Florida_from_Swamp_to_State

FLORIDIA’S HARSH COLONIZATION 1 Florida from swamp to state Michael Meltzer HIST101 AMU Sawicki, Kristin FLORIDIA’S HARSH COLONIZATION 2 Natural untamed territories require an interest for recourses or production of goods in order to be colonized. Searching for a new trade route’s to the east without circling Africa was the goal of every European power from 1400-1500. Among the astonishing land claims to the new world was the peninsula of Florida which held a very petite population for two hundred years before becoming the paradise getaway as we all know it now. The Thesis of this research paper is to examine why Florida was of interest to be colonized then disputed by so many countries while not flourishing for centuries. Between wars in Europe spreading to colonies in North America, Environmental factors such as humidity and dangerous wildlife, even business interests primarily shipping export goods. American settlers found that land with resources such as gold in California were good places to create population centers. During the second new world voyage for Christopher Columbus a young gentleman volunteer named Ponce de León was along for the expedition After Spain laid claim to Hispaniola in the new world Ferdinand of Aragon gave permission to Young Ponce to discover more islands in the Caribbean outside the control of Colón. A Royal contract was dispatched in 1512 by Ferdinand to search for “The Islands of Benimy”. Ponce de León equipped with three ships consisting of at least 200 men met at his own expense and set out from Puerto Rico on March 4, 1513. One particular body of land he discovered drifting north of the Bahamas on Easter Sunday had a verdant landscape, which reminded him of Pascua Florida (Spanish festival of flowers) So it was designated La Florida. St Augustine is area believed to be where Ponce and his crew first settled in the new territory (1565). FLORIDIA’S HARSH COLONIZATION 3 The earliest residents of Florida were the Paleo-Indian Seminoles believed to have arrived 14,000 years ago. During the 1700s when Britain had control of Havana, Cuba they had traded it for St. Augustine with the Spanish (1763) Spanish disputes over Pensacola and occupation attempts led them to relinquish St. Augustine and Pensacola to England. During the colonial years, the Seminoles were on good terms with both the Spanish and the British. In 1784, the treaty ending the American Revolutionary War transferred British rule of Florida to Spain. Seminoles became more deeply rooted in Florida after the Spanish Empire declined in Florida. In 1803 when the Louisiana purchase was made the US claimed west Florida and Pensacola after the first Seminole war caused by US intrusion into Seminole lands General Andrew Jackson established a new territorial government of which he was the first governor. Led by cow keeper 18th century Seminoles expanded their dynasty which they were forced to move to Oklahoma by the US government following the second Seminole war. The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental, was a treaty between the United States and Spain that gave Florida to the U.S. Organized as a Territory: 30 March 1822. 3 Stat. 654 Florida became the 27th state by the 1845 Enabling Act (5 Stat. 742, 788) also served as Act of Admission (Berg-Andersson, 2012). The federal government in 1850 conveyed the titles to 20 million acres of sovereign lands and wetlands to the state of Florida through an act that transferred all “land unfit for cultivation due to its swampy and overflowed condition.” Wetlands throughout the state were drained to maximize agricultural and residential development (St. Johns, 2012). Inside this “swampy” landscape dwells some of the most dangerous animals in Northern America included in this list are; Panthers, gators, crocodiles, sharks, snakes. | | | | FLORIDIA’S HARSH COLONIZATION 4 You'll want to be reasonably wary in Florida's wild places. Use your good, common sense, but avoid overestimating the dangers normally posed by Florida wildlife (Collingwood, 2011). Florida has historically been at risk from hurricanes and tropical storms. These have presented higher risks and property damage as the concentration of population and development has increased along Florida's coastal areas. Wetland do absorb energy of the storms overtaking natural wetland systems. Two key men have had more of an impact for Florida’s financial booms than any other factor. The first being Henry Flagler who after his wedding with Alice Shourds traveled to St. Augustine, Believing the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. Flagler realized that Florida had the potential to attract large numbers of tourists. Though Flagler remained on the Board of Directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the corporation in order to pursue his interests in Florida. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and began construction on the 540-room Hotel Ponce de Leon. Realizing the importance of a transportation system to support his hotel ventures, Flagler purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad, the first railroad in what would eventually become the Florida East Coast Railway (Flagler Museum, 2011). During the 1920’s Florida had a population of 968,470 people, just five years later, the population had grown to 1,263,540. Land speculators we’re buying up land in Florida very fast because the economy was prospering in these “Roaring Twenties”. It was over the next twenty years that the hotel business boomed as northerners came to avoid frigid temperatures at home this has become an American norm these days. In 1959, a more important land speculator: the Walt Disney Company began scouting new locations. Although many were considered, it was central Florida that Walt finally decided was the best. FLORIDIA’S HARSH COLONIZATION 5 Orlando and the rest of central Florida would never have had anything offer able to a vacationer without this man’s great vision. Despite A centuries of dispute and quite a few wars, naturally occurring dangers, and small population density. Florida had risen to become the third largest state in the 21st century behind California and New York. Florida has its own rhythm, too. People go to work, they watch their children learn and grow and start families of their own. They play in the sun and pass their lives enjoying the outsized blessings that make our state unique. - Jeb Bush FLORIDIA’S HARSH COLONIZATION 6 References Berg-Andersson, Richard E. “The Green Papers: State and Local Government:” http://www.thegreenpapers.com/slg/FL.html Collingwood Publications, LLC. “Florida Wildlife” http://www.floridaadventuring.com/florida-wildlife.html Flagler Museum. “Official Henry Flagler biography” http://www.flaglermuseum.us/history/flagler-biography Ralph Blodgett. “ADAMS-ONÍS TREATY” http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AD004.html St. Johns. “Florida water management history” http://www.sjrwmd.com/history/index.html State of Florida. “A Brief History of Florida” http://www.flheritage.com/facts/history/summary/ World Atlas. “Timeline” http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/fltimeln.htm