TIME: Almanac 1995

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ TIME: Almanac 1995 / TIME Almanac 1995.iso / time / us / states / fl / fl.002 < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-04-01 | 8KB | 169 lines

<text id=93AT0252> <title> Florida--History </title> <history> Compact ALMANAC--United States Directory Florida </history> <article> <source>Compact</source> <hdr> History </hdr> <body> Humans first reached Florida at least 12,000 years ago. The only clues to the history and lifestyle of these earliest Floridians are tools and other artifacts recovered by modern archaeologists. Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. Sometime between March 27th and April 2nd of that year, Ponce de Leon waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida--possibly near present-day St. Augustine. Others may have "discovered" Florida, but no firm evidence of such achievement has been found. Ponce de leon called the place "La Florida" in honor of Pascua Florida, Spain's Eastertime Feast of the Flowers. Groups of heavily-laden Spanish vessels; called Plate fleets, normally sailed through the straits that parallel Florida's Keys and north, up the Gulf Stream. Aware of this pattern, pirates preyed on the fleets. Hurricanes created additional problems, sometimes slamming the ships to pieces on the reefs and shoals along the Florida coast. Not only Spain found Florida attractive. In 1562 the French Protestant Jean Ribault explored the area; two years later, fellow Frenchman Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere succeeded in establishing Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. John's River. The English, also eager for the wealth of New World conquest, came into increasing conflict with the colonies of Spain's expanding empire. In 1586, even as the village was still being settled, the English captain Sir Francis Drake sacked and burned tiny St. Augustine. In florida, however, Spanish control was undiminished. The English colonists of South Carolina were particularly antagonistic toward Spain. Led by Colonel James Moore, the Carolinians and their Indian allies laid siege to Spanish Florida in 1702 and destroyed the town of St. Augustine; however, they could not capture the fort. Beginning two years later, they laid waste the missions of the interior area between Pensacola and St. Augustine, killing many Indians and enslaving many others. To make matters worse, the French continued to harass Spanish Florida's western perimeter and captured Pensacola in 1719. Britain finally gained control of Florida in 1763 in exchange for Havana, Cuba which they had just captured from Spain during the just-ended Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Spain evacuated Florida after the exchange, leaving the province virtually empty. At that time, St. Augustine was still a garrison town with fewer than 500 houses and Pensacola was also a small military town. England had ambitious plans for Florida. First, the land was split into two parts: east Florida, with its capital at St. Augustine, and West Florida with its seat at Pensacola. Then, British attempted to attract settlers with offers of export subsidies and land grants. Given sufficient time, the strategy might have converted Florida into a flourishing colony. But the British rule lasted only twenty years. When the British evacuated their Floridas, Spanish colonists and Americans came pouring in. Many of the new settlers had been lured by desirable Spanish terms for land grants; others were escaped slaves, going where their American masters could not effectively reach them. Instead of becoming more Spanish, the Floridas became more American. Finally, after several official and unofficial American military incursions into the territory, Spain ceded the Floridas to the United States in 1821. After territorial status was granted, the two Floridas were merged into one with a capital city in a new place--Tallahassee. By 1830, the territory boasted a population of 34,730., many of whom had come from Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Of the population almost half were slaves. Seminole Indians, already respected for their fighting abilities, won the admiration of professional soldiers for their bravery, fortitude, and ability to adapt to changing circumstances during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). That war, by far the most significant of the three conflicts between the Indians and the Federal government in Florida, began over whether or not the Seminoles should remove themselves across the Mississippi River to what is now Oklahoma.In the end, the issue remained in doubt. Some Indians migrated "voluntarily," some were captured and sent west under military guard, and others escaped into the Everglades where they carved out a life away from any contact with whites. Today, there are Indian reservations at Immokalee, Hollywood, Brighton, and along the Big Cypress Swamp. In addition to Seminole tribes, Florida also has a Miccosukee population. By 1840 Floridians concentrated increasingly on developing the territory and gaining statehood. The economy was based on agriculture, with the cotton plantation as its ideal form. Plantations were concentrated in Middle Florida and their owners set much of the political tone for all of Florida until the Civil War. Florida became the 27th member of the United States in 1845. Five years later the population had swelled to 87,445 which included about 39,000 slaves and 1,000 free blacks. A special convention after the 1860 presidential election drew up an ordinance of secession and Florida left the Union on January 10, 1861. Civil War followed. Florida was not ravaged as several other southern states were. Indeed, no decisive battles were fought on Florida soil. The state did furnish 15,000 troops and significant amounts of supplies to the Confederacy, but some 2,000 Floridians joined the Union army. Post-war Florida saw many changes. Ports at Jacksonville and Pensacola again flourished due to the demand for lumber and forest products to rebuild America's cities. Those who were slaves a few years earlier had been declared free. Reconstruction resolved itself into a series of political battles with blacks' power slowly slipping away. The final quarter of the 19th century brought economic developments which propelled Florida rapidly into the 20th century. Large scale commercial agriculture, especially cattle-raising, began to make a comeback. Industry, particularly cigar manufacturing, took root in the immigrant communities of the state. By the turn of the century, Florida seemed to be the last frontier--a land of opportunity and plenty. Population and per capita wealth were increasing rapidly; the potential of the "Sunshine State" appeared endless. The bubble burst after 1925 when money and credit ran out and banks and investors abruptly ceased trusting paper millionaires. Although hurricanes received a measure of the blame for wiping out the Florida boom, the hurricanes were merely the final blow. By the time the Great Depression came to the rest of the nation in 1929 Floridians had already become accustomed to tightening their belts. World War II reinvigorated Florida. The state became a training center for troops, sailors, and airmen of the United States and her allies. Highway and airport construction was accelerated so that, by war's end, Florida had an up-to-date transportation network ready for use by citizens and the visitors who seemed to arrive in an endless caravan. Since the war, Florida's economy gradually became more diverse. although tourism, cattle, citrus and phosphate remain extremely important, they are being trailed by a host of new industries which have greatly expanded the number of jobs available to Floridians while being kind to the environment. Source: State of Florida. </body> </article> </text>