FloridaHistory Of Florida
The history of Florida began People 12,000 years ago. From The Florida coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico was very different 12,000 years ago. The sea level was comparatively lower than it is today.
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Native American tribes in Florida included the Apalachee, Calusa, Seminole, Tequesta, and Timucua.
Juan Ponce de León was the first one who founded florida.He arrived in 1513, reportedly searching for the Fountain of Youth and the life of florida began when spanish explorer arrives. He sighted Florida for the first time, mistaking it for an island, on March 27, and subsequently landed on the east coast of the newly discovered land on April 2.
On another voyage in 1521, Ponce de Leon landed on the southwestern coast
of the peninsula. He named the land La Pascua Florida, or "the flowery
easter" due to the abundant plant life in the area.Due to the repeated
attacks from the native population his colonisation failed. . 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.Then the French showed much interest in that area.
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. After that Spanish
stated its invasion by building catholic mission. Menéndez de Avilés
attacked Fort Caroline, killed all the French soldiers defending it, and
renamed the fort San Mateo.After two years , Dominique de Gourgues invaded
and also recaptured the fort. 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.
During seven years war British captured Florida in 1763 and the contol transferred from the spain to Britiain.Almost entire population spanish population left along with almost all of the remaining indigenous population. At that time, St. Augustine was still a garrison community with fewer than five hundred houses, and Pensacola also was a small military town. 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. 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, consisting of approximately the lower third of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama.At this time Greek Indians were migrated into Florida forming the seminole tribe. Spain recaptured the control over West Florida. In 1784, the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War returned all of Florida to Spanish control, but without specifying the boundaries.
When the British evacuated Florida, 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, supposedly at the will of the Spanish. The United States Army led increasingly recurrent incursions into Spanish territory, including the 1817 - 1818 battle 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. Finally, Spain formally ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, according to terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty.
In March 30,1822 the Florida Territory became an organized territory of the United States .The Americans established a new capital in Tallahasse by merging East Florida and West Florida and conveniently located halfway between the East Florida capital of St. Augustine and the West Florida capital of Pensacola. The boundaries of Florida's first two counties (Escambia and St. Johns) approximately coincided with the boundaries of West Florida and East Florida respectively.
As settlement increased, pressure grew on the United States government to get rid of the Indians from their lands in Florida. Many Indian tribes harbored runaway black slaves, and the settlers wanted right to use of Indian occupied lands. After that the United States government signed the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, with a few of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida voluntarily. The remaining Seminole prepared for war. White settlers pressured the government to remove all of the Indians, by force if necessary. In 1835, the U.S. Army arrived to enforce the treaty.
Osceola, the Seminole leader was concerned in a greatly outnumbered resistance in the Second Seminole War. Approximately 4,000 Indian warriors effectively employed hit and run guerrilla campaign with overwhelming effect against over 200,000 United States Army troops for many years. Osceola was arrested at truce negotiations in 1837. He died in jail less than a year later. The war came to an end in 1842.The US government is estimated to have spent about $20,000,000 on the war, at the time an astronomical sum. Many Indians were forced to exile to Creek lands west of the Mississippi; others retreated into the Everglades. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America. Almost half of the state's populations were black slaves working on plantations.
The Civil War And Reconstruction
The major Civil War battle fought in Florida was the Battle of Olustee even though several skirmishes occurred in Florida, including the Battle of Natural Bridge and the Battle of Gainesville. Subsequent to Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, Florida joined other slaveholding states in seceding from the United States. Florida became one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America following the Secession in January 10, 1861. Florida was a significant supply route for the Confederate Army, thus Union forces operated a blockade around the entire state. Union troops occupied major ports such as Cedar Key, Jacksonville, Key West, and Pensacola.
After meeting the requirements of Reconstruction, including amendments to the US Constitution, Florida was readmitted to the United States on July 25, 1868.
At the time of Civil War, Florida was not ravaged as several other southern states were. Indeed, no decisive battles were fought on Florida soil. While Union forces occupied many coastal towns and forts, the interior of the state remained in Confederate hands.