This is a middle school, grades 4-6 powerpoint presentation on the early history of Florida done in 2013, the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Florida!
2. In the very beginning…
• According to anthropologists and historians,
the first people to inhibit the land now known
as Florida were descendants of the
EURASIANS who had crossed the ice bridge
that connected Siberia to Alaska.
• These indigenous people lived off the land in
harmony with one another.
THEN THE BIG EUROPEAN SHIPS
CAME…
3. Ponce de Leon
500 years ago…
Spanish explorer and
Governor of Puerto Rico
Ponce de Leon sailed into
Florida somewhere south
of Cape Canaveral near
Melbourne Beach
*Although many historians
argue about exactly where he
landed still to this day!
4. Legend says he had been
searching for the Fountain of
Youth.
5. Why did he name it “La Florida”?
Ponce de Leon named the land La Florida
after Pascua Florida, or Flowery Easter,
which is a holiday in Spain.
6. St. Augustine founded in 1565
Founded by a Spanish Admiral named
Pedro Menendez de Aviles.
It is the oldest permanent settlement
in the continental US.
7. In the meantime, the French had arrived…
The King of Spain ordered Aviles
to destroy Ft. Caroline, (which is near present
day Jacksonville) because he wanted to
get the French out of Florida!
Aviles attacked the fort
and killed all of the French
living there.
8. Then the British came…
Sir Francis Drake,
a British privateer, or legal
pirate, would frequently raid
St. Augustine.
Because of these raids, the
Spanish built a fort to protect
the citizens of St. Augustine
from attack…
10. Who wanted the land of Florida?
• There were the NATIVE AMERICANS, or the
indigenous people, of the land of Florida.
• There were the BRITISH, that wanted control.
• The SPANISH currently had control and
wanted to maintain it.
• Then the US decided they wanted to have it as
well.
11. The French and Indian War 1754-1763
• Britain and France were at war with each
other.
• Spain sided with France.
• During this war, Britain captured Havana,
Cuba, which was a major Spanish port.
• At the end of the war, the Spanish traded the
whole of Florida territory to Britain to get
Havana back.
12. Under British Rule
• The British split Florida into W. Florida and E.
Florida, the 14th and 15th colonies.
• The capital of W. Florida was Pensacola
• The capital of E. Florida was St. Augustine
• Often times, dignitaries met in Tallahassee,
which was located in the middle of both
capitals.
• The British ruled Florida from this time until
the end of the Revolutionary War, when
Britain agreed to give it back to Spain.
13. The Second Spanish Period 1783-1821
• Because the British were too busy fighting the
Patriots in the American Revolution, Spain was
able to capture Pensacola from the British in
1781.
• In 1783, The Treaty of Paris ended the
Revolutionary War and returned all of Florida to
Spanish control.
• Secretary of State John Quincy Adams signed a
treaty with Spain to assume $5 million in debt in
exchange for Florida.
14. US Territorial Period 1822-1845
• General Andrew Jackson was sent to Florida to
prepare Florida for statehood.
• There was a lot of antagonism between the
white settlers and the native people of
Florida.
• The Seminole Indians were an Indian tribe that
was a mixture of other tribes and escaped
slaves.
15. The Seminole Wars 1817-1858
(Three Wars with the Seminole Indians)
Chief Osceola General Andrew Jackson
16. As a result of the Seminole Wars…
Many of the Seminole Indians were forced to
move to Oklahoma, but some survived and
moved to the Everglades.
17. Florida Statehood in 1845
• On March 3rd, 1845, Florida became the 27th
state of the United States.
• More than half the population of the state at
that time were black slaves working on
plantations.
• It was this reason that Florida joined the rest
of the Southern slave states and seceded the
Union when Abraham Lincoln was elected.
*To secede means to leave a government and become an
independent state.
18. Did you know…?
The Florida coastline along the Atlantic Ocean
and the Gulf of Mexico was very different
12,000 years ago…
How and Why?
The sea level was much lower than it is today. As
a result, the Florida peninsula was more than
twice as large as it is now!
19. Did you know?
St. Augustine was founded BEFORE the
Jamestown, Virginia settlement OR the
Plymouth, Massachusetts settlement.
•St. Augustine was founded in 1513
•Jamestown, Virginia was founded in
1607
•Plymouth, Massachusetts was
founded in 1620