Florida: Difference between revisions
→The Everglade War and Floridian Independence
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Since the 1850 Dutch-Spanish war class and ethnic tensions had been growing in Spanish Florida with western Floridians feeling increasingly marginalized by the consolidated economic and political power with in the hands of the criollo and mixed race elites of San Agustin. In addition the system of sharecropping in western and central Florida created a poor quality of life for many low class Floridians.
The origins of the Floridian war for independence lays in the European Economic Crisis (1922-1928) whereas many Floridian elites lost small fortunes in European financial markets and had to sell their land holdings (and the sharecropping contracts that went with it) to wealthy northeastern North American businessmen in New Netherland and New England who in turn demanded increased cash crop production and a decrease in production of locally consumed staple crops (in order to increase profits on their investments). This combined with decreased global prices for cotton and increased food import prices led to a sharp increase in local food prices and a growing political discontent amongst the poor. This discontent came to a head after 25 western Floridians were killed in a bread riot in Mobile, which in turn led to a rebellion in the city against Spanish and Dominion forces. This rebellion quickly spread into the countryside of western Florida where sharecroppers threw down their tools and took up arms against the Spanish and Dominion forces equally. In the town of Conecuh leaders of rebellion came together on June 5th, 1923 to organize themselves and come up with a list of demands. The rebels named themselves ''El Comité de Campesino Pobre de Florida'' and listed their demands as:
# Land reform in western and central Florida
# Create a government subsisted market for staple food
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# Stop cruel labor practices and establish a labor rights law
It is notable that at this point Floridan rebels weren't actively republican but instead were focused on improving their quality of life and with issues of economics and labor relations. The Dominion government in San Agustin completely rejected these demands. In fact Floridian governor Fernando Macías stated "If they are hungry let them eat lead". The Floridian Dominion forces struck back at the rebels with increasing hostility which in turn led to further discontentment against Dominion rule and by the winter of 1923 the rebellion spread to central Florida and the peninsula. Fearing that the Dominion didn't have the ability to effectively deal with the rebels, the Spanish crown sent in troops to help suppress the rebellion and on Dec 27th 1923 they retook the city of Mobile from rebel forces. During the next year of fighting the rebels became increasingly a guerilla force that sought to wage a protracted war of attrition using hit and run tactics, their popularity with the countryfolk and knowledge of the local terrain to great effect. During the summer of 1924 the recently formed Mexican Republic (along with South Tussenland) started to build ties with the rebels and push them towards ideological republicanism. In January of 1925 the government of New Netherland declared support for the Dominion government (fearing a Mexican puppet state in Florida) and started to give support in form of aerial scouting (using newly invented aircraft) and economic funding to the Dominion war effort. The aerial scouting missions during the war garnered massive interest in the American northeast due to the use of aircraft and stories of the pilots (along with special forces and Amerikaener mercenaries) were widely publicized. The battle of Amarillo in the Floridan everglades
{{Nations of the World}}
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