Discovering Early Spanish History On A Holiday To Florida
When travelling to Florida, one of the most exciting parts of a holiday is spending time exploring the state’s unique culture and history. Florida’s vibrant and colourful history can be traced back to as early as 14,000 years ago and from that time to the present day has created some very colourful events.
Early historical records show that some of the first recorded settlers to arrive in Florida came from Europe beginning first with a Spanish explorer called Juan Ponce de Leon. Juan Ponce de Leon arrived to the area in 1513 and since that time Florida has been a popular destination for immigration, including French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century, domestic migration from American Indians in the following centuries and more recently immigration from Latin America.
Popular legend suggests that Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. It was Juan who can claim ownership of Florida’s name, naming the peninsula La Pascua Florida or “Flowery Easter”. Whether the name is owned to the amazing plant life found in Florida or to the fact that he arrived during the Spanish Easter feast, Pascua Florida, experts are still in debate.
Juan Ponce later returned to Florida on a separate voyage to Florida in 1521, landing on the south eastern coast of the peninsula. Accompanied by around two hundred people and fifty horses, his arrival quickly caused the natives to retaliate, attacking Juan and his crew. While Juan’s men no doubt felt threatened by this attack it didn’t stop them returning to Florida, seeing the area as a great place to spread Christianity, explore and seek treasures on the new continent.
Future expeditions focused on the search for gold and silver. In 1539 Hernando de Soto trekked through Florida in search of gold and silver only to die near the Mississippi river in 1542. Survivors of his team eventually made it to Mexico.
While de Soto – and explorations that followed – never results in any gold or treasure being found, the journeys did help Europeans understand Florida’s relationship with South America. In particular they learnt of how Spanish vessels travelling back from places like Cuba and Mexico would pass the Florida straits. Soon this area became flooded with pirates hoping to seize the passing boats.
Naturally with so many explorers going backwards and forwards to Florida, it wasn’t long before a colony would be formed. However, although Spain had been doing most of the initial exploring within the area, it was the French who would be the first to establish a settlement in Florida.
In 1562, French protestant Jean Ribault left France to explore Florida. He returned two years later with a fellow Frenchman by the name of Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere and established the French settlement of Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River, located close to present-day Jacksonville.
On a holiday to Florida, it can be easy to focus on the modern entertainment widely available such as theme parks, tours and nights out in Miami and Orlando. However, Florida’s real attraction is its vibrant and colourful history and it would be a shame to miss seeing what Florida is really about when visiting the Sunshine State.
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