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The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Paleo-Indians began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological evidence. Florida's written history begins with the arrival of Europeans; the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513 made the first textual records.
- Overview
- Exploration and settlement
- Shifting alliances and allegiances
Ancient Native American peoples entered Florida from the north as early as 12,000 years ago. Although the first evidence of farming dates from about 500 bce, some southern groups remained hunters, fishers, and gatherers until their extinction. Indigenous peoples continued to arrive from the north in small numbers after 500 bce, establishing contacts with Cuba, the Bahamas, and, possibly, the Yucatán region of Mexico. At the time of European contact in the 16th century, a population of several hundred thousand Native Americans lived in Florida.
The early history of Europeans in Florida reflects the conflicts of the Spanish, French, and English crowns for empire and wealth. Juan Ponce de León ventured to the peninsula in 1513 and 1521. Because he landed on the peninsula during the Easter season (Spanish: Pascua Florida [“Season of Flowers”]) and because of the vegetation he found there, Ponce de León named the area Florida. Under the impression that Florida was one of the islands in the Bahamas archipelago, he initially made no attempt to found a settlement and did not appear to have ventured much north of present-day West Palm Beach. After an intermission of eight years, Ponce de León returned to establish a colony in the vicinity of what is now Fort Myers. He was mortally wounded near there in 1521 by the indigenous Calusa and died later the same year in Havana, Cuba.
Ancient Native American peoples entered Florida from the north as early as 12,000 years ago. Although the first evidence of farming dates from about 500 bce, some southern groups remained hunters, fishers, and gatherers until their extinction. Indigenous peoples continued to arrive from the north in small numbers after 500 bce, establishing contacts with Cuba, the Bahamas, and, possibly, the Yucatán region of Mexico. At the time of European contact in the 16th century, a population of several hundred thousand Native Americans lived in Florida.
The early history of Europeans in Florida reflects the conflicts of the Spanish, French, and English crowns for empire and wealth. Juan Ponce de León ventured to the peninsula in 1513 and 1521. Because he landed on the peninsula during the Easter season (Spanish: Pascua Florida [“Season of Flowers”]) and because of the vegetation he found there, Ponce de León named the area Florida. Under the impression that Florida was one of the islands in the Bahamas archipelago, he initially made no attempt to found a settlement and did not appear to have ventured much north of present-day West Palm Beach. After an intermission of eight years, Ponce de León returned to establish a colony in the vicinity of what is now Fort Myers. He was mortally wounded near there in 1521 by the indigenous Calusa and died later the same year in Havana, Cuba.
For the 250 years following the establishment of St. Augustine, Florida was little more than a wilderness in terms of any permanent European settlement. Its importance as a possession over which European powers fought, however, was considerable. There were frequent raids by English seafarers, including Sir Francis Drake in 1586, and clashes with French colonizers along the northern coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and with English settlers in the Carolina and Georgia colonies. Shifting alliances among the three powers reflected the vicissitudes of European politics, and St. Augustine and the English ports of Savannah and Charleston to the north of Florida were besieged at various times throughout the first half of the 18th century.
England received Florida in return for Havana in 1763 and replaced its military government with civilian officials. Expenditures for economic development brought prosperity as well as loyalty from most Floridians during the American Revolution, when the area was used as a base for attacks on colonial coastal cities. Three decades of political and social instability followed Florida’s return to Spain after the war, with U.S. expansionist interests in constant conflict with the Spanish presence.
By the mid-1700s virtually all of the Native American groups of Florida had been destroyed by disease and wars brought largely by English and indigenous Muskogee raiders from Georgia. The Muskogee, accompanied by a few runaway black slaves and renegade white settlers, ultimately migrated into the Florida area from Georgia and Alabama, where they were collectively called Cimarrones. The name Seminole evolved from cimarrón (Spanish: “wild, unruly, runaway”).
From their base at Pensacola, the British employed (or otherwise persuaded) Native Americans to harass U.S. settlements during the War of 1812. It was the First Seminole War (1817–18), however, that marked the beginning of armed conflict between Native Americans in Florida and the U.S. government. There were roughly 5,000 Seminole in Florida when Gen. Andrew Jackson captured Pensacola in 1818. The Spanish subsequently ceded Florida to the United States in a treaty that was ratified in 1821, and in 1832 the Seminole were made to accept a treaty that called for their removal to Oklahoma. When Seminole leader Osceola and a group of his followers refused to give up their land, a series of violent conflicts erupted that came to be known by the white community as the Second Seminole War (1835–42). Native American resistance was finally suppressed, however, and within about a decade most of the Seminole had been transferred to Oklahoma.
21 hours ago · Florida, constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted as the 27th state in 1845. Florida is the most populous of the southeastern states and the second most populous Southern state after Texas. The capital is Tallahassee, located in the northwestern panhandle.
Dec 16, 2009 · Florida joined the Union as the 27th state in 1845 and is nicknamed the Sunshine State for its balmy climate and natural beauty. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who led the first European...
Feb 10, 2018 · History of Florida: Early History, Exploration, Colonization, Becoming a State, and More! The history of Florida spans a wide range of periods and influences, from ancient native civilizations and European colonization to its development into a modern center of culture, tourism, and innovation.
The state's close proximity to the ocean has shaped its culture, identity, and daily life; its colonial history and successive waves of migration are reflected in African, European, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian influences.
This timeline places selected documents and pages from the Florida Memory Project in the context of Florida history. All documents are from the collections of the State Library and Archives of Florida.
