The Tequesta , also Tekesta , Tegesta , Chequesta , Vizcaynos , were a Native American tribe on the Southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida . They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century.
115-472: The Tequesta lived in the southeastern parts of present-day Florida . They lived in the region since the 3rd century BC in the late Archaic period of the continent , and remained for roughly 2,000 years, By the 1800s, most had died as a result of settlement battles, slavery, and disease. The Tequesta tribe had only a few survivors by the time that Spanish Florida was traded to the British, who then established
230-487: A St. Augustine motel pool, in which the owner poured acid into the water during a demonstration, influenced the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act . Economic prosperity in the 1920s stimulated tourism to Florida and related development of hotels and resort communities. Combined with its sudden elevation in profile was the Florida land boom of the 1920s , which brought a brief period of intense land development. In 1925,
345-552: A gross state product (GSP) of $ 1.647 trillion, is the fourth largest of any U.S. state and the 15th-largest in the world; the main sectors are tourism , hospitality , agriculture , real estate, and transportation . Florida is world-renowned for its beach resorts , amusement parks , warm and sunny climate, and nautical recreation; attractions such as Walt Disney World , the Kennedy Space Center , and Miami Beach draw tens of millions of visitors annually. Florida
460-675: A school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida , leading to new gun control regulations at both the state and federal level. On June 24, 2021, a condominium in Surfside, Florida , near Miami collapsed , killing at least 97 people. The Surfside collapse is tied with the Knickerbocker Theatre collapse as the third-deadliest structural engineering failure in United States history, behind
575-604: A "Free and Independent State". The ordinance declared Florida's secession from the Union , allowing it to become one of the founding members of the Confederate States . The Confederacy received little military help from Florida; the 15,000 troops it offered were generally sent elsewhere. Instead of troops and manufactured goods, Florida did provide salt and, more importantly, beef to feed the Confederate armies. This
690-558: A Loyalist stronghold for the duration of the American Revolution . Spain regained both East and West Florida after Britain's defeat in the Revolutionary War and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles in 1783, and continued the provincial divisions until 1821. Defense of Florida's northern border with the United States was minor during the second Spanish period. The region became a haven for escaped slaves and
805-483: A base for Indian attacks against U.S. territories, and the U.S. pressed Spain for reform. Americans of English and Scots Irish descent began moving into northern Florida from the backwoods of Georgia and South Carolina . Though technically not allowed by the government authorities, they were never able to effectively police the border region and the backwoods settlers from the United States would continue to immigrate into Florida unchecked. These migrants, mixing with
920-419: A circle approximately 38 feet in diameter. Other arrangements of holes are apparent as well. The Circle was discovered during an archeological survey of a site being cleared for construction of a high-rise building. Charcoal samples collected in the circle have been radiocarbon-dated to approximately 100 CE, 1,900 years ago. Radiocarbon-dating of sea shells eaten at the site date back as far as 730 BCE, and suggest
1035-405: A distinctive head and face. The head was rounded with an extended broad muzzle. The face had relatively large wide-spaced eyes, upward opening nostrils, and fairly big whisker pads with long light-colored and smooth whiskers. When compared to the body, the animal's foreflippers were relatively short with little claws and the hindflippers were slender. Their coloration was brownish and/or grayish, with
1150-661: A division the Spanish Crown kept after the brief British period. The British government gave land grants to officers and soldiers who had fought in the French and Indian War in order to encourage settlement. In order to induce settlers to move to Florida, reports of its natural wealth were published in England. A number of British settlers who were described as being "energetic and of good character" moved to Florida, mostly coming from South Carolina , Georgia and England. There
1265-529: A half years. In 1909, the New York Aquarium acquired four Caribbean monk seals, three of which were yearlings (between one and two years old) and the other a mature male. Through the first half of the 20th century, Caribbean monk seal sightings became much rarer. In 1908, a small group of seals was seen at the once bustling Tortugas Islands. Fishermen captured six seals in 1915, which were sent to Pensacola, Florida, and eventually released. A seal
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#17327730826741380-403: A harpoon, and surrounded by small tongue-like figures painted on a small board. There was also a god of the graveyard , a bird's head carved in pine. The painted board and bird's head were stored in a temple in the cemetery, along with carved masks used in festivals. By this time the tribe's shaman was calling himself a bishop . The Tequesta also believed that humans have three souls. One in
1495-965: A minor part of the Tequesta diet (their shells are much less common at Tequesta archeological sites than they are at Calusa or Jaega sites). Venison was also popular; deer bones are frequently found in archeological sites, as are terrapin shells and bones. Sea turtles and their eggs were consumed during the turtles' nesting season. The Tequesta gathered many plant foods, including saw palmetto ( Serenoa repens ) berries, cocoplums ( Chrysobalanus icaco ), sea grapes ( Coccoloba uvifera ), prickly pear ( nopal ) fruits ( Opuntia spp.), gopher apples ( Licania michauxii ), pigeon plums ( Cocoloba diversifolia ), palm nuts, false mastic seeds, cabbage palm ( Sabal palmetto ), and hog plum ( Ximenia americana ). The roots of certain plants, such as Smilax spp. and coontie ( Zamia integrifolia ), were edible when ground into flour, processed to remove toxins (in
1610-713: A mixed-race population of mestizos and mulattoes . The Spanish encouraged slaves from the Thirteen Colonies to come to Florida as a refuge, promising freedom in exchange for conversion to Catholicism . King Charles II of Spain issued a royal proclamation freeing all slaves who fled to 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 Florida as early as 1683. The geographical area of Spanish claims in Florida diminished with
1725-596: A number of protests occurred in Florida during the 1950s and 1960s as part of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1956–1957, students at Florida A&M University organized a bus boycott in Tallahassee to mimic the Montgomery bus boycott and succeeded in integrating the city's buses. Students also held sit-ins in 1960 in protest of segregated seating at local lunch counters, and in 1964 an incident at
1840-554: A permanent settlement was established here more than 2,700 years ago. The circle is on the south side of the Miami River. Recent archaeological work has found a larger Tequesta site on the north side of the river that likely existed concurrently with the Miami Circle. In Juan Ponce de León stopped at a bay on the Florida coast that he called Chequesta , which apparently was what is now called Biscayne Bay . In 1565 one of
1955-577: A plan to have a stockade manned by twenty-five soldiers, and to bring in Spanish settlers to grow food for the soldiers and the Native Americans. They felt that the new settlement would soon supplant the need for St. Augustine. Father Alaña returned to Havana, leaving twelve soldiers and a corporal to protect Father Mónaco. The governor in Havana was not pleased. He ordered that Father Mónaco and
2070-480: A population of 6.138 million; the most populous city is Jacksonville . Florida's other major population centers include Tampa Bay , Orlando , Cape Coral , and the state capital of Tallahassee . Various American Indian tribes have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida (land of flowers) ( [la floˈɾiða] ). Florida subsequently became
2185-524: A river feeding into Biscayne Bay that they called the Rio Ratones. This may have been the Little River , in the northern part of Biscayne Bay , or the Miami River. The Spanish missionaries were not well received. The Keys Indians, as the Spanish called them, denied that they had requested missionaries. They did permit a mission to be established because the Spanish had brought gifts for them, but
2300-475: A ship laid anchor off the mostly barren island of Alta Velo , south of Hispaniola , where the party of men aboard killed eight seals that were resting on the beach. The second recorded interaction with Caribbean monk seals was Juan Ponce de León 's discovery of the Dry Tortugas Islands. On June 21, 1513, when Ponce de León discovered the islands, he ordered a foraging party to go ashore, where
2415-474: A sleek, black lanugo coat when born. It is believed this animal's average lifespan was approximately twenty years. The Caribbean monk seal nasal mite ( Halarachne americana ), was entirely dependent on the seal, living inside of its nasal cavity, and went extinct with it. Caribbean monk seals were found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea , Gulf of Mexico , and
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#17327730826742530-532: Is 3 nautical miles (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) offshore in the Atlantic Ocean and 9 nautical miles (10 mi; 17 km) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. At 345 feet (105 m) above mean sea level , Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Much of the state south of Orlando lies at a lower elevation than northern Florida, and is fairly level. Much of
2645-469: Is a 312-foot (95 m) peak in Lake County . On average, Florida is the flattest state in the United States. Lake Okeechobee , the largest lake in Florida, is the tenth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states , after Lake Michigan . The longest river within Florida
2760-511: Is a popular destination for retirees , seasonal vacationers , and both domestic and international migrants; it hosts nine out of the ten fastest-growing communities in the U.S. The state's close proximity to the ocean has shaped its culture , identity, and daily life; its colonial history and successive waves of migration are reflected in African , European , Indigenous , Latino , and Asian influences. Florida has attracted or inspired some of
2875-646: Is now the contiguous United States to be visited and settled by Europeans. The earliest known European explorers came with Juan Ponce de León . Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2, 1513. He named it Florida (colloquially la Florida) in recognition of the flowery, verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers). The following day they came ashore to seek information and take possession of this new land. The story that he
2990-509: Is the St. Johns River, at 310 miles (500 km) long. The drop in elevation from its headwaters South Florida to its mouth in Jacksonville is less than 30 feet (9.1 m). The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by the fact that no part of the state is distant from the ocean. North of Lake Okeechobee , the prevalent climate is humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ), while areas south of
3105-624: Is the warmest state in the U.S. Caribbean monk seal Monachus tropicalis (Gray, 1850) Phoca tropicalis Gray, 1850 The Caribbean monk seal ( Neomonachus tropicalis ), also known as the West Indian seal or sea wolf , is an extinct species of seal native to the Caribbean . The main natural predators of Caribbean monk seals were large sharks , such as great whites and tiger sharks , and possibly transient orcas (though killer whales are not often sighted in
3220-702: The 27th state on March 3, 1845, and was the principal location of the Seminole Wars (1816–1858), the longest and most extensive of the American Indian Wars . The state seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, becoming one of the seven original Confederate States , and was readmitted to the Union after the Civil War on June 25, 1868. Since the mid-20th century, Florida has experienced rapid demographic and economic growth. Its economy , with
3335-620: The American alligator , American crocodile , American flamingo , Roseate spoonbill , Florida panther , bottlenose dolphin , and manatee . The Florida Reef is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, and the third-largest coral barrier reef system in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef and the Belize Barrier Reef . Paleo-Indians entered Florida at least 14,000 years ago. By
3450-664: The Black Lives Matter movement. After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, a large population of Puerto Ricans began moving to Florida to escape the widespread destruction. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans arrived in Florida after Maria dissipated, with nearly half of them arriving in Orlando and large populations also moving to Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. A handful of high-profile mass shootings have occurred in Florida in
3565-684: The Calusas of the southwest Florida coast and the Mayaimis who lived around Lake Okeechobee in the middle of the lower Florida peninsula. Only ten words from the languages of those tribes have recorded meanings. The linguist Julian Granberry states that the Tequesta probably spoke the same language as the Calusa , which in his analysis relates to the Tunica language . The Tequestas did not practice any form of agriculture. They fished, hunted, and gathered
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3680-620: The First Seminole War . The United States now effectively controlled East Florida. Control was necessary according to Secretary of State John Quincy Adams because Florida had become "a derelict open to the occupancy of every enemy, civilized or savage, of the United States, and serving no other earthly purpose than as a post of annoyance to them." More recent historians describe that after U.S. independence, settlers in Georgia increased pressure on Seminole lands, and skirmishes near
3795-807: The Florida Straits "one of the most strongly marked cultural boundaries in the New World", noting that the Straits were also a boundary between agricultural systems, with Florida Native Americans growing seed crops that originated in Mexico , while the Lucayans of the Bahamas grew root crops that originated in South America. The Tequesta language may have been closely related to the language of
3910-461: The Government of Florida . The marriage between Luisa de Abrego, a free black domestic servant from Seville, and Miguel Rodríguez, a white Segovian, occurred in 1565 in St. Augustine. It is the first recorded Christian marriage in the continental United States. Some Floridanos married or had unions with Pensacola , Creek , or African women, both slave and free, and their descendants created
4025-580: The Hyatt Regency walkway collapse and the collapse of the Pemberton Mill . Much of Florida is on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean and the Straits of Florida . Spanning two time zones , it extends to the northwest into a panhandle , extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is bordered on the north by Georgia and Alabama , and on the west, at the end of
4140-524: The King's Road connecting St. Augustine to Georgia . The road crossed the St. Johns River at a narrow point called Wacca Pilatka , now the core of Downtown Jacksonville , and formerly referred to by the British name "Cow Ford", reflecting the fact that cattle were brought across the river there. The British divided and consolidated the Florida provinces ( Las Floridas ) into East Florida and West Florida ,
4255-635: The Kingdom of Great Britain for control of Havana , Cuba , which had been captured by the British during the Seven Years' War . The trade was done as part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris which ended the Seven Years' War. Spain was granted Louisiana from France due to their loss of Florida. A large portion of the Florida population left, taking along large portions of the remaining Indigenous population with them to Cuba. The British soon constructed
4370-484: The Mediterranean monk seal , another endangered species, predominantly found in the waters off of Greece . Caribbean monk seals had a relatively large, long, robust body, could grow to nearly 2.4 metres (8 ft) in length and weighed 170 to 270 kilograms (375 to 600 lb). Males were probably slightly larger than females, which is similar to Mediterranean monk seals. Like other monk seals, this species had
4485-589: The Seaboard Air Line broke the FEC's southeast Florida monopoly and extended its freight and passenger service to West Palm Beach; two years later it extended passenger service to Miami. Devastating hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 , followed by the Great Depression , brought that period to a halt. Florida's economy did not fully recover until the military buildup for World War II . In 1939, Florida
4600-638: The Second Seminole War (1835–1842). Following the war, approximately 3,000 Seminole and 800 Black Seminole were removed to Indian Territory . A few hundred Seminole remained in Florida in the Everglades . On March 3, 1845, only one day before the end of President John Tyler 's term in office, Florida became the 27th state, admitted as a slave state and no longer a sanctuary for runaway slaves. Initially its population grew slowly. As European settlers continued to encroach on Seminole lands,
4715-646: The Third Seminole War (1855–1858), having taken refuge in the Everglades, from where they never surrendered to the US. They fostered a resurgence in traditional customs and a culture of staunch independence. Florida had become a burden to Spain, which could not afford to send settlers or troops due to the devastation caused by the Peninsular War . Madrid, therefore, decided to cede the territory to
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4830-560: The Treaty of Payne's Landing (1832), which called for the relocation of all Seminole to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ). Some resisted, leading to the Second Seminole War , the bloodiest war against Native Americans in United States history. By 1842, most Seminoles and Black Seminoles, facing starvation, were removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River . Perhaps fewer than 200 Seminoles remained in Florida after
4945-821: The 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major groups of people living in Florida included the Apalachee of the Florida Panhandle , the Timucua of northern and central Florida, the Ais of the central Atlantic coast, the Mayaimi of the Lake Okeechobee area, the Tequesta of southeastern Florida, and the Calusa of southwest Florida. Florida was the first region of what
5060-498: The 21st century. In June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando . It is the deadliest incident in the history of violence against LGBT people in the United States , as well as the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks in 2001, and it was the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history until the 2017 Las Vegas shooting . In February 2018, 17 people were killed in
5175-618: The British Museum of Natural History, and the Cambridge Zoological Museum, respectively. The expedition also captured a newly born seal pup that died in captivity a week later. The first Caribbean monk seal to live in captivity for an extended period was a female seal that lived in the New York Aquarium . The seal was captured in 1897 and died in 1903, living in captivity for a total of five and
5290-619: The Caribbean monk seal was sluggish on land. Its lack of fear of humans, and an unaggressive, curious nature was taken advantage of by human hunters. Caribbean monk seals had a long pupping season, which is typical for pinnipeds living in subtropical and tropical habitats. In Mexico, breeding season peaked in early December. Like other monk seals, this species had four retractable nipples for suckling their young. Newborn pups were probably about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in length and weighed 16 to 18 kilograms (35 to 40 lb) and reportedly had
5405-460: The Caribbean monk seal was triggered by two main factors. The most visible factor contributing to the Caribbean monk seals' demise was the nonstop hunting and killing of the seals in the 18th and 19th centuries to obtain the oil held within their blubber. The insatiable demand for seal products in the Caribbean encouraged hunters to slaughter the Caribbean monk seals by the hundreds. The Caribbean monk seals' docile nature and lack of flight instinct in
5520-462: The Caribbean); however, humans would become their most lethal enemy. Overhunting of the monk seals for oil and meat, as well as overfishing of their natural prey, are the likely reasons for the seals' extinction. The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1952, at Serranilla Bank , in the waters west of Jamaica and off the eastern coast of Nicaragua . In 2008, the species
5635-467: 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 one of the first settlements in Florida, but it was mostly abandoned by 1561. In 1564–1565, there was a French settlement at Fort Caroline , in present Duval County , which
5750-558: The Catholic faith. The first group of these Native Americans, including the cacique of Cayo de Guesos (Key West), arrived in Cuba in 1704, and most, if not all of them, soon died. In 1710, 280 Florida Native Americans were taken to Cuba where almost 200 soon died. The survivors were returned to the Keys in 1716 or 1718. In 1732 some Native Americans fled from the Keys to Cuba. In early 1743
5865-400: The Florida Keys, were evacuated to Cuba . In the 1770s, Bernard Romans reported seeing abandoned villages in the area, but no inhabitants. Florida Florida ( / ˈ f l ɒr ɪ d ə / FLORR -ih-də , Spanish: [floˈɾiða] ) is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to
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#17327730826745980-407: The Floridas, and in the meantime they were, with the advice of councils, to establish courts. This was the first introduction of the English-derived legal system which Florida still has today, including trial by jury , habeas corpus and county-based government. Neither East Florida nor West Florida sent any representatives to Philadelphia to draft the Declaration of Independence . Florida remained
6095-444: The Glades culture, which included the area occupied by the Tequestas, indicates a continuous development of an indigenous ceramics tradition from about 700 BCE until after European contact. The Tequesta were once thought to be related to the Taino , the Arawakan people of the Antilles , but most anthropologists now doubt this, based on archaeological information and the length of their establishment in Florida. Carl O. Sauer called
6210-409: The Governor of Cuba received a petition from three Calusa chiefs who were visiting in Havana. The petition, which was written in Spanish and showed a understanding of how the government and church bureaucracies worked, asked that missionaries be sent to the Cayos (Florida Keys) to provide religious instruction. The Governor and his advisors finally decided it would be cheaper to send missionaries to
6325-444: The Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of over 21 million, it is the third-most populous state in the United States and ranks eighth in population density as of 2020. Florida spans 65,758 square miles (170,310 km ), ranking 22nd in area among the states. The Miami metropolitan area , anchored by the cities of Miami , Fort Lauderdale , and West Palm Beach , is the state's largest metropolitan area , with
6440-436: The Indians from Florida. Seminoles offered sanctuary to blacks, and these became known as the Black Seminoles , and clashes between whites and Indians grew with the influx of new settlers. In 1832, the Treaty of Payne's Landing promised to the Seminoles lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida. Many Seminoles left at this time. Some Seminoles remained, and the U.S. Army arrived in Florida, leading to
6555-451: The Indians. Most non-Indian residents were soldiers stationed at Fort Dallas . It was the most devastating Indian war in American history, causing almost a total loss of population in Miami. After the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, William English re-established a plantation started by his uncle on the Miami River . He charted the "Village of Miami" on the south bank of the Miami River and sold several plots of land. In 1844, Miami became
6670-408: The Keys rather than bringing the Native Americans to Cuba, and that keeping the Native Americans in the Keys would mean they would be available to help shipwrecked Spanish sailors and keep the British out of the area. The governor sent two Jesuit missionaries from Havana, Fathers Mónaco and Alaña, with an escort of soldiers. On reaching Biscayne Bay, they established a chapel and fort at the mouth of
6785-418: The Mexican Geographical and Exploring Survey, ventured to a small collection of reefs and a small cay known as the Triangles (20.95° N 92.23° W) in search of monk seals. Although the research expedition was in the area for only four days, forty-two specimens were killed and taken away; the two leaders of the expedition sent to museums around the Western world. Two specimens from the encounter survive intact at
6900-462: The Mobile District of West Florida to the Mississippi Territory in 1812. Spain continued to dispute the area, though the United States gradually increased the area it occupied. In 1812, a group of settlers from Georgia, with de facto support from the U.S. federal government, attempted to overthrow the Floridan government in the province of East Florida. The settlers hoped to convince Floridians to join their cause and proclaim independence from Spain, but
7015-404: The Tequesta and established a mission within a stockade, situated near the south bank of the Miami River below the native village. Menendez left a contingent of thirty soldiers and the Jesuit brother Francisco Villareal to convert the Tequestas to Christianity . Villareal had learned something of the Tequesta language from the chief's nephew in Havana. He felt he had been winning converts until
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#17327730826747130-399: The Tequesta lived in "hutts". Other tribes in southern Florida lived in houses with wooden posts, raised floors, and roofs thatched with palmetto leaves, something like the chickees of the Seminoles . These houses may have had temporary walls of plaited palmetto-leaf mats to break the wind or block the sun. Clothing was minimal. The men wore a sort of loincloth made from deer hide, while
7245-416: The United States intervened to move the remaining Seminoles to the West. The Third Seminole War (1855–1858) resulted in the forced removal of most of the remaining Seminoles, although hundreds of Seminole Indians remained in the Everglades. The first settlements and towns in South Florida were founded much later than those in the northern part of the state. The first permanent European settlers arrived in
7360-402: The United States through the Adams–Onís Treaty , which took effect in 1821. President James Monroe was authorized on March 3, 1821, to take possession of East Florida and West Florida for the United States and provide for initial governance. On behalf of the U.S. government, Andrew Jackson , whom Jacksonville is named after, served as a military commissioner with the powers of governor of
7475-508: The already present British settlers who had remained in Florida since the British period, would be the progenitors of the population known as Florida Crackers . These American settlers established a permanent foothold in the area. The British settlers who had remained also resented Spanish governance, leading to a rebellion in 1810 and the establishment for ninety days of the so-called Free and Independent Republic of West Florida on September 23. After meetings beginning in June, rebels overcame
7590-418: The area as part of the province of East Florida . The Tequesta tribe lived on Biscayne Bay in what is now Miami-Dade County and further north in Broward County at least as far Pompano Beach . Their territory may have also included the northern half of Broward County and the southern half of Palm Beach County . They also occupied the Florida Keys at times, and may have had a village on Cape Sable , at
7705-405: The border led to the First Seminole War (1816–1819). The United States purchased Florida from Spain by the Adams-Onis Treaty (1819) and took possession in 1821. The Seminole were moved out of their rich farmland in northern Florida and confined to a large reservation in the interior of the Florida peninsula by the Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823). Passage of the Indian Removal Act (1830) led to
7820-408: The cacique denied that the King of Spain had dominion over his land, and insisted on tribute for allowing the Spanish to build a church or bring in settlers. The Native Americans demanded food, rum and clothing, but refused to work for the Spanish. Father Morano reported attacks on the mission by bands of Uchizas (the Creeks who later became known as Seminoles ). Fathers Mónaco and Alaña developed
7935-426: The case of coontie), and made into a type of unleavened bread. (Archaeologists have commented, however, on the lack of evidence for coontie use in excavated sites.) Briton Hammon , the sole survivor of a British sloop that was attacked by Tequestas after grounding off Key Biscayne in 1748, reported that the Tequestas fed him boil'd corn . The Tequestas changed their habitation during the year. In particular, most of
8050-419: The county seat, and six years later a census reported there were ninety-six residents in the area. The Third Seminole War was not as destructive as the second, but it slowed the settlement of southeast Florida. At the end of the war, a few of the soldiers stayed. American settlers began to establish cotton plantations in north Florida, which required numerous laborers, which they supplied by buying slaves in
8165-427: The dead chief's relatives, with the larger bones going to the closest relations. The Tequesta men consumed cassina , the black drink , in ceremonies similar to those common throughout the southeastern United States . The Spanish missionaries also reported that the Tequesta worshipped a stuffed deer as the representative of the sun, and as late as 1743 worshipped a picture of a badly deformed barracuda crossed by
8280-672: The defense of the Captaincy General of Cuba and the Spanish West Indies . In 1738, the governor of Florida Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St. Augustine, a fortified town for escaped slaves to whom Montiano granted citizenship and freedom in return for their service in the Florida militia, and which became the first free black settlement legally sanctioned in North America. In 1763 , Spain traded Florida to
8395-603: The domestic market. By 1860, Florida had only 140,424 people, of whom 44% were enslaved. There were fewer than 1,000 free African Americans before the American Civil War. On January 10, 1861, nearly all delegates in the Florida Legislature approved an ordinance of secession, declaring Florida to be "a sovereign and independent nation"—an apparent reassertion to the preamble in Florida's Constitution of 1838, in which Florida agreed with Congress to be
8510-618: The early 19th century. People came from the Bahamas to South Florida and the Keys to hunt for treasure from the ships that ran aground on the treacherous Great Florida Reef . Some accepted Spanish land offers along the Miami River. At about the same time, the Seminole Indians arrived, along with a group of runaway slaves. The area was affected by the Second Seminole War , during which Major William S. Harney led several raids against
8625-477: The establishment of English settlements to the north and French claims to the west. English colonists and buccaneers launched several attacks on St. Augustine in the 17th and 18th centuries, razing the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Spain built the Castillo de San Marcos in 1672 and Fort Matanzas in 1742 to defend Florida's capital city from attacks, and to maintain its strategic position in
8740-476: The eyes, one in the shadow, and one in the reflection. The Tequestas may have practiced human sacrifice . While en route from Havana to Biscayne Bay in 1743, Spanish missionaries heard that the Native Americans of the Keys (apparently including the Tequestas) had gone to Santaluz (the village of Santa Lucea was at the St. Lucie Inlet ) for a celebration of a recent peace treaty, and that the chief of Santaluz
8855-517: The federal government used the facility to process, document and provide medical and dental services for the newcomers. As a result, the Freedom Tower was also called the "Ellis Island of the South". In recent decades, more migrants have come for the jobs in a developing economy. With a population of more than 18 million, according to the 2010 census, Florida is the most populous state in
8970-524: The first area in the continental U.S. to be permanently settled by Europeans, with the settlement of St. Augustine , founded in 1565, being the oldest continuously inhabited city. Florida was frequently attacked and coveted by Great Britain before Spain ceded it to the U.S. in 1819 in exchange for resolving the border dispute along the Sabine River in Spanish Texas . Florida was admitted as
9085-620: The fruit and roots of local plants. Most of their food came from the sea. Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda , who lived among the tribes of southern Florida for seventeen years in the 16th century, described their "common" diet as "fish, turtle and snails, and tunny and whale"; the "sea-wolf" ( Caribbean monk seal ) was reserved for the upper classes. According to Fontaneda, a lesser part of the diet consisted of trunkfish and lobster . The "fish" caught included manatees , sharks , sailfish , porpoises , stingrays , and small fish. Despite their local abundance, clams , oysters and conches were only
9200-567: The garrison at Baton Rouge (now in Louisiana ) and unfurled the flag of the new republic: a single white star on a blue field. This flag would later become known as the " Bonnie Blue Flag ". In 1810, parts of West Florida were annexed by the proclamation of President James Madison , who claimed the region as part of the Louisiana Purchase . These parts were incorporated into the newly formed Territory of Orleans . The U.S. annexed
9315-423: The hundreds for oil to fuel their lamps. By 1850, so many seals had been killed that there were no longer sufficient numbers for them to be commercially hunted. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientific expeditions to the Caribbean encountered the Caribbean monk seal. In December 1886, the first recorded scientific expedition to research seals, led by H. A. Ward and Professor F. Ferrari Perez as part of
9430-600: The inhabitants of the main village relocated to barrier islands or to the Florida Keys during the worst of the mosquito season, which lasted about three months. While the resources of the Biscayne Bay area and the Florida Keys allowed for a somewhat settled non-agricultural existence, they were not as rich as those of the southwest Florida coast, home of the more numerous Calusa. Briton Hammon reported that
9545-423: The interior of the state. Florida's economy has been based primarily upon agricultural products such as citrus fruits, strawberries, nuts, sugarcane and cattle. The boll weevil devastated cotton crops during the early 20th century. Until the mid-20th century, Florida was the least-populous state in the southern United States . In 1900, its population was only 528,542, of whom nearly 44% were African American,
9660-440: The lake (including the Florida Keys ) have a true tropical climate (Köppen: Aw , Am , and Af ). Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90s Fahrenheit (32–34 °C). Mean low temperatures for early to mid-January range from the low 40s Fahrenheit (4–7 °C) in north Florida to above 60 °F (16 °C) from Miami on southward. With an average daily temperature of 70.7 °F (21.5 °C), it
9775-517: The men killed fourteen of the docile seals. There are several more records throughout the colonial period of seals being discovered and hunted at Guadeloupe , the Alacrane Islands , Bahamas , Pedro Cays , and Cuba . As early as 1688, sugar plantation owners sent out hunting parties to kill hundreds of seals every night in order to obtain oil to lubricate the plantation machinery. A 1707 account describes fisherman slaughtering seals by
9890-476: The more numerous Calusa of the southwest coast of Florida. The Tequesta were closely allied to their immediate neighbors to the north, the Jaega . Estimates of the number of Tequesta at the time of initial European contact range from 800 to 10,000, while estimates of the number of Calusa on the southwest coast of Florida range from 2,000 to 20,000. Occupation of the Florida Keys may have swung back and forth between
10005-417: The most prominent American writers, including Ernest Hemingway , Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings , and Tennessee Williams , and continues to attract celebrities and athletes, especially in golf , tennis , auto racing , and water sports . Florida has been considered a battleground state in American presidential elections , particularly those in 2000 and 2016 . Florida's climate varies from subtropical in
10120-553: The newly acquired territory for a brief period. On March 30, 1822, the U.S. Congress merged East Florida and part of West Florida into the Florida Territory . By the early 1800s, Indian removal was a significant issue throughout the southeastern U.S. and also in Florida. In 1830, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act and as settlement increased, pressure grew on the U.S. government to remove
10235-473: The north to tropical in the south. It is the only state besides Hawaii to have a tropical climate , and the only continental state with both a tropical climate, located at the southern portion of the state, and a coral reef . Florida has several unique ecosystems, including Everglades National Park , the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. and among the largest in the Americas . Unique wildlife include
10350-542: The northwest, Georgia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Straits of Florida and Cuba to the south. About two-thirds of Florida occupies a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean . It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States , spanning approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands . It is the only state that borders both
10465-467: The panhandle, by Alabama. It is the only state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida also is the southernmost of the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii being the only one of the fifty states reaching farther south. Florida is west of the Bahamas and 90 miles (140 km) north of Cuba . Florida is one of the largest states east of the Mississippi River , and only Alaska and Michigan are larger in water area. The water boundary
10580-781: The pre-automobile era, railroads played a key role in the state's development, particularly in coastal areas. In 1883, the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad connected Pensacola and the rest of the Panhandle to the rest of the state. In 1884 the South Florida Railroad (later absorbed by Atlantic Coast Line Railroad ) opened full service to Tampa . In 1894 the Florida East Coast Railway reached West Palm Beach ; in 1896 it reached Biscayne Bay near Miami . Numerous other railroads were built all over
10695-434: The presence of humans made them very easy to kill. The second factor was the overfishing of the reefs that sustained the Caribbean monk seal population. With no fish or mollusks to feed on, the seals that were not killed by hunters for oil died of starvation. Surprisingly few conservation measures were taken towards attempting to save the Caribbean monk seal; by the time it was placed on the endangered species list in 1967, it
10810-830: The same proportion as before the Civil War. Forty thousand blacks, roughly one-fifth of their 1900 population levels in Florida, left the state in the Great Migration . They left due to lynchings and racial violence and for better opportunities in the North and the West. Disfranchisement for most African Americans in the state persisted until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s gained federal legislation in 1965 to enforce protection of their constitutional suffrage. In response to racial segregation in Florida,
10925-569: The settlers lost their tenuous support from the federal government and abandoned their cause by 1813. Traditionally, historians argued that Seminoles based in East Florida began raiding Georgia settlements and offering havens for runaway slaves. The United States Army led increasingly frequent incursions into Spanish territory, including the 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians by Andrew Jackson that became known as
11040-602: The ships in Pedro Menéndez de Avilés ' fleet took refuge from a storm in Biscayne Bay. The main Tequesta village was located there, and Menéndez was well received by the Tequestas. The Jesuits with him took the Tequesta chief's nephew with them back to Havana , Cuba , to be educated, while the chief's brother went to Spain with Menéndez, where he converted to Christianity . In March 1567, Menéndez returned to
11155-639: The soldiers be withdrawn, and the stockade burned to deny it to the Uchizas. He also forwarded the missionaries' plan to Spain, where the Council of the Indies decided that the proposed mission on Biscayne Bay would be costly and impractical. The second attempt to establish a mission on Biscayne Bay had lasted less than three months. When Spain surrendered Florida to Britain in 1763, the remaining Tequestas, along with other Native Americans that had taken refuge in
11270-411: The soldiers executed an uncle of the chief. Brother Francisco was forced to abandon the mission for a while, but when the chief's brother returned from Spain, Brother Francisco was able to return. However, the mission was abandoned shortly thereafter, in 1570. Starting in 1704, it was the policy of the Spanish government to resettle Florida Native Americans in Cuba so that they could be indoctrinated into
11385-617: The southeastern United States and the third-most populous in the United States. The population of Florida has boomed in recent years with the state being the recipient of the largest number of out-of-state movers in the country as of 2019. Florida's growth has been widespread, as cities throughout the state have continued to see population growth. In 2012, the killing of Trayvon Martin , a young black man, by George Zimmerman in Sanford drew national attention to Florida's stand-your-ground laws , and sparked African American activism, including
11500-571: The southern end of the Florida peninsula, in the 16th century. Their central town (called "Tequesta" by the Spaniards in honor of the chief) was on the north bank of the Miami River . A village had been at that site for at least 2,000 years. The Tequesta situated their towns and camps at the mouths of rivers and streams, on inlets from the Atlantic Ocean to inland waters, and on barrier islands and keys. The Tequesta were more or less dominated by
11615-506: The state is at or near sea level. Some places, such as Clearwater have promontories that rise 50 to 100 ft (15 to 30 m) above the water. Much of Central and North Florida, typically 25 mi (40 km) or more away from the coastline, have rolling hills with elevations ranging from 100 to 250 ft (30 to 76 m). The highest point in peninsular Florida (east and south of the Suwannee River ), Sugarloaf Mountain ,
11730-639: The two tribes. Although Spanish records note a Tequesta village on Cape Sable, Calusa artifacts outnumber Tequesta artifacts by four to one at its archaeological sites. On a map the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz published in 1630 in Joannes de Laet 's History of the New World , the Florida peninsula is labeled "Tegesta" after the tribe. A map from the 18th century labeled the area around Biscayne Bay "Tekesta". A 1794 map by cartographer Bernard Romans labeled this area "Tegesta". The archaeological record of
11845-638: The underside lighter than the dorsal area. Adults were darker than the more paler and yellowish younger seals. Caribbean monk seals were also known to have algae growing on their pelage, giving them a slightly greenish appearance, which is similar to Hawaiian monk seals. Historical records suggest that this species may have "hauled out" at resting areas on land in large social groups, typically 20–40 animals, but sometimes up to 100 individuals, throughout its range. The groups may have been organised based on age and life stage differences. Their diet most likely consisted of fish and crustaceans. Like other true seals ,
11960-435: The western Atlantic Ocean. They probably preferred to haul out at low sandy beaches above high tide on isolated and secluded atolls and islands, but occasionally would visit the mainland coasts and deeper waters offshore. This species may have fed in shallow lagoons and reefs . The first historical mention of the Caribbean monk seal is recorded in the account of the second voyage of Christopher Columbus . In August 1494,
12075-416: The women wore skirts of Spanish moss or plant fibers hanging from a belt. By one account, when the Tequestas for a tradition buried their chiefs, they buried the small bones with the body, and put the large bones in a box for the village people to adore and hold as their gods. Another account says that the Tequestas stripped the flesh from the bones, burning the flesh, and then distributed the cleaned bones to
12190-464: Was also a group of settlers who came from the colony of Bermuda . This was the first permanent English-speaking population in what is now Duval County , Baker County , St. Johns County and Nassau County . The British constructed good public roads and introduced the cultivation of sugar cane, indigo and fruits, as well as the export of lumber. The British governors were directed to call general assemblies as soon as possible in order to make laws for
12305-638: Was described as "still very largely an empty State." Subsequently, the growing availability of air conditioning , the climate, and a low cost of living made the state a haven. Migration from the Rust Belt and the Northeast sharply increased Florida's population after 1945. In the 1960s, many refugees from Cuba , fleeing Fidel Castro 's communist regime, arrived in Miami at the Freedom Tower , where
12420-426: Was destroyed by the Spanish. Today a reconstructed version of the fort stands in its location within Jacksonville. 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 the oldest, continuously occupied European settlements in the continental U.S. and establishing the first generation of Floridanos and
12535-441: Was going to sacrifice a young girl as part of the celebration. The missionaries sent a message to the chief begging him not to sacrifice the girl, and the chief relented. The Miami Circle is located on the site of a known Tequesta village south of the mouth of the Miami River (probably the town of Tequesta ). It consists of 24 large holes or basins, and many smaller holes, which have been cut into bedrock. Together these holes form
12650-660: Was killed near Key West, Florida in March 1922. There were sightings of Caribbean monk seals on the Texas coast in 1926 and 1932. The last seal recorded to be killed by humans was killed on the Pedro Cays in 1939. Two more seals were seen on Drunken Mans Cay, just south of Kingston, Jamaica , in November 1949. In 1952 the Caribbean monk seal was confirmed sighted for the last time at Serranilla Bank . The final extinction of
12765-498: Was likely already extinct. Unconfirmed sightings of Caribbean monk seals by local fishermen and divers are relatively common in Haiti and Jamaica, but two recent scientific expeditions failed to find any sign of the species. It is possible the mammal is still extant, but some biologists strongly believe the sightings are of wandering hooded seals , which have been positively identified on Caribbean archipelagos such as Puerto Rico and
12880-643: Was officially declared extinct by the United States, after an exhaustive five-year search. This analysis was conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Caribbean monk seal is closely related to the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal , a species which is restricted to the central Pacific Ocean surrounding the Hawaiian Islands , and
12995-594: Was particularly important after 1864, when the Confederacy lost control of the Mississippi River, thereby losing access to Texas beef. The largest engagements in the state were the Battle of Olustee , on February 20, 1864, and the Battle of Natural Bridge , on March 6, 1865. Both were Confederate victories. The war ended in 1865. Following the American Civil War, Florida's congressional representation
13110-489: Was restored on June 25, 1868, albeit forcefully after Reconstruction and the installation of unelected government officials under the final authority of federal military commanders. After the Reconstruction period ended in 1876, white Democrats regained power in the state legislature. In 1885, they created a new constitution, followed by statutes through 1889 that disfranchised most blacks and many poor whites. In
13225-486: Was searching for the Fountain of Youth is mythical and appeared only long after his death. In May 1539, 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. Europeans introduced Christianity , cattle, horses, sheep,
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