We want your experience on BirdChannel to be fun and safe. If you see any entries in the photo gallery or bird profiles that are offensive or obvious attempts at advertising, please submit the information below.
|Date:||5/25/2013 7:51:15 PM
|* Your email address:||
|Comment being reported:
Florida History Part 4
Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 in exchange for Havana, Cuba, which the British had captured from Spain during the Seven Years' War (1756–63). Spain evacuated Florida after the exchange, leaving the province virtually empty. At that time, St. Augustine was still a garrison community with fewer than five hundred houses, and Pensacola also was a small military town.
The British had ambitious plans for Florida. First, it was split into two parts: East Florida, with its capital at St. Augustine; and West Florida, with its seat at Pensacola.
British surveyors mapped much of the landscape and coastline and tried to develop relations with a group of Indian people who were moving into the area from the North. The British called these people of Creek Indian descent Seminolies, or Seminoles. Britain attempted to attract white settlers by offering land on which to settle and help for those who produced products for export. Given enough time, this plan might have converted Florida into a flourishing colony, but British rule lasted only twenty years.
The two Floridas remained loyal to Great Britain throughout the War for American Independence (1776–83). However, Spain–participating indirectly in the war as an ally of France–captured Pensacola from the British in 1781. In 1784 it regained control of the rest of Florida as part of the peace treaty that ended the American Revolution.
|* Reason why this is being reported: