Florida,
the twenty-seventh State admitted into the Union; received its name from
its discoverer in 1512 (see
PONCE DE LEON). It was visited by
Vasquez,
another Spaniard, in 1520. It is believed by some that
Verrazani saw its
coasts in 1524; and the same year a Spaniard named De Geray visited it.
Its conquest was undertaken by
Narvaez, in 1528, and by
De Soto in 1539.
PAMPHILIO NARVAEZ,
CABEZA DE VACA, with several hundred young men from
rich and noble families of Spain landed at Tampa Bay, April 14, 1528,
taking possession of the country for the King of Spain. In August they
had reached St. Mark's at Appopodree Bay, but the ships they expected
had not yet arrived. They made boats by September 2, on which they
embarked and sailed along shore to the Mississippi. All the company
excepting Cabeza de Vaca and three others perished. In 1549, Louis
Cancella endeavored to establish a mission in Florida but was driven
away by the Indians, who killed most of the priests. Twenty-six
Huguenots under
John Ribault had made a settlement at Port Royal, but
removed to the mouth of St. John's River in Florida, where they were
soon reinforced by several hundred Huguenots with their families. They
erected a fort which they named Fort Carolina.
Menendez with
2,500 men reached the coast of Florida on
St. Augustine's day, and
marched against the Huguenot settlement.
Ribault's vessels were wrecked,
and Melendez attacked the fort, captured it and massacred 900 men,
women, and children. Upon the ruins of the fort Melendez reared a cross
with this inscription: " Not as to Frenchmen, but as Lutherans." When
the news of the massacre reached France, Dominic de Gourges determined
to avenge the same, and with 150 men sailed for Florida, captured the
fort on the St. John's River, and hanged the entire garrison, having
affixed this inscription above them: "Not as to Spaniards, but as
murderers." Being too weak to attack St. Augustine, Gourges returned to
France.
The city of St. Augustine was founded in 1565, and was captured by
Sir
Francis Drake in 1586. The domain of Florida, in those times, extended
indefinitely westward, and included
Louisiana. La Salle visited the western portion in 1682, and in 1696
Pensacola was settled by Spaniards.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the English in the Carolinas
attacked the Spaniards at St. Augustine; and, subsequently, the
Georgians, under
Oglethorpe, made war upon them. By the treaty of Paris,
in 1763, Florida was exchanged by the Spaniards, with Great Britain, for
Cuba, which had then recently been conquered by England. Soon
afterwards, they divided the territory into east and west Florida, the Appalachicola River being the boundary line. Natives of Greece, Italy,
and Minorca were induced to settle there, at a place called New Smyrna,
about 60 miles south of St. Augustine, to the number of 1,500, where
they engaged in the cultivation of indigo and the sugar-cane; but,
becoming dissatisfied with their employers, they removed to St.
Augustine. During the Revolutionary War the trade of the Southern
colonies was seriously interfered with by pirates fitted out in Florida,
and the British incited the Indians in that region to make war on the
Americans. The Spaniards invaded west Florida, and captured the garrison
at Baton Rouge, in 1779; and in May, 1781, they seized Pensacola. By the
treaty of 1783, Florida was retroceded to Spain, and the western
boundary was defined, when a greater part of the inhabitants emigrated
to the United States. When, in 1803,
Louisiana was ceded to the United States by France, it was declared
to be ceded with the same extent that it had in the hands of Spain, and
as it had been ceded by Spain to France. This gave the United States a
claim to the country west of the Perdido River, and the government took
possession of it in 1811. Some irritation ensued. In the war with Great
Britain (1812), the Spanish authorities at Pensacola favored the
English. An expedition against the Americans having been fitted out
there, General Jackson captured that town. Again, in 1818, it was
captured by Jackson, but subsequently returned to Spain.
The Florida Purchase
Florida was purchased from Spain by the United States in 1819, and was
surrendered to the latter in July, 1821. Emigration then began to flow
into the Territory, in spite of many obstacles. In 1835 a distressing
warfare broke out between the fierce
SEMINOLE INDIANS, who inhabited
some of the better portions of Florida, and the government of the United
States, and continued until 1842, when the Indians were subdued, though
not thoroughly conquered.
EARLY INDIAN LIFE IN FLORIDA. (From an old print.)
Florida Secession
Florida was admitted into the Union as a State on March 8, 1845.
Inhabitants of the State joined in the war against the government, a
secession ordinance having been passed Jan. 10, 1861, by a convention
assembled on the 3rd. Forts and arsenals and the navy-yard at Pensacola
were seized by the Confederates. The State authorities continued
hostilities until the close of the war. On July 13, 1865, William Marvin
was appointed provisional governor of the State, and on Oct. 28 a State
convention, held at Tallahassee, repealed the ordinance of secession.
The civil authority was transferred by the national government to the
provisional State officers in January, 1866, and, under the
reorganization measures of Congress, Florida was made a part of the 3d
Military District, in 1867. A new constitution was ratified by the
people in May, 1868, and, after the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment
to the national Constitution, on June 14, Florida was recognized as a
reorganized State of the Union. The government was transferred to the
State officers on July 4. In 1899 the assessed (full cash value)
valuation of taxable property was $93,527,353, and in 1900 the total
bonded debt was $1,275,000, of which all excepting $322,500 was held in
various State funds. The population in 1890 was 391,422; in 1900,
528,542.
Early Exploration of Florida
Don Tristan de Luna sailed from
Vera Cruz, Mexico, Aug. 14, 1559, with 1,500 soldiers, many zealous
friars who wished to convert the heathen, and many women and children,
families of the soldiers. He landed near the site of Pensacola, and a
week afterwards a terrible storm destroyed all his vessels and strewed
the shores with their fragments. He sent an exploring party into the
interior. They traveled forty days through a barren and almost
uninhabited country, and found a deserted Indian village, but not a
trace of the wealth with which it was supposed Florida abounded.
Constructing a vessel sufficient to bear messengers to the viceroy of
Mexico, De Luna sent them to ask for aid to return. Two vessels were
sent by the viceroy, and, two years after his departure, De Luna
returned to
Mexico.
When Oglethorpe returned to
Georgia from England (1736) he discovered a
hostile feeling among the Spaniards at St. Augustine. They had tried to
incite the Indians against the new settlements, and also to procure the
assassination of
Oglethorpe. The latter, not fairly prepared to resist
an invasion, sent a messenger to St. Augustine to invite the Spanish
commandant to a friendly conference. He explored some of the coast
islands and prepared for fortification. His messenger did not return,
and he proceeded to secure possession of the country so far as its
defined boundary permitted him. His hostile preparations made the
Spaniards vigilant, and even threaten war; and when, in 1739, there was
war between England and Spain, he determined to strike the Spaniards at
St. Augustine a heavy blow before they were fully prepared to resist it.
He penetrated Florida with a small force and captured some outposts
early in 1740; and in May he marched towards St. Augustine with 600
regular troops, 400 Carolina militia, and a large body of friendly
Indians. With these he stood before St. Augustine in June, after
capturing two forts, and demanded the instant surrender of the post. It
was refused, and Oglethorpe determined to starve the garrison by a close
investment. The town was surrendered, and a small squadron blockaded the
harbor. Swift-sailing galleys ran the weak blockade and supplied the
fort. Oglethorpe had no cannon and could not breach the walls. In the
heat of summer malaria invaded his camp, the siege was raised, and he
returned to Savannah. Hostilities were then suspended for about two
years.
AN EARLY VIEW OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.
In the summer of 1776 a citizen of Georgia visited General Charles Lee
at Charleston and persuaded him that St. Augustine could easily be
taken. The man was a stranger, but without further inquiry, Lee
announced to the Continental troops under his command that he had
planned for them a safe, sure, and remunerative expedition, of which the
very large booty would be all their own. Calling it a secret, he let
everybody know its destination. Without adequate preparation, without a
field-piece or a medicine chest, he hastily marched off the Virginia and
North Carolina troops, in the second week in August, to the malarious
regions of Georgia. By his order, Howe, of
North Carolina, and Moultrie,
of South Carolina, soon followed. About 460 men from South Carolina were
sent to Savannah by water, with two field-pieces; and on the 18th, Lee,
after reviewing the collected troops, sent the Virginians and a portion
of the South Carolinians to Sunbury. The fever made sad havoc among
them, and fourteen or fifteen men were buried daily. Then Lee sought to
shift from himself to Moultrie the further conduct of the expedition,
for he saw it must be disastrous. Moultrie warned him that no available
resources which would render success possible had been provided, and the
wretched expedition was then abandoned. Fortunately for his reputation
Lee was ordered North early in September and joined Washington on Harlem
Heights. See LEE, CHARLES.
Tory refugees from Georgia acquired considerable influence over the
Creek Indians, and from east Florida, especially from St. Augustine,
made predatory excursions among their former neighbors. Gen. Robert
Howe, commanding the Southern Department, in 1778, was ordered from
Charleston to Savannah to protect the Georgians and attack St.
Augustine. A considerable body of troops led by Howe, and accompanied by
General Houstoun, of Georgia, penetrated as far as the St. Mary's River,
where sickness, loss of draught-horses, and disputes about command
checked the expedition and caused it to be abandoned. The refugees in
Florida retaliated by an invasion in their turn.
In the summer of that year two bodies of armed men, composed of regulars
and refugees, made a rapid incursion into Georgia from east Florida—one
in boats through the inland navigation, the other overland by way of the
Altamaha River. The first party advanced to Sunbury and summoned the
fort to surrender. Colonel McIntosh, its commander, replied, "Come and
take it." The enterprise was abandoned. The other corps pushed on
towards Savannah, but was met by about 100 militia, with whom they
skirmished. In one of these General Scriven, who commanded the
Americans, was mortally wounded. Near Ogeeehee Ferry the invaders were
repulsed by General Elbert with 200 Continental soldiers. Hearing of the
repulse at Sunbury, they also retreated.
Galvez, the Spanish governor of New Orleans, took measures in 1779 to
establish the claim of Spain to the territory east of the Mississippi.
He invaded west Florida with 1,400 men, Spanish regulars, American
volunteers, and colored people. He took Fort Bute, at Pass Manshac
(September, 1779), and then went against Baton Rouge, where the British
had 400 regulars and 100 militia. The post speedily surrendered, as did
also Fort Panmure, recently built at Natchez. A few months later he
captured Mobile. leaving Pensacola the only port of west Florida in
possession of the British. On May 9, in the following year, Don Galvez
took possession of Pensacola, capturing or driving away the British
there, and soon afterwards completed the conquest of the whole of west
Florida.
Florida Declares Its Independence
The success of Napoleon's arms in Spain and the impending peril to the
Spanish monarchy gave occasion for revolutionary movements in the
Spanish province of west Florida bordering on the Mississippi early in
1810. That region undoubtedly belonged to the United States as a part of
Louisiana bought from the French,
but Spain had refused to relinquish it. The inhabitants were mostly of
British or American birth. Early in the autumn of 1810 they seized the
fort at Baton Rouge, met in convention, and proclaimed themselves
independent, adopting a single star for their flag, as the Texans did in
1836. There were some conflicts between the revolutionists and adherents
of the Spanish connection, and an attack upon the insurgents seemed
imminent from the Spanish garrison at Mobile. Through Holmes, governor
of the Mississippi Territory, the revolutionists applied to the United
States for recognition and aid. They claimed all the unlocated lands in
the domain, pardon for all deserters from the United States army (of
whom there were many among them), and an immediate loan of $100,000.
Florida Annexed to the United States
Instead of complying with these requirements, the President issued a
proclamation for taking possession of the east bank of the Mississippi,
an act which had been delayed because of conciliatory views towards
Spain. Claiborne, governor of the Orleans Territory, then in Washington,
was sent in haste to take possession, authorized, in case of resistance,
to call upon the regular troops stationed on the Mississippi, and upon
the militia of the two adjoining Territories. It was not necessary. Soon
after this movement at Baton Rouge a man named Kemper, who purported to
act under the Florida insurgents, approached Mobile, with some
followers, to attempt the capture of the garrison. He was repulsed; but
the alarmed Spanish governor wrote to the American authorities that if
he were not speedily reinforced he should be disposed to treat for the
transfer of the entire province. Congress passed an act authorizing the
President to take possession of both east and west Florida to prevent
its falling into the hands of another foreign power. Thus it might be
held subject to future peaceful negotiations with Spain. Florida, it
will be remembered, was divided into two provinces, east and west. The
boundary-line was the Perdido River, east of Mobile Bay. The Georgians
coveted east Florida, and in the spring of 1812 Brig.-Gen. George
Mathews, of the Georgia militia, who had been appointed a commissioner,
under an act of a secret session of Congress in 1810-11, to secure that
province should it be offered to the United States, stirred up an
insurrection there. AMELIA ISLAND, lying a little below the dividing
line between Georgia and Florida, was chosen for a base of operations.
The fine harbor of its capital, Fernandina, was a place of great resort
for smugglers during the days of the embargo, and, as neutral ground,,
might be made a dangerous place. The possession of the island and harbor
was therefore important to the Americans, and a sought for pretext for
seizing it was soon found. The Florida insurgents planted the standard
of revolt, March, 1812, on the bluff opposite the town of St. Mary, on
the border line. Some United States gunboats under Commodore Campbell
were in the St. Mary's River, and Mathews had some United States troops
at his command near. The insurgents, 220 in number, sent a flag of
truce, March 17, to Fernandina, demanding the surrender of the town and
island. About the same time the American gunboats appeared there. The
authorities bowed in submission, and General Mathews, assuming the
character of a protector, took possession of the place in the name of
the United States. At the same time the commodore assured the Spanish
governor that the gunboats were there only for aid and protection to a
large portion of the population, who thought proper to declare
themselves independent.
On the 19th the town was formally given up to the United States
authorities; a custom-house was established; the floating property in
the harbor was considered under the protection of the United States
flag, and smuggling ceased. The insurgent band, swelled to 800 by
reinforcements from Georgia, and accompanied by troops furnished by
General Mathews, besieged the Spanish garrison at St. Augustine, for it
was feared the British might help the Spaniards in recovering what they
had lost in the territory. The United States government would not
countenance this kind of filibustering, and Mathews was superseded as
commissioner, April 10, 1812, by Governor Mitchell, of Georgia.
Mitchell, professing to believe Congress would sanction Mathews's
proceedings, made no change in policy. The House of Representatives did
actually pass a bill, in secret session, June 21, authorizing the
President to take possession of east Florida. The Senate rejected it,
for it would have been unwise to quarrel with Spain at the moment when
war was about to be declared against Great Britain.
Jackson's invasion of Florida and his capture of Pensacola caused much
political debate in and out of Congress. By some he was much censured,
by others praised. The United States government upheld him, and the
Secretary of State, John Q. Adams, made an able plea of justification,
on the ground of the well-known interference of the Spanish authorities
in Florida in American affairs, and the giving of shelter to British
subjects inciting the Indians to make war. lt was thought the British
government would take notice of the summary execution of Arbuthnot and
Ambrister (see
SEMINOLE WAR) ; but it took the ground that British
subjects, meddling in the affairs of a foreign nation, must take the
consequences. Secretary Adams and the Spanish minister, lion Onis, had
been in correspondence for some time concerning the settlement of the
Florida question and the western boundary of the United States next to
the Spanish possessions. Finally, pending discussion in Congress on
Jackson's vigorous proceedings in Florida, the Spanish minister, under
new instructions from home, signed a treaty, Feb. 22, 1819, for the
cession of Florida, on the extinction of the various American claims for
spoliation, for the satisfaction of which the United States agreed to
pay to the claimants $5,000,000. The Louisiana boundary, as fixed by the
treaty, was a compromise between the respective offers heretofore made,
though leaning a good deal towards the American side. It was agreed that
the Sabine to lat. 33° N., thence a north meridian line to the Red
River, the course of. that river to long. 100° W., thence north by that
meridian to the Arkansas River to its head and to lat. 42° N., and along
that degree to the Pacific Ocean, should be the boundary between the
possessions of the United States and Spain. The Florida treaty was
immediately ratified by the United States Senate, and, in expectation of
a speedy ratification by Spain, an act was passed to authorize the
President to take possession of the newly ceded territory. But there was
great delay in the Spanish ratification. It did not take place until
early in 1821. The ratified treaty was received by the President in
February.
Florida in the Civil War
Before the Florida ordinance of secession was passed Florida troops
seized, Jan. 6, 1861, the Chattahoochee arsenal, with 500,000 rounds of
musket cartridges, 300,000 rifle cartridges, and 50,000 lbs. of
gunpowder. They also took possession of Fort Marion, at St. Augustine,
formerly the Castle of St. Mark, which was built by the Spaniards more
than 100 years before. It contained an arsenal. On the 15th they seized
the United States coast survey schooner F. W. Dana, and appropriated it
to their own use. The Chattahoochee arsenal was in charge of the
courageous Sergeant Powell and three men. He said, " Five minutes ago I
was in command of this arsenal, but in consequence of the weakness of my
command, I am obliged to surrender. . . . If I had force equal to, or
half the strength of yours, I'll be damned if you would have entered
that gate until you had passed over my dead body. You see that I have
but three men. I now consider myself a prisoner of war. Take my sword,
Captain Jones."
Anxious to establish an independent empire on the borders of the Gulf of
Mexico, Florida politicians met in convention early in January, 1861, at
Tallahassee, the State capital. Colonel Petit was chosen chairman of the
convention, and Bishop Rutledge invoked the blessing of the Almighty
upon the acts they were about to perform. The members numbered
sixty-nine, and about one-third of them were " Cooperationists " (see
MISSISSIPPI). The legislature of Florida, fully prepared to cooperate
with the convention, had convened at the same place on the 5th. On the
10th the convention adopted an ordinance of secession, by a vote of 62
against 7. In its preamble it was declared that " all hopes of
preserving the Union upon terms consistent with the safety and honor of
the slave-holding States " had been " fully dissipated." It was further
declared that by the ordinance Florida had withdrawn from the Union and
become " a sovereign and independent nation." On the following day the
ordinance was signed, while bells rang and cannon thundered to signify
the popular joy. The news was received by the Florida representatives in
Congress at Washington; but, notwithstanding the State had withdrawn
from the Union, they remained in their seats, for reasons given in a
letter to Joseph Finnegan, written by Senator David L. Yulee from his
desk in the Senate chamber. " It seemed to be the opinion," he said, "
that if we left here, force, loan, and volunteer bills might be passed,
which would put
Mr. Lincoln in immediate condition for hostilities; whereas, by
remaining in our places until the 4th of March, it is thought we can
keep the hands of Mr. Buchanan tied, and disable the Republicans from
effecting any legislation which will strengthen the hands of the
incoming administration." Senators from other States wrote similar
letters under their official franks. The convention was addressed by L.
\V. Spratt, of South Carolina, an eminent advocate for reopening the
African slave-trade. Delegates were appointed to a general convention to
assemble at Montgomery, Ala., and other measures were taken to secure
the sovereignty of Florida. The legislature authorized the emission of
treasury notes to the amount of $500,000, and defined the crime of
treason against the State to be, in one form, the holding of office
under the national government in case of actual collision between the
State and government troops, punishable with death. The governor of the
State (Perry) had previously made arrangements to seize the United
States forts, navy-yard, and other government property in Florida.
In the early part of the Civil War the national military and naval
forces under General Wright and
Commodore Dupont made easy conquests on the coast of Florida. In
February, 1862, they captured Fort Clinch, on Amelia Island, which the
Confederates had seized, and drove the Confederates from Fernandina.
Other posts were speedily abandoned, and a flotilla of gunboats, under
Lieut. T. H. Stevens, went up the St. John's River, and captured
Jacksonville, March 11. St. Augustine was taken possession of about the
same time by Commander C. R. P. Rogers, and the alarmed Confederates
abandoned
Pensacola and the fortifications opposite
Fort Pickens. Before the middle of April the whole Atlantic coast
from Cape Hatteras to Perdido Bay, west of Fort Pickens (excepting
Charleston and its vicinity), had been abandoned by the Confederates. |