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Home , East Florida, Treaty of Madrid (1670)

A Comparative Timeline of General American History and History, 1492 to 1823

A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

Early exploration and establishment of colonies. Observe the trajectory of Spanish exploration in the Southeast versus English exploration along the Atlantic seaboard. Note the conflict in territorial interests beginning in 1586. While the Spaniards were expending efforts on creating Indian missions, the English of were rapidly expanding into commercial export of tobacco. By 1670 the Spaniards were entrenching behind defenses and encouraging slaves to runaway from their English masters, while English settlers retaliated with attacks on St. Augustine and the mission system. How did this rivalry between colonists and empires affect the region? Look at the dates around the War of Jenkin's Ear (1739-1742). What's the relationship between the founding of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the Stono slave revolt in Carolina, and Oglethorpe's attack on ? Can you relate this to issues about the American Civil War?

Major dates in the history of Spanish Comparative dates in British colonial Florida history 1492 Columbus sails into the 1492 Columbus sails into the .

Caribbean. 1493 Columbus founds the town of La Isabela on Hispaniola. 1497 John Cabot explores the Atlantic coast of North America. 1513 Juan Ponce de León explores the Florida coast. 1524 Giovanni de Verrazano explores the coast of North America. 1528 Pánfilo de Narváez leads an expedition through Florida. (Religious and dynastic turmoil in 1539 Tristan de Luna tries England dampen interest in further unsuccessfully to start a colony at exploration overseas) Escambia Bay (Pensacola). 1559 Tristan de Luna tries unsuccessfully to start a colony at Escambia Bay (Pensacola).

1 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1562 Jean Ribault and French settlers land in northeast Florida. 1564 French settlers build Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River. 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés destroys the expedition from France and establishes St. Augustine. 1585 English settlers make their first attempt to settle Roanoke (Virginia) 1566 Menéndez founds his capital for La Florida at Santa Elena (Port Royal Sound) in what is today . 1577 Spaniards begin to conquer Florida, allying or fighting with local native American tribes and chiefdoms.

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés A detail of Francis Drake's attack on the town of St. Augustine in 1586. 1586 Sir Francis Drake, after raiding 1586 Sir Francis Drake visits Roanoke and the Spanish Caribbean, attacks takes the settlers back to England. and burns St. Augustine. 1587 Spanish settlers abandon Santa 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh sends a second Elena and leave the Carolina group of colonists to reestablish coast. Settlement focuses on the Roanoke. Florida peninsula. 1588 Replacing the unsuccessful 1588 English ships destroy the Spanish Jesuits, members of the Armada in the English Channel, Franciscan order start a mission altering the balance of naval power in for Indians on Cumberland Island Europe. (now part of ).

2 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1590 The latest wave of English colonists to Roanoke find the colony abandoned and return home to England. 1597 The Guale Indians of coastal Georgia rebel against Spanish rule and efforts at religious conversion. 1607 The Franciscans begin to establish 1607 Captain John Smith establishes missions among the Timucuan Jamestown. Indians of northeast and north . 1610s Plague spreads among the 16,000 Indian converts of Florida. 1616 The new exports 2500 pounds of tobacco. 1620 The Pilgrims establish . 1623 The Franciscans reintroduce religious instruction among the Guale and establish more missions.

The parish church of St. Augustine A cross from an early mission site. (constructed 1797) 1626 The Dutch establish New Amsterdam (later, ) 1630 Virginia exports 333,000 pounds of tobacco. Boston is founded. 1633 For the first time, the Franciscans try to establish missions among the Apalachee of the panhandle region. 1634 The colony of is 1634 The colony of Maryland is established. established.

3 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1635 There are at least 41 missions 1635 The Reverend Thomas Hooker among the Indians of northern petitions to create . Florida, with an estimated population of 30,000 Indians. 1638 Possible founding date for San 1638 Virginia exports 3.1 million pounds of Luis de Talimali, soon to be the tobacco. most important settlement in Apalachee, and the western capital of La Florida. 1647 War erupts in Apalachee between Christian and non-Christian Indians. 1650 The missions of La Florida reach 1650 Although slaves only comprise a their greatest extent. Yellow fever small proportion of Virginia's labor and small pox kill hundreds of force (which is mostly indentured Native Americans throughout the servants), colonial authorities legalize decade. chattel slavery, opening the path to keeping Africans and their children in bondage. 1656 Census shows 26,000 Christian Indians in 38 missions. 1658 Angered by Spanish demands for labor, the Timucua Indians rebel against Spanish rule and Gov. Diego de Rebolledo. 1659 The Council of the Indies in Spain orders the arrest of Gov. Diego de Rebolledo for mishandling Indian affairs. A measles epidemic kills an estimated 10,000 Indians. 1663 The colony of Carolina is 1663 The colony of Carolina is chartered. chartered. 1670 The defines Spain's territorial claims in North America. 1672 Officials in St. Augustine commence the building of a stone fortress, the . 1675 A bishop's census shows 33 missions with 13,152 people.

4 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1683 Juan Marquez Cabrera begins to employ former slaves as soldiers in Florida's militia. 1684 La Salle brings a French expedition into the Gulf Coast. 1687 Eleven slaves (eight men, two women, and a child) flee from slavery in Carolina and go to St. Augustine. 1693 King Charles II declares that slaves fleeing English possessions will be set free upon arriving in Spanish territory. 1694 Charles II issues a royal order to occupy Pensacola Bay. 1698 Spaniards establish Pensacola to block French expansion along the Gulf of Mexico. Detail from Thomas Lopez's map of St. Augustine showing the free black community of Fort Mose (far right).

1700 Fears grow in Carolina that slaves, now numerous, might be encouraged by Spain to rebel against slave- owners. 1702 An expedition led by James 1702 War of the Spanish Succession/Queen Moore of Carolina invades Anne's War Spanish Florida and burns down St. Augustine but fails to capture the Castillo. 1704 In a second expedition, James Moore sends Indian allies of the English to raid and destroy the Spanish missions. 1711 From a population of perhaps 1711 Colonists in Carolina put down an 8000 in the , only 401 attempted slave revolt. refugees survive the attacks on the missions. They settle near St. Augustine for protection.

5 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1712 Colonists in New York put down an attempted slave revolt. 1714 Colonists in Carolina put down a second slave revolt. 1715 Escaped slaves help the Yamassee Indians make war on Carolina colony. 1723 The English aid the Creeks in retaliations against the Yamassee. 1724 Ten runaway slaves reach St. Augustine. 1728 Carolinians under Col. John Palmer attack Nombre de Dios. 1733 James Oglethorpe founds Ft. Frederica, Georgia. 1738 Spanish officials establish Gracia 1738 Mose outside St. Augustine as a town Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, for freed slaves. outside St. Augustine, as a town for freed slaves. 1739 War of Jenkin's Ear between 1739 Angolan slaves at the Stono River, Spain and Great Britain. South Carolina, kill twenty whites in a revolt and are caught trying to flee to Florida. 1740 James Oglethorpe leads Georgia 1740 The population of South Carolina and Carolina militia on a military reaches 40,000. Two-thirds of the expedition to destroy St. colony's inhabitants are slaves. Augustine. 1741 Colonists in New York put down another slave revolt. 1742 Governor Manuel de Montiano sends a retaliatory strike into Georgia.

6 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

Age of Empire: The (1754-1763) redrew the map of colonial North America, eliminating French possessions in Quebec and . Spain was forced to cede its colony of Florida to England. In compensation, it received the Louisiana territory from France. English colonies stretched along all of the Atlantic seaboard from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. This new "status quo" lasted less than 20 years, as thirteen of Britain's colonies rose in revolt against Crown and parliamentary policies. How did Spanish ambitions to regain the affect the ? What problems did a Spanish presence in Florida and Louisiana pose for the young ? Consider how the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe resolved these problems in the years between the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the First War (1817-1818). Original art, British ships, from Flags of Florida, Lt. Col. A.L.L. Martin.

1745 The French and Indian War. 1745 The French and Indian War. to to 1763 1763 1764 England divides its new colony of 1764 Parliament passes the Revenue, or Florida into two colonies, East Sugar, Act. and West, with the capital of the former at St. Augustine and the capital of the latter at Pensacola. 1765 John Bartram, Royal Botanist, 1765 Parliament passes the Stamp Act. travels through British East Florida, including visits to the Seminole Indians. 1767 Dr. Andrew Turnbull of Scotland brings indentured servants from the Mediterranean to Florida to work his indigo plantation at New Smyrna. 1770 Eight British soldiers in the 29th Regiment fire on a mob in Boston, killing five. 1773 John Bartram's son, William, 1773 American patriots stage the Boston returns to East Florida. Tea Party. 1774 The First Continental Congress meets. 1775 The American Revolution starts at Lexington and Concord. 1776 Congress declares the colonies independent. 1777 Indentured servants at New

7 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

Smyrna rebel and go to St. Augustine, creating the "Minorcan" community there. 1778 France and Spain agree to aid the American cause. 1779 Settlers loyal to George III flee 1779 The British capture Savannah. into East Florida from South Carolina and Georgia. 1780 Spanish forces from Louisiana 1780 The British capture Charleston. capture Mobile in British . 1781 An expedition under Bernardo de 1781 American and French forces, assisted Gálvez lays siege to Pensacola by a French fleet, trap Lord and forces the British army Cornwallis's entire army at Yorktown, defending it to surrender Virginia. 1783 England acknowledges Spanish 1783 Britain recognizes the independence sovereignty over British West of the United States. Florida and cedes British East Florida.

Spanish officials were horrified when Napoleon Bonaparte acquired the Louisiana territory from Spain and then sold it to the United States. Americans now had a wedge of settlement between and Texas, and complete control over the River. But when President Jefferson claimed all the lands between the and the Rocky Mountains as part of Louisiana, the United States and Spain came to the verge of war. Tensions lasted from 1803 until 1807, when Americans became distracted by growing problems with the British.

Detail from the French map "Lower Louisiana and West Florida" in Vue de la Colonie Espagnole du Mississipi, &c. (1803)

8 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1788 Nine states ratify the U.S. Constitution, establishing a new federal system of government for the United States. 1789 Parisians storm the Bastille, starting the French Revolution. becomes the first president of the United States. 1790 Spain establishes new laws for 1790 Thomas Jefferson, as Secretary of East Florida, responding in part State, proposes an expedition to to the proximity of the United explore the Missouri River. States. The Crown ends its policy of giving sanctuary to runaway slaves. It opens Florida to immigration. New settlers must take an oath of loyalty to the Crown. It opens trade between Florida and "neutral powers," which includes all ports of the U.S. 1791 William Bartrams's Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida comes out in print. 1793 The cornerstone of St. Augustine's 1793 French republicans execute King parish church (now the Cathedral Louis XVI for crimes against the Basilica) is laid. The church is people. England and Spain declare finished in 1797. war on France. Thomas Jefferson again proposes an expedition to the Missouri. 1794 French agents in Savannah make 1794 Farmers in western plans to help Americans living in rebel over a proposed tax on whiskey. East Florida rebel against Spanish leads troops to rule. suppress trouble. 1795 Spanish forces in East Florida 1795 The Treaty of San Lorenzo between suppress a revolt by Spain and the United American settlers. Rebel leaders States guarantees Americans free use flee into Georgia. of the Mississippi River and duty-free passage through the port of New Orleans.

9 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

The early 1800s saw the people of the young American republic involved in disputes with France and Britain over safe passage of shipping on the high seas and with Spain over ownership of East and West Florida. Territorial acquisitions that started through negotiation were eventually concluded by war as the United States used the to push Spain into surrendering its Florida possessions. American troops occupied Spanish East Florida in 1812 and 1813. Meanwhile, Americans fought their second war against the British, sealing the verdict of the American Revolution.

Image from William Walton's The Army & Navy of the United States (1900) 1797 France begins to attack American commerical shipping, leading to the Quasi-War, an undeclared naval conflict. 1800 Under pressure, Spain returns the territory of Louisiana to France. President Jefferson fears this will mean a strong French military presence in the West. 1803 The United States purchases Louisiana from France. President Jefferson claims the Purchase also includes and portions of Spanish West Florida. 1805 Nelson destroys the French and Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. The U.S. Navy punishes the Barbary pirates for preying on American shipping. The Lewis and Clark expedition reaches the Pacific Ocean. 1806 Dr. Daniel Turner, a physician living in St. Marys, Georgia, tells friends that tensions with Spanish settlers over the Louisiana Purchase and other matters have reached a fever pitch and might lead to an invasion of Florida.

10 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1808 Slave traders begin to use Amelia 1808 Britain and the United States ban the Island, East Florida, as a base African slave trade from their of operations for the African slave possessions. The French invade Spain. trade. 1810 American settlers in the Baton 1810 President orders Rouge District of Spanish West American troops from Louisiana to Florida rebel against Spanish rule. occupy Baton Rouge and hold it for the United States. 1811 Governor David Mitchell of Georgia pledges to put an end to Spanish "piracy" at . 1812 [March 17-18]. Encouraged by an 1812 [June 18]. The U.S. Senate declares American agent, Georgia militia, war on England but the next day rebel Floridians, and U.S. troops refuses to declare war on Spain. occupy Spanish East Florida. Between 1812 and 1821 Spain struggled to hold on to the Floridas. Gregor McGregor (right) led troops against Amelia Island in 1817. That same year the First Seminole War broke out, and in 1818 led forces against the Miccosukee and Seminole towns between the Apalachiola and Suwannee rivers.

Original artwork, Flags of Florida, Lt. Col. A.L.L. Martin.

1813 After one full year, the U.S. 1813 Andrew Jackson takes on the Creek troops occupying East Florida Confederation and defeats hostile withdraw to Georgia, burning Creeks at Horseshoe Bend. Georgia many plantations as they go. and Tennessee militias move against the in Spanish East Florida. 1814 Andrew Jackson's forces occupy 1814 British forces burn the government Pensacola in Spanish West buildings in Washington but retreat Florida and force a British fleet to from an attempt to take Baltimore. abandon the area. 1815 Andrew Jackson defeats a British invasion of New Orleans. 1816 Escaped slaves congregate around 1816 The U.S. Army enters Spanish a fort the British set up on the territory to wipe out the "Negro Fort" in Florida. at Apalachicola.

11 A Comparative Timeline of General American History and Florida History, 1492 to 1823

1817 Gregor McGregor, an adventurer 1817 becomes president of in the pay of Spanish the United States. Andrew Jackson liberationists, seizes Amelia (1818) leads troops into Florida to Island in East Florida. Reacting to destroy the towns of Indians who have McGregor's take-over, American met force with force on the frontiers. forces again occupy Amelia Island on behalf of the United States. 1819 Spain agrees in principle to cede East and West Florida to the United States. 1821 The Spanish Floridas are merged 1821 A treaty acknowledging the transfer is into a single American territory ratified. with a new capital at Tallahassee. Andrew Jackson becomes the first (absentee) governor. 1823 President James Monroe outlines the Monroe Doctrine, that no European power will be allowed to establish colonies in the .

The remains of the city gate of St. Augustine.

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