| Florida historical travel topics: First Spanish period → British Florida → Second Spanish period → Seminole Wars |
Although Florida was under Spanish control for most of its history prior to U.S. control, there was a brief period of 20 years during which it was a British colony. During British rule in the region, it was divided into two colonies: East Florida governed from St. Augustine, and West Florida governed from Pensacola. This arrangement continued after 1783, when Florida was returned to the Spanish Empire, and concluded in 1821, when Florida became part of the United States.
Understand
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Following Britain's successful siege of Havana 1762, a deal was struck between Britain and Spain. Cuba would be returned to the Spanish in exchange for British control over Florida, leading to a roughly 20-year period during which Britain controlled Florida. Britain's first move was to divide the colony into West and East Florida, with a new capital established at the Spanish settlement of Pensacola for the West.
British colonists established slave plantation and indentured worker colonies in East Florida. The largest and most infamous of these, Smyrnea, was established by Robert Turnbull and used indentured labor for about ten years before the workers revolted and fled north to St. Augustine. Other colonies were established in Ormond Beach and across Inland Florida, but these were generally unsuccessful, as slaves and other workers could escape to virtually anywhere.
The outbreak of rebellion and then the War of Independence in the Thirteen Colonies undermined British attempts to develop Florida. Florida remained a frontier colony outside its two capitals, and it was likely viewed by Britain as a trade-able asset after the War of Independence and the war against the French were over. The Spanish went to war against Britain in the late stages of the War of Independence and successfully laid siege to Pensacola. The last major action by loyalist forces in the war was taken when Colonel Andrew Deveaux led a force from St. Augustine to successfully capture the Bahamas from Spain.
At the Treaty of Paris, Britain — having lost control of the Thirteen Colonies to the north — agreed to return Florida to Spain. The Spanish maintained the division between the two capitals, and after a brief period of development and relative prosperity in the colonies, Spain handed the two Floridas to the United States.
Further reading
[edit]The Florida Department of State wrote a guidebook, British Heritage Trail, which details colonial British sites across Florida.
Historic sites
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An explorer and writer, William Bartram, traveled across Florida during the British colonial era and wrote his famous book Travels based on what he saw across the South. His route has been named the Bartram Trail and informative plaques have been placed along his route by the Bartram Trail Society of Florida.
In St. Augustine, several Spanish houses built during the first Spanish period were occupied or altered during the British period. The Governor's House and the Peña-Peck House were both homes of British colonial governors. Other structures are of uncertain construction date or were demolished and reconstructed in the mid-20th century. The only known structure built during the British period in St. Augustine is the King's Bakery.
- 1 Fort George (Fort San Miguel), 501 N Palafox St, Pensacola (North Hill Preservation District), ☏ +1 850 436-5670, [email protected]. The fort was built by the British in 1778 and captured by the Spanish in 1781 during the Siege of Pensacola. It has been partially rebuilt, as the original did not survive, at its original site at Fort George Memorial Park.
- 2 Fort Montagu, E Bay St, Nassau, Bahamas. In 1783, loyalist Colonel Andrew Deveaux led an expedition of militiamen from St. Augustine to take the Bahamas for the British. He ordered his small contingent to row back and forth in front of the island, but out of sight just enough to deceive the fort's Spanish defenders to believe the militia was far larger than it actually was. The Spanish troops panicked and Deveaux successfully took the fort, leading to the British acquisition of the Bahamas.
- 3 Historic Pensacola Colonial Archaeological Trail, 330 South Jefferson St, Pensacola. The trail passes remains and plaques of sites from the British colonial period including the old Government House and an officer's room and kitchen. None of Pensacola's British structures survived intact into the modern era due to the Siege of Pensacola by the Spanish in 1781.
- 4 King's Road. The road was built by the British during the 1760s to connect the Georgia border with the various settlements and plantations on the Atlantic coast. Some sections of it remain today, while others have been upgraded and are currently used by the highway network.
- 5 Oglethorpe Battery Park, Arredondo Ave, St. Augustine. Believed to be the site from which James Oglethorpe bombarded Castillo de San Marcos during the British attack on St. Augustine in 1740.
- 6 Old Fort Park, N Riverside Dr, New Smyrna Beach. Not a fort but rather ruins of a commercial storage site or house from Turnbull's Smyrnea colony. An earlier Native American mound exists in part at the park.
- 7 Oswald Plantation site. Prior to European colonization, it was a Timucua village known as "Nocoroco". The plantation no longer stands, but indigo plants continue to grow at the site.
- 8 Rollestown, US-17, East Palatka. A marker indicates the former site of a British colony and plantation which was unsuccessful as it provied impossible to prevent slaves and indentured workers from escaping. The marker is in a small public park but there are no remains visible today.
- 9 Seaton Creek Preserve, 2145 Gold Star Family Pkwy, Jacksonville. The approximate location of the Battle of Thomas Creek, fought in 1777 between the Americans and British during the Revolutionary War. The British won the battle and were able to hold off American attacks on the British colony during the war. The preserve at the battlefield is 840 acres, with hiking trails and a kayak launch on a tributary of Thomas Creek. A historical plaque is some distance to the west on the north bank of Thomas Creek along the Old Kings Rd.
- 10 The King's Bakery, Marine St, St. Augustine. The only surviving building built definitely built during the British period in St. Augustine to supply the nearby St. Francis Barracks with bread. Today, it is a part of the military installation at those barracks but can be viewed from the outside.
- 11 The Three Chimneys, 715 W Granada Blvd, Ormond Beach, ☏ +1 386 677-7005, [email protected]. The ruins of Richard Oswald's colonial plantation can only be visited by booking a tour with the Ormond Beach Historical Society. The original settlement covered 300 acres and included several processing facilities for sugar, rum, and indigo.
- 12 Turnbull Canal System, 810 Canal St, New Smyrna Beach (Myrtle Ave Park), ☏ +1 386 424-2205. The canals were built by indentured laborers working on Turnbull's Smyrnea colony due to droughts affecting crop yields. They can be seen across New Smyrna Beach, but one of the best access points is Myrtle Ave Park on Canal St west of the railroad.
Museums
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- 13 Condé-Charlotte Musuem, 104 Theatre St, Mobile, Alabama, ☏ +1 251 432-4722. This house museum near Fort Condé (known during British occupation as Fort Charlotte) details the history of colonial Mobile under French, British, and Spanish occupation. One of the rooms inside the house shows how a British commandant's house would have looked during the British colonial period.
- 14 Museum of Florida History, 500 S. Bronough St, Tallahassee, ☏ +1 850 245-6400. The museum has a section of its permanent exhibit Forever Changed dedicated to the British period and the impact of this period on the American War of Independence.
- 15 New Smyrna Museum of History, 120 Sams Ave, New Smyrna Beach, ☏ +1 386 478-0052. Museum details the history of the Smyrnea colony and includes artifacts from the settlement.
- 16 Pirate and Treasure Museum, 12 South Castillo Dr, St. Augustine. 10AM-7PM. Details the history of (mostly British) pirates, such as Sir Francis Drake, and their Florida raids.
See also
[edit]- Braddock Expedition — route of a mid-18th century British expedition in the Thirteen Colonies
- British Empire — the empire of the British colonists would later extend across almost a quarter of the world's land and population
- Early United States history — detailing the history of the Revolutionary War and the later annexation of Florida from Spain