Adsactly Education - Florida History
Adsactly Education: Florida: The History
Florida
The Sunshine State
Capital: Tallahassee
Largest City: Jacksonville
65,755 sq. mi. 170,304 sq. Km
22nd Largest State
Admitted to US: 1845 (27th)
Population: 22,000,000 (3rd)
Highest Point: 345 ft (105 m)
Lowest Point: Sea Level
State Bird: Mockingbird
State Flower: Orange Blossom
Motto: In God We Trust
Bordered By: Alabama, Georgia, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico.
Florida
Florida, the most southern state in the contiguous United States, derives it’s name from the Spanish ‘land of flowers’. Ponce De Leon was the first European into Florida and gave the state it’s name.
Florida has a 1 trillion dollar economy making it 4th in the US. If it were a separate country it would rank 16th in the world.
Native Influence
Pre Columbian history is rich and varied in Florida. Some of the oldest conclusively dated human occupation sites in the Americas are found here. There is a carved bone with the image of a Mammoth that dates from 13,000 to 20,000 years ago. There are indicated human activities that date to 40,000 plus years ago (indications of butchering on bones).
Florida was a relative paradise to early inhabitants, thus the wide range of peoples that populated the area from ancient times. During the last ice age water was a bit hard to come by due to Seal Level being at least 100m (330ft) lower and most of the fresh water in North America locked in the ice sheet.
Historical people in Florida range from the 1st Century BC up to European contact with the Mississippian Culture in 1513. Natives were treated poorly. First by the Spanish and later by the English Colonists.
Spanish Influence
Ponce De Leon was the leader of the first European expedition in what is now the US in 1513. DeSoto, who led the first real exploration of the area reported a near unbroken wall of Mangrove trees on the Atlantic coast in 1539.
Spain attempted several settlements in Florida but the first one that lasted is St. Augustine in 1569, making it the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the US.
French claims in Louisiana and English claims to the north challenged the Spanish claim that was Florida and greatly reduced the size. Escaped slave (particularly black slaves) from the English and French colonies were welcomed in Florida in exchange for service in the Militia that defended the Spanish claims. The first all black town and Militia company were established in Florida by 1738. Spain’s loss in the 7 years war and subsequent exchange of Florida to the English for the sole possession of Cuba started the English rule. Most of the freed blacks and much of the indigenous population left the area at that time.
English Influence
The English ruled Florida from 1763 until the end of the American Revolution when Spain was granted control of the Florida territory which kept the established English borders.
Florida (east or west) did not send any delegates to Philadelphia during the Continental Congress or the crafting of the Declaration of Independence. The area had been heavily settled by English loyalists, many from Bermuda and the Carolinas. When Spain regained control of the territory in in 1783 and held it until 1821.
Americans entered Florida from Georgia and South Carolina unchecked (the first illegal immigrants in the US) and joined with established English settlements to create foment and discord. The Seminole Indians raided north into the American Colonies and not only caused great damage but freed many slaves and encouraged them to escape to Florida.
The United States Army raided into Florida and in fact fought a full scale war with the Seminoles and to the exclusion of Spain. As the US took greater and greater control of Florida, Indian removal became a larger and larger issue. In 1832 the Seminoles were offered lands west of the Mississippi to leave, and many did. Another war was waged with the Seminole and in 1842 3000 Seminole and 800 black Seminole were forcibly removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma and Arkansas today). A fairly small number of Seminole fled to the Everglades where they can still be found today.
American Influence
The United States implemented full control over Florida in 1842 and in 1845 Florida was admitted to the Union as a slave state. Plantation owners moved south and brought slavery with them. By the start of the Civil war there were less than 1000 free blacks still living in Florida. Florida passed it’s ‘ordinance of secession’ in 1861 and became one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America.
The Civil War was not much fought in Florida and the 15,000 men that served from Florida mostly served elsewhere. Florida did suffer consequences during Reconstruction as the state was under (Union) military control from the end of the war until it re entered the Union in 1868 and was under forced reconstruction until 1876.
In the last half of the 19th Century Florida was the least populated of the Southern states with a 1900 population less than 600,000 with nearly 45% of that population Black. One quarter of the Black population left around the turn of the century prompted by lynchings and violence and extreme discrimination that carried on until the Civil Rights era of the 1960s.
Florida saw a ‘land boom’ in the 1920s as resorts and tourism became big business that supplanted agriculture as the prime driver in the economy. That ended with a couple of hurricanes and the Great Depression. It would not recover until the build up for WWII.
The ‘land boom’ returned in the 1960s with the practicality of air conditioning and a huge influx of Cuban refugees fleeing from Castro. Today Florida has a population of over 18 million and is the most populous state in the South.
Florida has recently received a large influx of refugees from Puerto Rico in the wake of the 2017 Hurricane Maria. The melting pot continues to expand in Florida.
Dumb Laws
The state constitution allows for freedom of speech, a trial by jury, and pregnant pigs to not be confined in cages.
One may not commit any “unnatural acts” with another person.
All images in this post are properly licensed and used.
This is part of a series on the various states. We will finish up Florida in the next installment, I hope you will return. I do hope you have enjoyed this synpsis of Florida. The words and ideas are mine but I used Wikipedia Florida as the source for the information.
Authored by: @bigtom13
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I absolutely love FLorida and plan on moving there soon. In your next post you should talk about the differences between the different parts of Florida. For example Miami is very different than Pensacola. Key West is different compared to Orlando. Anyways I look forward to seeing the next post.
Yes indeed. Geography and weather are next on the list. It's an incredibly diverse place with essentially three separate coastlines.
Florida is one of the states in the United States that we Latin Americans know best. I think that here the number of Hispanics, especially Cubans, should be very large and Spanish should be the second most widely used language. According to some texts that I have read, Ponce de León travels to this area of North America to find the Fuente de Juvencia (or Fuente de la eterna juventud) (Fountain of Eternal Youth) that indigenous stories supposed in one of the emergents or in the background of a hammock of the Florida peninsula. About what you say about the people from Puerto Rico who have arrived in Florida, this is also a state that is continually hit by hurricanes and bad weather, likewise, is a very receptive state to immigrants from many countries and to have a very advanced culture of tourism. I remember when I was a child, Venezuelans traveled a lot to Florida, specifically to Miami, where they felt at home. Now I want to see the continuation, very especially to see all the curiosities you can investigate about this state, @bigtom13. Thank you for this series of posts.
I have done most of the research for the rest of the story, and yes, the Hispanic population is huge. And a very vibrant community, very much a part of the culture of the whole area.
As an aside, when Jim Crow hit major league baseball an exception was made for 'Cuban' players. For about 15 years there were players, a lot of players, that played with a Cuban passport. When they were black Americans they had to play in the Negro League, but as Cubans they could play in the Majors. One more huge black mark for America and Baseball.
Thanks to your consistent outreach work, @bigtom13, we've come to Florida, the US state I'm most familiar with, not because I've been there (I'd like to!), but because I've had more of a relationship through the mass-media and, in my case, through literature. I have in mind when I say this the fabulous chronicle Naufragios of Álvar Núñez cabeza de Vaca (who accompanied in his expedition to Pánfilo de Narváez).
It will continue to be an idealized zone, which, now with your data, is more illustrated. I love that your bird is the nightingale (which is why you translate "Mockingbird") or a similar bird, and its flower the orange blossom (aromatic and of delicate colors -white and violet-; here it is called "jasmine").
The southern states of the USA present me with a great curiosity about the relationship that their original populations (and their culture, of course) had with the aboriginal culture of Ancient Mexico, aware that a large part of those lands were "annexed" by the USA.
Also, if I am not mistaken, it is one of the states with the largest black population, and I suppose today with a very high Latin American population.
Greetings.
The 'Hispanic' culture is huge. The number of refugees from Cuba over the last 50 years is stunning and there is a current surge from Puerto Rico as well as Mexico. It is an incredible melting pot.
I love the mockingbird. I have a pair that have recently taken up residence in my date palm, and the songs are incredible. We have lots of citrus here too, so my best thought about the orange blossom is the smell. Absolute perfume in the air when the citrus is blooming.
Thank you for the kind words.
Enlightening and educating Post
With this post, we can find out more about Florida.
As a region on the peninsula, Florida is more open to other cultural influences. Starting from Spain, England, and the influx of Africans who were employed there, then mingled and there was a marriage with the European Americans to give birth to African American descendants. then a very diverse culture is born from the combination of various nations.
And you describe it so well that the reader easily understands it.
Thank you @bigtom13
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Warm regard from Indonesia
There was about 100 years in Florida (basically under Spanish rule) where the rules were pretty fluid and people could aspire to success regardless of their skin color. That changed with English and American rule, but the culture and acceptance couldn't be completely killed. It wears well in Florida today.
The story of the beginnings of the Floridian conquest is rather amusing. The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León was looking for the mythological "Fountain of Youth" whose Bible located the source in the heart of the Garden of Eden; a sacred fountain that would see the flow of water miraculous and rejuvenating. But at the end of the trip, the conquistador finds another Garden of Eden, Florida.
Yes. Ponce de Leon didn't find the fountain, but did stumble into the garden.
And, in the 21st century, Florida disappeared.
Oh man. It could happen. Greater Miami already has a water level problem that they are keeping more or less under control with pumps. Florida also is home to the 'lowest high point' of any of the states. It is very much at risk in the near future.
I am a bit confused as Biggest Cities in Florida
Miami. Miami is the biggest city in Florida, with a population of 5,502,379. ...
Tampa-St. Petersburg. Second among the biggest cities in Florida, the Tampa-St. Petersburg is home to 2,441,770 inhabitants. ...
Jacksonville
largest by area
being from St. Pete you had me wondering ??
Hey Eric. I have to tell you that I was confused (and probably still am). I went with pure population numbers because I found the 'metro area' numbers to be kind of nebulous (Like Phoenix. The metro area is now larger than Chicago). I was surprised to learn that Jacksonville has more area than any other city. I always thought that LA held that title.
So. I had to pick a number to work with and tried to remain true to that. I'll try to explain a little better when I get to Geography and populations.
As the post heading states, it's really educational post.
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