spanish era, they still enjoyed
a measure of tolerance not experienced by their counterparts in the southern states of the new
American nation.
Other former ways changed, too. In 1784, Spain still offered refuge for any runaway slaves
from the new United States as long as they converted to Catholicism. That changed in the 1790s
with pressure from the new government of the US, as well as from slaveholders in the American
South. Spanish authorities, eager to not provoke the land-hungry Americans, decided to end its
policy of freedom for runaway slaves. As a result of this change and the new English plantations,
the black population of Florida grew from 27 percent in 1786 to 57% in 1814. And while the vast
majority were slaves, many free blacks still continued to live and work in the less hostile climate
of Florida.
In the Spanish colony of Cuba, however, there was some evidence that Spain’s previous
genteel outlook on slavery was changing in response to the rising popularity of sugar in Europe.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Cuba changed from an undersettled outpost of the Spanish
Empire to a booming plantation society of masters and slaves. Because of sugar’s high profits,
slaves in Cuba were treated brutally on a scale equal only to the most severe plantations of the
American South. Before the sugar boom, Cuba had been much like Florida. Slaves were freed
regularly and became valuable members of the community. But the increasing popularity of
sugar in Europe caused a change in Cuba’s slave policies. Slaves were no longer freed, and the
white slaveholders became virulently prejudiced towards color. In fact, the Cuban colonial
government encouraged these new policies by publicizing France’s failure to keep its colony of
Haiti in the face of a large slave revolt. In the early 1800s, Spain was also beginning to lose its
grip on some of its holdings in South America and Mexico. It was not about to lose one of its
more profitable colonies.
Was this a sign of changes to come in Florida in the Spanish colonial era of the early 19th
century? Apparently not, because there had never been time to develop agriculture in East
Florida with the constant threat of invasion by the French, the English, or the upstart Americans.
The Spanish government of Florida saw more importance in developing a free caste of blacks
that would form militias to help defend Spanish colonial possessions. Though an effort was made
to promote some agriculture in East Florida by the allotment of land to non-Spaniards, outside
forces such as the encirclement of potential enemies and the temptation of the surrounding
wilderness dictated that Spain keep its traditional three-caste social structure.
Spanish Florida and the War of 1812: In spite of all attempts to strengthen its hold on Florida,
Spain was weaker than it had been when the English took Florida in 1763. Its hold on Florida
was made even more precarious by competing elements of continued English interest and
influence and Americans moving south across the St. Mary’s River from Georgia. Combined with
unruly Indians, runaway slaves, outlaw whites, and independence movements in Spain’s other
New World colonies, Florida was becoming unmanageable for Spain. When the United States
and England went to war again in 1812, both sides saw Florida as an integral part of their
strategy. Some Americans had looked at Florida as a natural extension of their territory in light of
the Louisiana Purchase of 1804. Other Americans, particularly plantation owners, were angered
by Spain’s weakness in controlling Florida’s native populations, who were conducting raids in
Alabama and Georgia, and helping slaves to escape, with the help of their black allies. But the
American government supported no significant moves on Florida until English warships and men
began appearing on the St. John’s River and around Pensacola Bay, at Spain’s invitation. The
English immediately began to supply the Indians and free blacks living in the wilderness with
guns and supplies in return for continued raids on Southern plantations. The Indians were also
given special instructions to free as many slaves as possible in these raids. In return, the English
promised that they would continue to supply the Indians and all the newly released slaves from
these raids.
As the War of 1812 wound down in late 1814, American forces led by General Andrew
Jackson made the English retreat from Pensacola. Jackson and his men then made their way to
Mobile and New Orleans. The English forces headed toward the Apalachicola River with a large
number of blacks, some of which were still held as slaves by their Spanish owners. On the east
bank of the river fifteen miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico, the English built a fort and
supplied it with guns, ammunition, artillery, powder, and shot. They also distributed arms to the
local native and free black population. Then the British sailed away, leaving this fort to be
manned by a force of 344 blacks. After the war ended in a virtual draw with the Treaty of Ghent
in December 1814, the fort remained, making river travel hazardous for all Americans who
ventured south from Georgia to the Gulf. The American government demanded that Spanish
authorities destroy the fort to no avail. In July 1816, an American gunboat sailed north from the
mouth of the river and attacked this “Negro fort,” as it was nicknamed by the Americans. One
cannon shot from the river hit the fort’s gunpowder supply, and the resulting explosion killed 270
of the fort’s occupants, while injuring seventy-one. Only three men were unhurt. This incident,
and many more Seminole raids on plantations in Georgia and Alabama strengthened the
American demand that the Spanish either police its inhabitants more effectively, or give the
territory to the United States.
The First Seminole War: Late in the summer of 1817, Seminoles and free blacks were
rumored to be gathering near Tallahassee. The American government sent a group of soldiers to
talk to the large group, but as they arrived in the area, the Indians fired upon the soldiers. The
troops then attacked the Indians and destroyed their village. The Indians got their revenge
months later, when on November 30, they attacked a supply boat on the Apalachicola River and
killed thirty-seven American soldiers, seven of their wives, and four children. Later, the Indians
returned, killing or wounding fifty-nine more people.
The government of the United States immediately placed Andrew Jackson in charge of
American forces in an invasion of Florida on the grounds of controlling Indians. Jackson and his
2,000 troops found two English agitators who were believed to have incited the Seminoles to
attack the Americans months earlier. Jackson had both executed. He and his men then
approached Pensacola when it was learned that Seminoles were gathering nearby and that the
Spanish governor would not allow transportation of American supply boats on the nearby
Escambia River. Jackson and 1,200 of his men peacefully occupied the town and a nearby fort.
He then returned to Tallahassee. Thus, the First Seminole War was over. Later, however,
Jackson convinced a war party of Lower Creek Indians to launch a slave raid into southern
Florida. They raided free black settlements and captured about 300 free blacks, returning them
to slavery. Approximately 250 blacks escaped further south to the Keys or to Seminole villages
around the upper Peace River in present-day Polk County.
Though Spain protested this invasion of their territory, both sides knew that the Spanish
colonial era was coming to an end in Florida. Florida had become a refuge for runaway American
slaves, unruly Seminole Indians, and renegade whites that could not be governed by the
Spaniards. The only answer to this for the Americans was to annex Florida, making it a territory
of the United States. This was finally accomplished through negotiations on February 22, 1821.
Picture A-2-2: Black Seminole Leaders
What do you see in this picture? How are the men in the picture dressed? Does
one man in this picture look different than the other two? The man in the background is
Abraham, a Black Seminole leader. Why do you think that Seminoles and runaway
slaves formed alliances in the Florida wilderness?
Picture from http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/seminole/images/floridaone.jpg
The American Era Begins (1821-1860): Show the picture of Abraham, a runaway slave who
became an influential Black Seminole leader. Ask students the following questions: “What do you
see here? Why do you think that he dresses like this? Do you think that he is an influential
person among his people?”
The Florida that the Untied States received from Spain was still wilderness. Of the roughly
12,000 inhabitants, less than 4,500 were under governmental authority in 1821. Of these 4,500,
800 lived in or near Pensacola while the rest were in that northeastern pocket between the St.
Mary’s river to the north and St. Augustine to the south. The 7,500 not under direct governmental
influence were mostly free blacks, escaped slaves, or Seminole Indians. This presented a
problem for the new American territorial government.
Most of these ungoverned individuals had made their homes in the expansive region between
the Apalachicola River to the west and the Suwanee River to the east. Within months of Florida
becoming an American territory, though, many white settlers from the southern United States
began to move into this “unclaimed” area in search of very cheap land. When word soon spread
that the soil in this region was perfect for cotton production, many more whites began to move
into this area of Middle Florida en masse from Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. Of course,
they brought slavery with them.
New Racial Policies: These new planters demanded that Florida’s new government either
deport all Indians and free blacks in Middle Florida or restrict them to a reservation further south.
They also demanded that a new system of laws and practices different from Spanish customs be
enacted. These new planters felt that only in these ways would slaves not be tempted to run
away like so many of their predecessors. The Florida government responded by making
immediate efforts to implant a new two-caste system of whites and blacks. New laws were
passed that restricted the activities of free blacks. In 1827, the territorial government prohibited
free blacks from even entering Florida, blaming them for inciting discontent among slaves. More
laws were passed in the following years outlawing free blacks from engaging in numerous
activities, barring them from jury duty, disallowing them to have a voice in local government,
forbidding them to testify against whites in court, and making all interracial marriages illegal. In
1829, the Florida government also attempted to discourage the freeing of slaves. Owners were
forced to pay $200 for each slave they freed, and the former slave was forced to leave Florida
within thirty days. If the former slave did not comply, they could be resold to a new owner.
Furthermore, blacks that had been freed by the Spanish could be sold back into slavery as a
punishment for crime or as a way to settle any debt. Free blacks could also be forced to work on
manual labor projects, whipped for minor crimes, and restricted to a 9:00PM curfew.
Free blacks were not the only African-Americans to experience the negative nature of the new
Florida government, either. Gone were the more-civilized Spanish slavery policies. In their place
arose a brutal system in which slaves were worked to exhaustion at least six days a week and
given very little food or rest. In addition, the freedom of movement that many Spanish slaves had
enjoyed was replaced by a strict policy of non-interaction among slave communities. Even
punishment for transgressions was made more severe. There are many documented cases of
floggings, whippings with a “cat-o’-nine-tails,” brandings, and ears nailed to trees. Many slaves
died from these punishments. In some cases, the slave owners would hire white overseers to
watch the slaves at work and use whatever methods necessary to get the maximum amount of
work from these slaves. Many of these overseers would compete against each other to see
which ones could employ the most brutal methods. Perhaps the worst treatment of all, though,
was living with the knowledge that at any time, and for whatever reason, one’s family could be
broken apart as spouses, sons, and daughters could be sold to slave owners many hundreds of
miles away, never to be seen again.
“The Boom”: As a result of these new racial policies and the curtailment of freedoms for free
blacks, Florida’s population exploded. By 1825, West Florida claimed 5,780 people, while Middle
Florida held 2,370. Meanwhile, East Florida could account for 5,077. Five years later, the rapid
growth of Middle Florida boomed even more with a census of 15,779, while West Florida held
9,478 and East Florida claimed 8,956. While Florida had been little more than a frontier outpost
for the Spanish Empire for over two-and-a-half centuries, it had become an economic bonanza for
the United States. And no region was more prized than the cotton-growing region of Middle
Florida. By 1825, settlers were already establishing large (slave populations of twenty or more
and consisting of at least 500 acres) and small plantations in the area between the Apalachicola
and Suwanee Rivers. In this region of Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, and Madison
Counties, cotton was king. In fact, this region produced 85 percent of Florida’s cotton within three
decades of becoming an American possession. And this large-scale production required slave
labor. In 1830, 60 percent of all slaves in Florida lived in these five counties; by 1860, it was 70
percent. As production increased, this cotton kingdom grew, eventually stretching beyond the
Suwanee River south and east to around present-day Ocala and Gainesville.
The Second Seminole War: This extreme growth in such a short time with the accompaniment
of new laws regarding free blacks and slaves was bound to result in friction with the original
inhabitants of Middle Florida. As more and more armed Seminoles and blacks were pushed out
of plantation lands and further into the swamps, the likelihood of a fight increased. Free blacks
living in villages away from white settlements grew increasingly agitated as white slave catchers
raided their settlements and captured men, women, and children for profit. Finally, in 1823, the
United States negotiated a treaty with Indian leaders. This agreement, the Treaty of Moultrie
Creek, created a reservation for Seminoles and blacks living among them from about present-day
Ocala down to southern Polk County. Soon, however, many white settlers began to move into
this area as well. That, and legislation aimed against the Seminoles and other tribes living in the
southern United States, began to stir up hard feelings among the Seminoles and their black allies.
Upon seeing the enactment of new slavery codes and laws restricting the liberties of former
slaves coupled with the violation of treaties setting aside lands for Indians and their AfricanAmerican allies, free blacks living in unsettled areas felt that the intention of the new government
was to capture them and sell them into slavery. So they prepared themselves for a battle to the
death to protect themselves and their families.
In late 1835, about 1,600 blacks lived within the lands originally set aside for them and the
Seminoles. Over 1,100 slaves toiled on plantations immediately north and east. When war broke
out in December between U.S. troops and Seminole and black warriors, many slaves who had
been secretly armed by free blacks revolted on their plantations. This Second Seminole War
quickly became what may have been the largest slave uprising in United States history. Possibly
over a thousand slaves left their plantations and joined the struggle against the policies of the
United States, and fought with such fervor that many American soldiers claimed that the most
fierce Indian warriors could not match their black counterparts in battle.
Many Black Seminole leaders actively participated in this seven-year conflict, influencing other
African-Americans to fight and causing other Seminole and Creek warriors to join the fray as well.
Eventually, though, the U.S. Army’s overwhelming resources and supplies caused the Seminoles
to stop fighting. Black Seminole leaders were also instrumental in negotiating a settlement to end
the war. Instead of being captured and sold back into slavery, they made the U.S. government
allow all Black Seminoles to accompany their Indian allies to Oklahoma, where many still live
today.
Middle Florida Becomes the Seat of Power: With the end of the Second Seminole War in
Florida and the forced removal of all Indians and Black Seminoles, white planters in Middle
Florida could concentrate on settling more land and buying more slaves without the threat of
another large-scale slave revolt or Indian war. The peace of the pre-Civil War years from 1845 to
1860 caused another settlement boom. In 1845, almost 70,000 people lived in Florida, counting
34,000 slaves. In 1860, this jumped to almost 62,000 slaves in a total population of over
141,000, with the vast majority of the slaves living in Middle Florida.
As a result of this increase in population centered on the cotton-producing regions, Middle
Florida became the most powerful region in Florida, both economically and politically. Many
Middle Florida elites began the push for statehood in the late 1830s. Seeing cheap land and the
benefits of an expanded slave-based economy and federal aid in the building of roads and
infrastructure, especially the building of a railroad, these leaders actively pursued the idea of
Florida’s admittance into the Union. Despite the objections of people in East Florida who did not
relish the idea of federal taxes and the increased power base in Middle Florida, Florida became
the 27th state in 1845.
Though the new policies toward slaves and free blacks legislated in the first half of the 19th
century were severe, there was resistance from several groups, most notably from families that
were holdovers from the Spanish era in eastern and western Florida. As Middle Florida grew
stronger in the years after Florida became an American possession, East and West Florida
chafed at its increased significance. Many of the older slave-owning families in northeast Florida
still held political office, served as delegates to the territorial government, and owned the best
tracts of land situated on the best waterways along the St. John’s River and its tributaries. Aware
of the power that they held, these slave owners, especially in East Florida, actively disobeyed the
law of the land in regards to slavery codes. They still released many slaves from bondage
without paying the required $200 or enforcing the mandatory 30-days-to-leave policy for newly
released slaves, married some former slaves, and still understood the value of a free black class
in society. Furthermore, many slave owners in East and West Florida still allowed their slaves the
opportunity to make extra money by working odd jobs such as carpentry, masonry, timber cutting,
or fishing. Other owners rented their slaves out and paid a portion of the wages earned to the
slave directly. And the old Spanish task-oriented system of work was still prevalent; for instance,
if a slave was required to work in the timber industry, instead of cutting trees down all day with no
set limit until dusk, he was given a quota to meet. Upon reaching that quota, such as ten trees on
a typical day, that slave was then free to tend to their own business. Many slaves produced over
their quotas in order to earn extra wages.
Opportunities still abounded for slaves outside of Middle Florida. Many slaves did not work in
cotton production in East and West Florida. Their services were needed in other endeavors, such
as cattle-herding and railroad construction. Other slaves worked as handymen, fisherman,
cooks, and artisans. Many slave owners in East and West Florida taught their slaves to read and
write to better enable them to manage stores and other businesses, and also instructed them in
mathematical principles to better enable them to do these jobs. This practice was totally opposite
of other slave-holding areas throughout the American South.
By the 1850s, however, even East and West Florida’s stubbornness and noncompliance in
following the slave codes of Florida began to subside. The power of the Middle Florida planters
grew, and some of the original holdovers of the old Spanish regime began to die off. More than
any other cause, the increase of white farmers and laborers emigrating from other areas into East
and West Florida spelled the end of some of the more tolerant attitudes toward slaves and blacks
in general. Combined with slave revolts in other southern states and increased competition for
jobs between free blacks and whites, East and West Florida became very similar to the rest of the
South prior to the Civil War.
Activities
“African-Americans in Antebellum Florida”-Pre-Test
Directions: Answer the following questions to the best of your ability using any prior knowledge
you may have about the experiences of black slaves and free blacks in Florida before the Civil
War.
1. Africans were first introduced to Florida by the ______________.
a. Spanish
b. English
c. Americans d. trick question; they weren’t
2. Spanish attitudes and policies toward slaves were influenced by:
a. the belief that all humans deserved to be treated decently
b. the belief that slavery was just a temporary condition and subject to change
c. the teaching of the Catholic Church which stated that everyone had a
redeemable soul
d. all of the above
3. True or false. The Spanish believed that society should be made up of three classes, or
castes; whites, freed slaves, and bondservants.
4. True or false. When Florida was an English colony, many slaves were freed and allowed
to become members of the community.
5. The second Spanish colonial era in Florida was marked by:
a. harsher treatment of slaves than under the English government
b. repeated raids by Seminole Indians and former slaves into Georgia and
Alabama, where more slaves were freed from bondage
c. the American Revolution
d. slavery becoming a federal crime
6. Florida became a territory of the United States in 1821. As a result:
a. many people left Florida, moving north to Alabama and Georgia
b. Americans moved south to take advantage of the ideal soil, making Florida a
leading cotton-producing state
c. the War of 1812 started
d. Andrew Jackson became president
7. Florida’s years as an American territory and later a state:
a. saw the end of slavery
b. saw repeated attacks by the Spanish and English
c. saw a major slave revolt led by runaway slaves and Indians and the emergence
of Middle Florida
d. saw the beginnings of immigration from Europe
8. The institution of slavery after 1821 was ______ __________ when compared to the
Spanish era.
a. less harsh
b. more harsh
c. the same
(Answers to pre-test)
1. a
2. d
3. True
4. False
5. b
6. b
7. c
8. b
Timeline Information Sheet
A. 1784- Great Britain gives Florida back to ____________ after losing the Revolutionary
War to thirteen English colonies.
B. 1812-1814- The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain occurs;
________________ invade Florida from the north in attempts to take Florida from Spain.
Free blacks fight to defend Florida.
C. 1815- The British establish the “___________ _________” 15 miles upstream of the Gulf
of Mexico on the Apalachicola River; American gunboat attacks in July 1816. Out of 344
people defending the fort, 270 are killed, 71 injured.
D. 1817- The First _______________ War begins and ends.
E. 1821- Florida becomes a territory of the ________________ ______________ in the
Adams-Onis Treaty.
F. 1835-1842- The Second __________________ War, which could also have been the
largest slave revolt in American history.
G. 1845- Florida becomes the ____ state.
H. 1830- Population of Florida is 35,000 (16,000 slaves)
1845- Population of Florida is 70,000 (34,000 slaves)
1860- Population of Florida is 141,000 (62,000 slaves)
(Answers to Timeline Information Sheet)
A. Spain
B. Americans
C. Negro Fort
D. Seminole
E. United States
F. Seminole
G. 27th
Homework Assignments (Processing): here are some ideas to use for processing
information. Feel free to offer some or all, and let your students decide which one (s) they
will complete.
2.) Have students create an illustrated (and colored) acrostic poem titled “Slavery in Florida.”
The poem should include complete statements and it should show understanding of the
differences in the slavery policies practiced by the Spanish colonials in Florida and the
English/Americans.
3.) On the students’ Graphic Organizer #2 (map of Florida in the American era), have
students create a T-chart showing some of the major differences in slavery as practiced
in the Spanish era and during the English/American era. Students may also show the
differing attitudes held by the Spaniards and the Anglos (English and Americans).
4.) On the timeline passed out in class, have students draw and color a symbol for each
entry that reflects understanding of the topic. For instance, maybe a quick sketch of the
Castillo de San Marcos for the establishment of St. Augustine in 1565. Another option is
to have students pick one or two entries and create elaborate pictures for those entries.
(continued from previous lesson)
5.) Have students use pictures of slaves working in cotton production and in other jobs to
create perspective drawings or collages showing the differences between slaves in East
and West Florida to slaves in Middle Florida after 1821.
6.) On a grading scale of “A” to “F”, ask your students to grade Spain, England, and the
United States separately on their policies and attitudes toward slavery and blacks in
general before the Civil War. Each colonial government should receive an individual
grade, and the student should be able to present evidence explaining their decision.
Assessment
Assessment Questions
1.) (Show the picture of a white man whipping a slave- Picture A-2-3) Based on your
knowledge of slavery in Spanish Florida as opposed to slavery after Florida
became an American territory, which era and location do you think is represented
by this picture?
a. Spanish East Florida
b. Spanish West Florida
c. American East Florida
d. American Middle Florida
Picture from http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/aa/tubman/aa_tubman_youth_2_e.jpg
2.) Why did Spanish racial attitudes “hang on” in East and West Florida years after Florida
became an American territory? What were some ways in which the people of East and West
Florida resisted the laws toward blacks that were established by the territorial government in
Tallahassee?
3.) In your opinion, why was Middle Florida never settled by the Spanish? What were some
obstacles encountered by the first Americans to move into Middle Florida? How did Middle
Florida so quickly become the seat of power in territorial government, as opposed to East or
West Florida?
4) Why do you think Tallahassee was chosen as the new capital of Florida by the
Americans, instead of the old Spanish capitals of St. Augustine and Pensacola?
5) (Show the picture of the entryway to the plantation at left –Picture A-2-4)
Here we see a typical old plantation house in the Deep South. In what
region of Florida would one be more likely to see plantations in the
antebellum era?
a. West Florida
b. Middle Florida
c. East Florida
d. South Florida
Picture from http://www.resortsgreathotels.com/articles/litchfield/lit.jpg
V. Resources
Colburn, David R., and Landers, Jane, Eds. The African-American Heritage of Florida.
University Press of Florida: Gainesville, FL. 1995.
Gannon, Michael, Ed. The New History of Florida. University Press of Florida: Gainesville, FL.
1996.
Landers, Jane. Black Society in Spanish Florida. University of Illinois Press: Urbana, Illinois.
1999.
Porter, Kenneth W. The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom-Seeking People. University
Press of Florida: Gainesville, FL. 1996.
Rivers, Larry Eugene. Slavery in Florida: Territorial Days to Emancipation. University Press of
Florida: Gainesville, FL. 2000.
Tebeau, Charlton W. A History of Florida. University of Miami Press: Coral Gables, FL. 1971.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html -Oral histories of former slaves
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/3010/slavery.htm -property value of West Florida’s
slaves
http://www.flahum.org/flheritage/flslavery.html -Slavery and its aftermath in Florida
http://www.oldhouseweb.net/stories/Detailed/10378.shtml -Kingsley Plantation
http://www.cr.nps.gov/goldcres/sites/kingsley.htm -same as above
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/photos/industry/kingsl/kingsl.htm -pictures of the Kingsley Plantation