Florida History   

Florida played an interesting role in the Civil War.  The instructor, dressed in a Marion County uniform, tells that story, not only about the armies, navies, and battles, but also of the civilian life.  The people not only dealt with shortages, but with the death and destruction the war bought to Florida's sparsely populated towns, from Fernandina to Key West.

Florida played an interesting role in the Civil War.  The instructor, dressed in a Marion County uniform, tells that story, not only about the armies, navies, and battles, but also of the civilian life.  The people not only dealt with shortages, but with the death and destruction the war bought to Florida's sparsely populated towns, from Fernandina to Key West.

Florida is a state that is unique in its history.  Beginning with the many flags that have flown over it since the first European conquerors came long before Jamestown to the base of our exploration for our future in space.  The series will present many visuals to help you see the changes as a Floridian who can trace his roots in Florida to the early 1800s helps guide you as you learn about the Sunshine State.

Before the Seminoles and the Spanish there was Florida that was different than today. Not until 2056 will an American flag have flown over Florida longer that a Spanish flag. How did the Spanish change Florida and why will they lose it in the first time?

Britain's flag flew over Florida for 20 years. What did they do change it and how did they lose it back to Spain? What did Spain do in their second period of colonization of Florida? How did the 1st Seminole begin and how did the United States come to control Florida? What happened when Florida became a territory of the United States?

What were the causes and effects of the 2nd Seminole War? How did Florida become a state? What caused such low growth of Florida in the earlier years as a territory and a state? How did Florida change in the 1850s?

Why did Florida chose to leave the United States and join the Confederacy? How would the state be important during the war? What battles took place in the state and how did the state of Florida contribute to battles outside the state? How did Florida adjust in the Reconstruction period? How was Florida more like the wild west after the Civil War and what happened in the Barber-Mizell Feud?

How did Florida change during the Gilded Age? As industrialization came, how did Florida modernize as it entered the 1900s? What were the impacts of men such as Hamilton Disston, Henry Flagler, and Napoleon Broward in modernizing the state? How did Florida contribute to the war effort in the 1st World War? Included are many photographs of the time period.

Few places in Florida are steeped in so much history, good and bad, as the Kingsley Plantation located in the northeast coastal area. That history even includes an archaeological past featuring the Timucuan Native Americans.

Starting in 1765 with its first “owner” Richard Hazard, no other place in the state exemplifies Florida’s early emergence as a society based on slavery and the early struggles to bring it to an end. Its owners were the colony’s and territory’s leaders.

Learn of John Houston McIntosh’s clandestine attempt to take Florida from Spain with secret help from President Madison and of Zephaniah Kingsley’s struggles to change the slave system and his black wife, Anna, who found herself both participant in and at the center of the storm.

Chesterfield Smith was down-to-earth, unrefined (despite his elegant wife’s best efforts)-and one of the most influential lawyers of his time. He helped create Florida's modern constitution; brought women and minorities into law practice and served as their mentor; built a four-man, small-town Florida law firm into the 1,600-lawyer worldwide firm Holland & Knight; and was among the first to publicly condemn President Nixon's illegal actions in the Watergate scandal. His driving force was that lawyers can, and should, make the world a better place.

Florida had been a refuge for enslaved persons escaping from slave states and were welcomed by the native population. Florida eventually entered the Union as a slave state. It became part of the "Cotton Kingdom" from 1845 until the Civil War.  Currently, descendants of slave holders and enslaved sharing the same surname are residents.

Many people know of Sutter’s discovery of gold in
California and the resulting boom. Few know the name Albertus Vogt. Known as the "Duke of Dunnellon," Vogt discovered phosphate in Florida. That discovery set in motion a boom that caused an economic explosion in part of the state and an industry that continues to this day. At the time discovered, phosphate rivaled gold in value on the international market due to soil depletion in Europe. Learn about a man who was part hero, part villain that created a wild-west atmosphere in northcentral Florida.

When America first discovered Florida, the meccas for tourists were quite different than those that now draw millions of visitors. Names that were at the forefront of tourists' minds were Cypress Gardens, Silver Springs, Marineland, Weeki-Watchee Springs, Ross Allen's Institute, and others. Florida's natural offerings were center stage and showcased for all to see. They have faded in importance or are no longer in existence as they were. Take a nostalgic look at Florida's past and visit the grandparents of Disneyworld, Universal, and Sea World.

From 1567 when King Phillip II of Spain proposed digging a canal across Florida, many have taken up the reins to engineer and provide a water route through the state. It wasn't a good idea then and it remains a bad one today. Proposed by the US government as early as 1818, leaders including Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson championed Florida's "Misadventure Digging in the Dirt" until ended by Richard Nixon's executive order. Learn about the canal’s route, its intent, and the potential destruction its completion would have caused. Structures and visual signs of the project remain today including an intro to recreational opportunities.