Spanish Florida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish colony of Florida.
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Early colonization
Several tribes of Native Americans were living in Florida when Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León arrived in 1513, reportedly searching for the Fountain of Youth. He sighted Florida for the first time, mistaking it for an island, on March 27, 1513, and subsequently landed on the east coast of the newly discovered land on April 2, 1513. He named the land La Pascua Florida, or "the flowery easter" due to the abundant plant life in the area and to the fact that he arrived during the Spanish Easter feast, Pascua Florida.
Ponce de León returned with equipment and settlers to start a colony in 1521, but they were driven off by repeated attacks from the native population. Hernando de Soto's expedition passed through Florida in 1539, and in 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano established another brief settlement in Pensacola that was abandoned in 1561.
The French began taking an interest in the area, as well, leading the Spanish to accelerate their colonization plans. Jean Ribault led an expedition to Florida in 1562, and René Goulaine de Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline near what is now Jacksonville in 1564. San Agustín (St. Augustine in English), founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, was the first permanent European settlement in the current territory of the United States. From this base of operations, the Spanish began building Catholic missions throughout what is today the southeastern United States.
Menéndez de Avilés attacked Fort Caroline, killed all the French soldiers defending it (except Catholics), and renamed the fort San Mateo. Two years later, Dominique de Gourgues recaptured the fort from the Spanish and slaughtered all of the Spanish defenders. In 1586, English sea captain and sometimes pirate Sir Francis Drake plundered and burned St. Augustine.
Throughout the 17th century, English settlers in Virginia and the Carolinas gradually pushed the boundaries of Spanish territory south, while the French settlements along the Mississippi River encroached on the western borders of the Spanish claim. In 1702, English Colonel James Moore and the allied Creek Indians attacked and razed the town of St. Augustine, but they could not gain control of the fort. In 1704, Moore and his soldiers began burning Spanish missions in north Florida and executing Indians friendly with the Spanish. In 1719, the French captured the Spanish settlement at Pensacola.
Possession by Britain
In 1763, Spain traded Florida (which, at the time, extended south only to around the area of present day Gainesville) to Great Britain for control of Havana, Cuba, which had been captured by the British during the Seven Years' War. Almost the entire Spanish population left along with almost all of the remaining indigenous population. The British divided the territory into East Florida and West Florida, and began aggressive recruitment programs designed to attract settlers to the area, offering free land and backing for export-oriented businesses. See West Florida controversy.
In 1767, the British moved the northern boundary of West Florida to a line extending from the mouth of the Yazoo River east to the Chattahoochee River (32° 28′ north latitude), consisting of approximately the lower third of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama.
During this time, there was a migration of Creek Indians into Florida forming the Seminole tribe.
Britain retained control over Florida during the American Revolutionary War, but the Spanish, by that time allied with the French who were actively at war with Britain, took advantage of the distraction and recaptured portions of West Florida. In 1784, the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War returned all of Florida to Spanish control, but without specifying the boundaries. The Spanish wanted the expanded boundary, while the United States demanded the old boundary at the 31st parallel. In the Treaty of San Lorenzo of 1795, Spain recognized the 31st parallel as the boundary.
Second Spanish colony
Spain offered extremely lucrative free land packages in Florida as a means of attracting settlers, and colonists came in droves from Spain and from the United States. After settler attacks on Indian towns, Indians based in Florida began raiding Georgia settlements, purportedly at the behest of the Spanish. The United States Army led increasingly frequent incursions into Spanish territory, including the 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians by Andrew Jackson that became known as the First Seminole War. Following the war, the United States effectively controlled East Florida.
The Adams-Onís Treaty was signed between the United States and Spain on February 22, 1819 and took effect on July 10, 1821. According to the terms of the treaty, the United States acquired Florida and, in exchange, renounced all claims to Texas.
