Florida: What They Never Told You In School

September 27, 2011

On my recent trip to St. Augustine, Florida, I discovered that my history books omitted an important detail about early American history. I toured the oldest fort in continental North America: the Castillo de San Marcos, located in St. Augustine. During the tour, the park ranger shocked me with important information...

Are you ready for this? Prepare to be upset. I certainly was.

1. Florida was part of the original English colonies!
2. Not only was Florida ONE of the original colonies, it was TWO! There were 15 colonies! England got Florida from Spain and they divided it into two parts, East Florida and West Florida.
3. AND, I was even more amazed to find out that both East and West Florida REMAINED LOYAL TO ENGLAND during the Revolution!

I am not a devoted history lover, but Florida never appeared in MY history texts until it became a state in 1845. That, and the somewhat silly story about Ponce de Leon and the fountain of youth!

Now I understand why some people do not know that St. Augustine, FL, is the oldest settlement in North America. It was originally settled by the Spanish, so I’m sure that is why the English settlements of Jamestown and Plymouth get much of the credit.

Maybe, it just goes to show that history IS written by the winners. You see, after we won the Revolution, England sold Florida BACK to Spain, rather than sell it to the brand-new USA. 

So, for me, it comes down to two options: either my husband and I both slept through EVERY early American history lesson from grade school on through college...OR, someone found it embarrassing to admit that two of the colonies didn’t join the Revolution.

You can read a brief history of Florida here.

And, it wouldn’t hurt to supplement the history you learned in school. The library has many history books. You never know what your text books might have omitted!

Rachael A.
Camden Point Branch