Florida
| Florida | |
|---|---|
| The Republic of Florida | |
| Florida | |
 | |
 Location of Florida | |
| Capital | San Agustín |
| Largest City | San Agustín |
| Population | 29 million |
| Government Type | Republic |
| Languages |
|
| Currency | Floridian peseta (FLP) |
Florida (Spanish: La Florida) also called the Republic of Florida is a nation located in southeastern North America. The country is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the west by South Tussenland, to the north by Virginia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of San Agustín.
History
Early history
The first European contact was made in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who called it la Florida ([la floˈɾiða] "the land of flowers") upon landing there.
In May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described a thick wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet (21 m), with intertwined and elevated roots making landing difficult. The Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Castilian language, and more to Florida. Spain established several settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. In 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was mostly abandoned by 1561.
In 1565, the settlement of St. Augustine (San Agustín) was established under the leadership of admiral and governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, creating what would become one of the oldest, continuously-occupied European settlements in the continental U.S. and establishing the first generation of Floridanos and the Government of Florida. Spain maintained strategic control over the region by converting the local tribes to Christianity.
Some Spanish married or had unions with Pensacola, Creek or African women, both slave and free, and their descendants created a mixed-race population of mestizos and mulattos. The Spanish encouraged slaves from the Virginia to come to Florida as a refuge, promising freedom in exchange for conversion to Catholicism. The King of Spain issued a royal proclamation freeing all slaves who fled to Spanish Florida and accepted conversion and baptism. Most went to the area around St. Augustine, but escaped slaves also reached Pensacola. St. Augustine had mustered an all-black militia unit defending Spanish Florida as early as 1683.
Period of Increased Settlement
Starting in the 1690's the Dutch started building forts on the mouth of the Mississippi river, and Dutch settlers and their native allies started encroaching on Spanish land claims. Between 1700 and 1730 the Dutch and the Spanish competed over land in the gulf coast and western Florida, with the two empires mostly using Indian allies as intermediaries. This period is usually referred to as the Gulf Wars. This led to a period of increased effort to settle the colony by the Spanish empire. Starting in 1708 the Spanish started to offer large grants to potential settlers and importing indentured servants and minor criminals from northern Spain (Galicia, Basque county, Asturias and Leon) as well as Cuba. These settlers mostly ending up in northeastern Florida surrounding San Agustín. Eventually the Spanish moved over 2000 Canary Islanders (locally known as Isleños) to settle the gulf coast of the Florida colony. In the later half of the 18th century, the Spanish imported Filipino fisherman and army deserters to the western border with Tussenland. During American theater of the Silesian war, the Spanish and Dutch empires came to an agreement over the borders of the gulf colonies.