Featured Unit: Florida’s Spanish Colonial Past

A painting by artist Theodore Morris, depicting a potter of the Fort Walton culture.
French contacts with the Timucua peoples of what is now northern Florida were documented by Jacques Le Moyne. Here, the alliance of the French with Chief Outina is used to overwhelm his archenemy Potanou.
An Apalachee hamlet under the jurisdiction of Mission San Luis.
“French begin construction of Fort Caroline at the St. Johns River”, Le Moyne de Morgues, Jacques, d. 1588.
Modest artifacts from Fort Mose revealed clues to daily life.
This view of St. Augustine, Florida is the earliest engraving of any locality in the United States. It shows Francis Drake’s fleet at anchor, while its infantry troops attack the Spanish settlement. Baptista Boazio (fl. 1588-1606)
Slave quarters at the Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island.
This thermal image may be the only evidence of the first Fort Mose (encircled).

In recognition of the upcoming 500th anniversary of Florida’s founding in 1513, TeachingFlorida.org is launching with a debut unit on Florida’s Spanish Colonial past. The unit features articles on colonial St. Augustine, Florida’s original Native American inhabitants, black society in colonial Florida, and much more. Upcoming units will focus on The Civil War in Florida, World War II in Florida, and more. Tell us what you’d like to see on the site in the poll at right.

Florida's 500th: What we can learn in 2013

This op-ed piece, written by John Belohlavek, professor of history at the University of South Florida and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Florida Humanities Council and Andy McLeod, a former member of the Florida Humanities Council Board, ran in the January 1, 2013 edition of the Tampa Bay Times. It is an eloquent commentary on the importance of what Florida’s 500th anniversary can teach us. Read it here.

Featured Article

Fort Mose: Colonial America’s Black Fortress of Freedom

Author: Darcie MacMahon

Fort Mose, established in 1738, was the first legally-sanctioned free black community in North America. Its story began with enslaved Africans in the English colonies who escaped and made their way to St. Augustine, the capital of Spanish Florida, after hearing Spaniards would grant them freedom upon converting to Catholicism. This community of men, women and children played a pivotal role in the support of the Spanish colony until 1763, when Spain ceded Florida to England and the residents of Mose left with the Spaniards for Cuba. Today there is nothing left above ground at the site of Fort Mose, but its location and story have been revealed through historical and archaeological research, and a state park at the site commemorates its history. Fort Mose has come to represent a freedom born of fortitude and determination, an identity rooted in Spanish colonial practices and an alternative image to slavery during colonial times.

Featured Resources

Boundaries of Apalachee Province

Emanuel Point Galleon Carving

Land Grant: Alvarez, Geronimo - Confirmed

About TeachingFlorida.org

“TeachingFlorida.org” is designed to bring the study of Florida into the classrooms of our state. Created by the Florida Humanities Council, it combines the scholarship of distinguished humanities scholars with ideas and lesson plans from Florida teachers.

Click here to visit the Florida Humanities Council website. This website funded in part by the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs.

Upcoming Units

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