History of Florida

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Introduction

Overview of Florida

Map of Florida, USA

The State of Florida is often associated with palm trees, sun, beaches, and tourist attractions as it is commonly known as the “Sunshine State”. Including well-known cities like Miami, Orlando, Tampa and its capital city Tallahassee, all these locations have something in common: history, sunshine, and tourist appeal. Florida is the southern most U.S state with much Latin influence from it's Spanish decent. Over 18 million people reside in Florida. Nearly 25 percent of Florida’s population is Hispanic, which is reflected in the culture of many areas of the state. The second spoken language in Florida is Spanish, and it is especially prevalent in Miami. There is a large population of immigrants in modern day Florida. Florida is in close proximity to Central and South America so the majority of immigrants come from Cuba, Haiti, and Colombia.

Florida State Flag

Since warm weather is typically constant, Florida has also become famous worldwide for their exports of grapefruits, sugar and oranges. The citrus industry in Florida's popular culture brings state-wide pride. In 1967 for example, a Legislature was passed that stated that orange juice is "the official beverage of the State of Florida". Florida is also well known for its native animals like the American alligator. Although they were once hunted to near extinction, these alligators now thrive in the state and are mentioned throughout Florida’s popular culture. This ranges from tourist attractions to postcards and team mascots. Florida has a lot of biodiversity in general, and is also known for a large variety of species of birds (including the very popular flamingo), insects, turtles, snakes, lizards, among others.

Sunshine state plate

Florida has also been prominently involved in America’s Space Age. Space has become an integral part of Florida’s economy and culture, offering thousands of jobs, as well as motels and restaurants adopting space themes to attract visitors and residents. Apollo 7, the first manned mission in the United States Apollo space program, was launched from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida on October 11th in 1967. Every U.S. astronaut that has gone into space has been launched from the station. Kennedy Space Center is a field center for NASA the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Built beginning in 1962, it has played a significant role in U.S. History as it is the location from which the first journey to the moon from the U.S.A. was launched. The creation of the Kennedy Space Center changed many things for the surrounding areas, such as shifting the main economic activity from agriculture to space. It is still in operation today and is a very popular tourist attraction as well.

Florida also has a rich sporting tradition encompassing a wide range. In baseball, it has 2 major league franchises, and hosts 17 spring training sites – the most of any state – a tradition that began in 1888. These 17 training camps make up what is known as the Grapefruit League. Golf has been a major game since its introduction in the late 1800s due to the flat land and climate of Florida. Football is also very popular, especially the University of Florida team, who attract, on average, over 85,000 fans every home game at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainseville. Florida also has a rich tradition and history in the movie industry. The state was once referred to as “Hollywood East”, with many films being produced there from the early 20th century to the modern era. Florida is ranked 3rd in the nation for producing films.

Historical Overview

Early Beginnings

Before the Florida that the world knows today came to be, it used to be a land of dense woods, swamps, sand and coast upon which the waves beat restlessly. Beginning with Spanish conquests for gold, massive amounts of wealth was gained from traveling to the New World and soon enough passage was discovered by their explorer Ponce de Leon through a Florida channel. In 1513, Ponce de Leon lead the first European expedition to the unexplored territory of what would be Florida. The Spanish soon had royal orders from the homeland to protect their Florida territory by fortifying the coast in order to expel other nations and to avoid the robberies of their fleets. Ponce de Leon named the State in tribute to Spain’s Easter celebration, which is known as “Pascua Florida” or “Feast of Flowers”.

Later in 1565, another Spanish explorer, Pedro Menedez de Aviles, established the first permanent European settlement in St. Augustine. America’s first Christian church, first hospital, and first school were all established in St. Augustine. During the time of the American Revolution, the possession of Florida was still unresolved and the Spanish, French and English were battling the aboriginals for the territorial rights of the land. While not completely ideal with its swampy areas, parts of Florida was quite sufficient for plantation agriculture but also its navigable rivers made trade very attractive. The attention given to Florida by the Spanish made it appealing for others interested in expanding. Florida bounced between Spanish and British rule for the majority of the 16th and 17th centuries before it gained statehood after the Louisiana Purchase and the revolutions of East and West Florida. Prior to being sold to the United States, Florida was both a state within Spain and Britain at two separate times.

Overview of Historical Injustice in Florida

The history of Florida demonstrates a large amount of liberty and the struggle to define the state, achieve power and recognition. The portrayal of Florida as a land of equal opportunity and remaining the diverse territory it was, makes the struggle for equality a crucial and interesting part of the state's history. Over the course of Florida’s development toward becoming the world recognized state it is today, it was marked by both success and failure, dealing with racism and white supremacy. The state remarkably handled both integration and segregation seamlessly to construct the illusion of acceptance while being pro equality and inequality. Florida was perceived by Northern migrants as progressive, granted the sizable black population residing in the state alongside an influx of new coloured immigrants from places throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean. Prior to becoming president, General Andrew Jackson led an invasion of Seminole Indians in Spanish-controlled Florida in 1817. The underlying reality after going under American control depicted Florida as far from progressivism as the State actually decreed many laws that would belittle and even dismiss the rights the black community had received under Reconstruction.

Florida had a massive plantation culture during the antebellum period, with cotton being produced at a very high rate. Just before the Civil War in 1860, slaves made up for more than half of Middle Florida’s population. Florida was one of the more unique Confederate states in the Civil War, mainly contributing goods than manpower to the war effort. This was due to their geographical location and proximity to the sea. Only 15,000 soldiers were supplied by the state. Florida became the 27th State to join the Union on March 3rd, 1845.

The state also went through internal wars with different Native American tribes which underwent severe racial segregation. When white settlers began to increase in Florida, this put pressure on the U.S. government to remove the Indians from the state. The war between the Seminole Indians and the United states lasted for many decades and was not only a land dispute but as well a struggle for freedom and struggle for power played out over a wild landscape that shaped the future for both sides and possession of the state. In 1832, the U.S. government signed the Treaty of Payne’s, which was imposed in order to eliminate Seminole Indians from Florida, but most refused to leave. The government had to resort to force in order to get them out of Florida and this lead to the second Seminole War.

Even throughout the 1950's and 1960's Florida continued to enforce segregation, installing a “whites only” and “blacks only” bifurcated society. Lynching became a common phenomenon. In the first half of the century, Florida led the nation with the highest number of lynchings per capita. Along with “black” and “white” street signs, other forms of blatant racial intolerance included Florida’s rejection of segregated school systems, decreasing black voters, harassment and persecution, termed “red-baiting”, and rejecting all legal attempts of integration and giving aid to the black community within the State of Florida. These acts are quite surprising in comparison to the image the State liked to uphold for the tourists, however misleading it may have been. The racist undertones of Florida are almost understandable when thinking of the State’s neighbors, Georgia and Alabama, who were rabidly segregationists. Florida was a divided State, where the “New South” pushed for integration and equal opportunity while covering up the “Old South” who firmly held onto their past of racial prejudices and white supremacy. Many African-Americans from Florida played a pivotal role against this in the wider Civil Rights Movement, with a couple of examples being the Tallahassee Bus Boycott which lasted for 7 months in 1956 and the first sit-in in at Tallahassee on February 13, 1960.

Early Economic Growth

The State of Florida was not as affected by the United States economic expansion during the nineteenth century like other settlements around the newly formed nation. While Florida possessed ample land and an inviting climate, this was not enough to encourage settlers and travelers to ignore the aboriginal warfare that occurred up to 1850 and the tropical diseases like malaria that was known to wipe out entire communities. By 1880 however, travel to Florida began to grow and expand during its first industrial and agricultural boom. From this point and for the rest of the century, the capitalistic "Gilded Age" had began that resulted in a great contrast in wealth and huge corporations now dominated the consumer market. The wealthy upper class now looked to spend their great amounts of disposable income on sources of entertainment and often turned towards Florida for their beaches and warm weather.

Florida, during this era also become attractive to new settlers as, in order to lure tourists to their own resorts in 1880, Henry Flagler and H.B. Plant began their development of new rail networks to encourage travel. As well at the time, orange groves during the citrus boom attracted many new settlers to Florida. By 1890, orange groves had become a status symbol for Florida as they provided a profitable and trustworthy crop that could be depended on. The search for the so called "Florida Dream" expanded in the 1920's and again after Second World War due to improvements to transportation and communication which made the state more attractive and accessible to tourists in particular. A new culture of beaches, architecture and commercial attraction showcased a lifestyle of leisure that was evolving into the modern Florida known today.

In the late 19th century, Florida hit its peak point, population began to grow rapidly, railroads were being built and the social scene began to develop. However this expansion slowed when Florida was hit by the beginning of the overwhelming suffrage caused by the Great Depression. Florida’s economy, up until that point had been booming with exports, tourism and new settlers. Inevitably, the banks, investors and people started running out of money and credit, and this lead to mass poverty throughout the U.S in 1929. Florida, in particular, was hit by hurricane after hurricane during the Depression and this certainly did not help the economy. In 1939, the Second World War began and this offered many jobs to those in poverty and eventually helped the U.S climb out of the depression.

After World War 2, Florida started becoming the state as we know it today. Florida went from once the least populated and developed state in the U.S to the South’s most populated state, and soon on to become the third most populated state in all of the United States. Much economic growth has consequently occurred in Florida since the 1940's due to the commercialization of leisure and vacations that has grown with the expansion of the advertising industry and the rise of a consumer-oriented society. Rising disposable incomes, increasing vacation times and the security of old age pensions have made the tourism and eventually retirement lifestyle possible. Florida's iconic nature expanded with a number of commercial attractions that began to spread around the state as these attraction have the potential to attract tourists from around the world. Much of Florida's growth during this era can be attributed to tourism becoming an increasingly modern experience. Since 1960, the tourist population itself in Florida over the average year, adds six to twelve percent to the states regular residents population. Florida would be an entirely different state had tourism entrepreneurs not spent so much on selling an escape land from the cold and a year round resort.

Florida's Modern Tourism Industry

Over the years, Florida has become one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, from Walt Disney World to relaxing in Key West and Miami Beach. Florida's great beauty develops international attraction and is crucial in upholding the state’s booming economy which began in the late 19th century due to Northerners traveling south to “escape” the harsh winters. Florida’s economy now is widely supported by recreational and leisure travelers; many of the businesses located in Florida and the wildlife habitats rely on and support the needs of visitors. During the 20th century, Florida dedicated its territory to tourism, which would inevitably expand and prosper. To be successful, however, Florida had to sell itself as a place of civil rights quiescence, a land rejecting racial turmoil on the one hand and offer a stable climate for economic growth and lucrative tourism on the other. This is an intriguing part of Florida’s past as it conflicts with the mainstream values and widespread understanding of racial subcultures of the time.

Florida's increasing tourist development era most certainly aided in its rapid population boost between 1950 and 2000 as the state's initial population of 2.7 million increased six times. Florida, the fourth most populated state with its more than 18 million residents, is now an important cultural region of the United States due to travel and tourism. The desire for the "Florida Dream" with its tropical landscape of leisure has gained increased widespread appeal with the rise of a consumer culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Tourists are imperative to the financial state of Florida as they have accumulated 57 billion dollars into Florida's economy which is about ten percent of its gross state product. In 2005 for example, Visit Florida announced that the state had hosted a record 86 million visitors. Since the 1950's, Florida has truly become what its advocates has hoped for, exposure to the rest of the world and the armies of tourists that travel year round. Travel and tourism is integral to the understanding of Florida and its interesting and important history of development into its modern statehood.

Native American and Colonial “Florida," 1497-1821

Native American and Colonial “Florida,” 1497-1821

Introduction

Florida Locator Map with US

The written records of Florida begin in 1513, with the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. The mass of land that he explored on the American continent would come to be named La Florida, in honour of Pascua Florida (Feast of Flowers), which is the name given to Spain’s Easter time celebration. By this time the Spanish had established Spanish hegemony in New Spain and much of the Caribbean. The Spanish soon considered Florida a vital asset in protecting the shipping routes they used to send bullion and other supplies back to Europe, especially since privateering was rampant at this time. With the French in Louisiana, Spanish colonization of Florida held the threat of cutting off their supplies routes to France. To the British, which had interests in the Caribbean and along the east coast, eventual colonization down the coast made conflict all but assured. Thus, Florida would become a focus for British, French, and Spanish colonization. This left many of the native tribes in Florida in a precarious position as they had to deal with the three imperial powers trying to establish dominance, each as likely to prosecute them for any multitude of reasons, but all resulting in exploitation. By the end of the 17th century most of the native tribes would be largely wiped out or nearly exterminated from disease and European aggression.

Pre-Seminole Indigenous Peoples of Florida (1497-1760)

The Calusa

The Calusa were an indigenous people of Southern Florida located in the southern regions of Florida, and are notable for being highly civilized compared to other tribes. Calusa societies were highly stratified, consisting of a sophisticated class hierarchy; from leader, elite, military class, ecclesiastic, to the common villager. This class based social system had benefits for upper classes comparable to similar class in Europe at the time. For example; leaders and elites had access to food otherwise restricted from lower classes and were exempt from physical labour. The Calusa also had a thoroughly developed complex spiritual belief system that clashed with ideals of colonial powers and missionaries. These cultural differences, specifically between the Spanish and the Calusa, ultimately manifested themselves in the form of Calusa resistance to Spanish Christianization and Hispanicization attempts. Regardless of aggressive actions, such as the Spanish missions in Calusa territory, this resistance was carried out in a largely peaceful way. However this peace would not last and after intensifying negative relations and acts of violence on behalf of the Spanish the peace between the two populations ended. After 1569 there would be no further significant contact between the two. The 18th century marked nearly two centuries of colonial expansion into Florida on behalf of the Spanish, French and later the British that brought diseases and colonial conflict to the region. The Calusa also faced slave raids by Creek Indians led by the British colonies in 1711. This combination of factors had effects not solely contained to the Calusa and meant that by the early 1700s Florida was essentially depleted of an Indigenous presence and the Calusa had become an extinct indigenous people.

The Timucua

Timucua Chief Outina defeats Patanou with French support (The engraving reflects a European perspective of warfare most likely not practiced by Native Americans.)

The Timucua were an indigenous people native to the Florida Peninsula that occupied the northern central regions from the eastern Atlantic coast to the most easterly areas of the Florida Panhandle in the west.The Timucua population consisted of politically divided chiefdoms only truly unified by language and their subsistence strategies via hunting. Like the Calusa, the Timucua territory also had a Spanish mission that was ultimately abandoned in 1706. However, unlike The Calusa, The Timucua had primary colonial relations with the French that were for the most part were largely peaceful and successful trade networks. The French employed a strategy of “allurement” meant to be more appealing than the sexual violence, rape and slavery that had become customary of the Spanish further south in the Caribbean. Ultimately, the French hoped to convert The Timucua to Protestantism, similar to the Catholicization the Spanish attempted with the Calusa. The Timucua refused, but in the end succumbed to the same fate as their southern neighbours. Colonial slavery raids, warfare, acculturation and relocation by colonial powers and later arriving Creeks pushed The Timucua out of Florida and eventually to extinction.

The Apalachee

le Moyne Watercolor of San Luis Spanish Mission at Tallahassee Florida, from the State Library and Archives of Florida

The Apalachee were an indigenous population residing in the Eastern regions of the Florida Panhandle bordering the western edge of Timucua territory. One of the three major tribes of the Pre-Seminole era (Apalachee, Timucua, Calusa) the Apalachee were the most “settled” of the three, having well defined boundaries, a material culture surrounding ceramics, cultivation of maize, and social norms surrounding the protection of women and children. Like their southeastern neighbours; the Timucua and Calusa, the Apalachee also housed a major Spanish mission within their territory at Pensacola, as well as the Spanish mission San Luis established in 1663 in the easterly regions of the Apalachee Province of the Florida Panhandle. The Apalachee's regionally specific allegiances and interactions with colonial powers had varying cultural implications resulting in three distinct Apalachee groups; French in Mobile, British in northern Creek territories, and Spanish in Tallahassee. The Apalachee were also the most successful of the three major indigenous tribes regarding sustained, successful economic relationships with the colonial powers; maintaining extensive relations with the French, Spanish, and British. However, like the Calusa these peaceful economic relations would not last due to increasingly restrictive trade regulations and increased Apalachee draft labour by the Spanish, as well as indigenous fear of the British's economic strength. Like the other indigenous people of Florida, raids from Creek Territories led to the relocation and eviction of the Apalachee to St. Augustine and Mobile in 1704. However, throughout the colonial Pre-Seminole era, the Apalachee more than any other indigenous tribe made the colonial economic system work in their favor.

Origins of the Seminole People (1760)

The Seminole Tribe of Florida as they are known in their contemporary context were not an indigenous people to the area that is now the state of Florida. Rather the Indians that came to be commonly known to Europeans and identify themselves as the Seminoles were a migrated or fragmented population of Creek Indians from Lower and Upper Creek territory in Georgia and Alabama. After the decimation of the indigenous populations of Florida through disease brought via colonization as well as conflict with European forces and European sponsored indian raids into vast expanses of territory remained largely uninhabited. This represented an amble opportunity for southern expansion into current day Florida by Lower and Upper Creek Indians. These Creeks were drawn into Florida not only due to the ample abundance of land, but also by prospects of trade with Spanish colonies in Latin America by way of The Gulf of Mexico as well as increasing pressures from British and later American southern expansion. As progressively increasing numbers of Creeks expanded into Florida and became separated from the Creek heartland along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and this satellite population subsequently began to develop their own distinct culture that varied from that of traditional Creek Indians and thus these people became known as Seminoles.

European Interactions in Florida (1497-1821)

The Spanish in Florida

Depiction of Spanish atrocities in the New World, recounted by Bartolome de las Casas

There are two periods of Spanish rule in Florida. The first begins after Ponche de Leon first makes landfall in 1513 and continues until 1763 when the Spanish cede Florida to the British. The second is from 1783-1821, where the Spanish would reacquire Florida from the British, only to give it up 40 years later to the United States. Much of Spanish colonization and exploration, while sanctified and supported by the King, was a purely private matter. Much of the expenses for this process was paid out of pocket by the individual. Such an individual was called an Adelantado, and in exchange for funding his missions he was given great judicial and governmental powers over the lands that he took. This paved the way for the mass exploitation of the land, and the natives, for the sake of profit. The man who sought to bring this system to Florida was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. After eliminating the threat that French colonization held within Florida at the battle for Fort Carolina, word of the massacre that occurred would spread to many of the native tribes. To their eyes, their only options were to submit to the Spanish or to die. The reputation Pedro established from the massacre inspired many tribes to submit. This submission meant accepting catholic missions and openly converting to the faith. Lordship over the Indians was a combination of suppression and gift giving; seeking to maintain alliances with the natives where possible, and crushing any rebellions when they arose. Spain’s power in Florida would not begin to be questioned after this until the 1700’s, and would even temporarily lose control of Florida from 1763 – 1783.

The French in Florida

16th century engraving by le Moyne of the Black Drink ceremony among the Timucua of Florida.

French settlement of Florida began in 1562, by a group of Huguenots (French Protestants). They would establish the colony of Mobile in the western most region of the Florida Panhandle in close proximity to the Spanish settlement of Pensacola. While the Huguenots would be expelled from Florida in a few short years, one of the gravest concerns to Spanish aspirations was that the French would manage to root themselves in Florida by establishing connections with the indigenous populations. They had already begun this process, but were soon defeated by the Spanish. The tribes that did ally with the French, by the time Pedro Menendez conquered Fort Carolina, would finally submit to the Spanish. The importance of the French colonization efforts in Florida, however, comes from the images created by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, which are the earliest known visual representations of Florida and its indigenous people. While these images provide some knowledge about Native culture, specifically of the Timucua, they demonstrate greater insight into the aspirations of the French and their efforts to colonize Florida, and generally the perspective of the other European states.

The British in Florida

Florida was ceded to the British in 1763 after the Treaty of Paris at the end of the Seven Years’ War. While British rule in Florida would only last until 1783, a mere twenty years before it was given back to Spain, they still tried to do much. Florida under their rule was divided into an east and a west. Similar to the Spanish system, the British during their occupation gave constant gifts to the Indians in an attempt to keep the peace. While the cost of this was high, it was seen to be much less then the cost of war. Of the natives that the British were courting, the most important were the Creek, later commonly known in Florida as Seminoles. In the 17th Century some Upper and Lower Creek populations in fact allied with the British colonies to the north. These loose colonial indigenous alliances had a profound impact on the indigenous populations further south in Florida. British colonialists "employed" most typically Lower Creek Indians to raid indigenous settlements throughout Florida in hopes of weakening rival colonial interests of the French and Spanish in the region by destroying their network of allegiances with the indigenous populations. Eventually these raids coupled with foreign diseases brought by European colonists resulted in a vastly diminished indigenous population in Florida as many either died or were pushed out of the territory due to these raids. These Creek Indians eventually migrated south into Florida due to intensified British colonial expansion into Northern Georgia and vast uninhabited lands to the south in Florida due to the devastation of indigenous tribes. Here these Creeks became disconnected from the heartland of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and developed a distinct culture that led to their branding as the Seminoles by European colonials.

The War of 1812

In 1794, the Thermidorian Revolt expanded across France as a consequential result of leader Maximilien Robespierre’s reign of terror. Robespierre suffered his execution at the hand of Thermidorian rebels as they permanently acted to end the systematic state oppression they for so long endured. Napoleon Bonaparte became the new successor of France, and he hastily began to lead the nation into an 11 year period of continuous war. In 1806, Napoleon implemented a new policy called the Continental System. The goal of this system was to act as a blockade in protecting French manufacturers across all European markets. Correspondingly, the British reacted to this new implementation by cutting off all French commerce from Atlantic markets. In their perspective, anyone who continued to conduct trade with France would from then on, be considered an enemy of Britain. The neutrality of America in the Napoleonic wars would not last for long, as their ships were soon ransacked, and both their goods and men, were taken into British custody for their continual efforts to trade with France. Finally on June 18th 1812, American president James Madison declared war on Britain. Simultaneously, as war was waging overseas, American officials were expanding their territories by tricking Indians into signing treaties that handed away millions of acres of land to the United States. Conclusively, this act would lead to the cooperation of both Britain and Spain with the American Indians as a united force in stopping the United States expansion.

Signing Preliminary Treaty of Paris 1782

Natives and the War

On October 3, 1783, The American Revolutionary War ended with the Treaty of Paris which ceded the lands of Florida over to Spanish control. In 1811, the Americans permanently demanded that the Creeks allow a north-south road to pass through their lands to connect white settlements on the Tennessee River with Fort Stoddert. This was the situation that brought forth the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, into action by uniting Indian tribes through the common goal of protecting their lands against American expansion. Both Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, realized what few other Indians ever saw: only if all tribes made common cause could they hope to contain the United States as it exploded out of its borders. Tecumseh’s efforts aroused the Creek and Seminole Indians to join together in war against the United States. At this time, Indian forces were limited to fewer technological advances and supplies than their opponent, and they thus began seeking more powerful allies to join their cause.

1812 and 1813 were critical times in the Gulf Coast area and in Florida for both Spain and Britain. The United States had begun to infringe upon, and disrupt Spanish owned territory. To secure his country’s possessions from further aggression, the Spanish governor Sebastian Kindelon incited the Seminoles and the Negros against the American interlopers in 1812. Simultaneously, Britain had gained powerful Indian allies through their mutual desire of halting U.S expansion, and were willing to provide arms, troops, and training to the Indian and negro forces. Both Spain and Britain began cooperative measures in the hopes of successfully stopping the United States. Over the course of 1814 and into 1815, Colonel Edward Nicolls of the Royal Marine, and George Woodbine, a white trader from the slave and Indian populations of the Southeastern borderlands, worked together in raising minority forces against the United States. Nicolls and Woodbine erected a fort on the Apalachicola River in West Florida and between August and November of 1814, they occupied the capital of Spanish West Florida, Pensacola. Britain utilized the efforts of blacks and Indians, in it’s war planning, for they aspired to exploit southern feats, thereby distracting the southern war effort and inspiring local, able-bodied recruits to join the effort.

Jackson Pensacola 1814

After a series of small-scale battles that shifted in success between both sides, the war had finally reached its endpoint. American general Andrew Jackson offered an “ultimatum” to the Spanish governor, for him to expel the Indians and blacks from Spanish territory and to stop Britain’s use of Pensacola as their base. Jackson’s offer was declined, and shortly after on November 6th, he arrived at Pensacola with his army in tow. Upon their arrival, American troops were faced with almost no resistance from the Spanish residents of the town.

Blowing up Fort Barancas

The British had taken refuge at Fort Barrancas, located at the mouth of the harbour. As the situation became hopeless, they decided to board the British fleet anchored in the bay, blow up for Barrancas, and retreat to the fort on the Apalachicola river. In the ensuing chaos, British forces, their Indian allies, nearly the entire slave population of Pensacola, and over two hundred Spanish troops evacuated the town. America had conquered the Gulf of Mexico as their own, and with it came the destruction of Indian relations with Britain and Spain.

Britain and the War

In 1783 the British Empire lost their territory in Florida to the Spanish. Through this conflict, the British and Spanish rivalry allowed for the United States to be relieved of either of the empires full aggression. However, by 1812, the United States was a far larger threat to Spanish Florida than Britain. The chaos in Europe caused by the Napoleonic wars made it possible for multiple intrusions into Spanish Florida by the United States. The Spanish, as a means to reinforce their loose hold on the Florida territory, supported the Seminole Indians so they would serve as a barrier between them and the United States. As such the Spanish gifted weapons, munitions and supplies to the Seminoles to maintain their strength as well as a peace with the United States.

The war with Britain in 1812 led to unusual tactics by the British to rouse opposition inside Florida. For instance, in Pensacola one British Naval Officer saw the military potential of bringing slaves to the side of the British war effort. Pursuing the tensions he perceived inside the slave society of the U.S. he formed a troop of soldiers of over 200 former slaves fighting with the British. Though the success of the troop was limited, the willingness to fight against slavery alongside the British can be observed as a precursor to the further escalating tensions of slavery during the Civil War.

Florida and the War

The history of Florida during the War of 1812 necessarily involves conflicts with native tribes and the Spanish. The area of what is today Florida consisted of Spanish controlled Florida West and East. The conflicts in these regions were characterized by American attempts to forcibly control them. This was not direct warfare with the Spanish, instead it took the form of conflict with Spanish backed Native tribes and a combination of British and Creek forces. As such, native tribes were central allies to all conflicts in Florida. The Seminole, Creek and slaves were seen as an important alliances by both the Spanish and the British, though for different reasons. The Spanish feared that the U.S. was going to annex Florida. Therefore the Spanish strayed from their usual policy of keeping the Seminole as a potential defensive force to increasing their amount of military aid to construct heavily defensible forts. The British during the war saw the same groups as a means to divert attention away from Upper Canada: the focal point of U.S. aggression in the War of 1812. The Seminole and Creek desired to stop the white settlement they regarded as most harmful to their people. They saw the British and Spanish as allies against the United States, so they accepted their aid.

Florida in this period contained precursors of the fast, broad and violent expansion of the territory of the United States across the American continent, which often happened outside federal government jurisdiction. Between 1811 and 1814 bands of settlers, soldiers and militias attempted to invade East Florida in the hopes of expelling the Seminoles and Spanish there. The eventual ceding of Florida to the United States by Spain in 1819 was done in the light of this aggression and a knowledge inside the United States that Congress may declare war on Spain. The prevailing political rhetoric of the era was that the precarious territory of New Orleans and Florida would fall into British control, and the War of 1812 was in part justified by this proposed danger to the new nation. Indeed, all territory controlled by the British in North America was seen as a potential threat, so in this manner Florida is not particularly unique: it was subject to the same kind of policies as other territory like Canada and the North American west.

The Outcome of the War

There were contrasting assessments of the war made by the federal government. Some praised the divine providence of the American people in their victory, others more rationally weighed the noticeable victories and failures of the war. A particularly espoused victory was the abandonment of the British naval campaign against the United States which included damaging blockades- which were especially prominent in Florida. The views on the purpose of the war varied greatly. Many argued that it was entirely a war of conquest, done for mere power and territory. This is reflected in the personal records of American soldiers, who rarely recorded their reasons for fighting as beyond a sense of duty or for the money. The outcome of the War of 1812 for the Red Stick Creek was an expulsion from their homeland. Following a defeat at Horseshoe Bend in 1814, Andrew Jackson forced their capitulation with the Treaty of Fort Jackson on August 9th. The treaty ceded 35 million acres of land in modern Georgia and Alabama from the Creek natives and placed it into the control of the United States, and forced the Creek to flee below the border to Florida where they would join the Seminole tribes. The Creek and Seminole tribes would never fully accept the treaty and simply viewed the coming American settlers as intruders on their land. The support of the Spanish was continued after the end of the war in 1815 in order to maintain Spanish control, but was largely done outside Spanish officials knowledge and therefore often lacked adequate resources. The end of the War of 1812 also served to further establish an “American line”- a frontier boundary within Florida between the coalition of native tribes and the United States. In this manner, the Seminole maintained a semi-autonomous state under the Spanish, but it didn't last for long. Under the pretext of Seminole aggression towards the "invaders" of their land, American settlers, militias and soldiers would fight continual skirmishes along the frontier. This frontier territory set the stage for treaties, wars, the ceding of Florida by Spain and the eventual deportation of the Seminole.

The First Seminole War

Origins of the War

A 19th century engraving of a Black Seminole warrior of the First Seminole War

The War of 1812 had concluded with unrest in the United States. During the war the British had built a fort on the Apalachicola River. In 1816 it was primarily garrisoned by roughly 350 former slaves, thus granting it the nickname of the "Negro Fort". Many southern plantation owners, including Andrew Jackson, considered these former slaves to be renegades and a menace to society, they were afraid that the ex-slaves were going to ruin the innocence of “white woman-hood and the security of the plantation south”. Later that year, in an attempt to bring order to the region, the United States built Fort Scott just north of the Spanish border. Jackson presented the Spanish commander at Pensacola with an ultimatum, either Spain would dismantle the fort or the United States would have to eliminate the fort in self-defense. In actuality, Spain did not have the manpower to perform the task, so it fell to the Americans. The plan for destroying the Fort involved sending gunboat-accompanied supply boats to Fort Scott, which was further in-land on the Apalachicola. This was done in the hopes of provoking the Fort into attacking the boats, giving the United States reason to attack the Fort. The plan worked, and on July 27, 1816 a red-hot cannonball fired from an American gunboat struck the major powder magazine and obliterated the fort. Thus the Negro power on the Apalachicola had broken, and the Seminoles grew weaker. In retaliation for the destruction of the Negro fort, Hitchi chief Neamathla ambushed a US army boat close to Fort Scott, killing thirty-four US soldiers. This infuriated the US, and after Neamathla sent a warning to Colonel David Twiggs: "not to cross or cut a stick of timber on the east side of the Flint." Twiggs led an army of 250 men to capture the Hitchiti chief, resulting in a firefight that killed five Seminoles. However, when Neamathla escaped, Twiggs burned down Neamathla's town, marking the beginning of the First Seminole War. Neamathla's actions set the precedent for guerrilla conflicts along the border, and led to increased border skirmishes during the summer of 1817.

Flag of the Unconquered Seminoles of Florida

The War and Imperial Relations

Indian Biography (1800) (14576700488)

The First Seminole War was a violent conflict in Western Florida from 1817-1819, encompassing conflicts between The United States and the Seminole Nation. The Seminoles were formed from Native American tribes that had migrated down from the north and banded together. Some of this migrating due to conflicts such as the War of 1812. Additionally, escaped African American slaves found a home among the Seminoles. Together they raided white American settlements across the border into Georgia and Alabama, killing inhabitants and stealing their property out of Revenge for the Treaty of Fort Jackson. When complete, these native raiders would simply flee back across the border into Florida, away from the Jurisdiction of the Americans. Spain could not control these borders, which forced the United States to take action. Andrew Jackson, commander of the southern military district, led the controversial advance into Florida, devastating the opposition. In the future this order would be controversial; members of congress would later claim that the invasion was unconstitutional, as the legislature and executive branches of the US were not consulted. The conflicts raised tensions between the United States with Great Britain and Spain.

On December 26, 1817 secretary of war, John C. Calhoun, ordered Jackson to enter Florida: "with full power to conduct the war as he may think best", knowing that if given the chance, Jackson would take Florida from Spain. Jackson left in haste soon after his arrival at Fort Scott on March 9, 1818 with an army of 3,300 primarily Tennesean and Georgian militia. On April 1st he moved in on the largest Seminole town of Miccosukee alongside William McIntosh; a half creek who had grown vengeful due to large property losses at the hands of the Red Sticks. There was a rift in the creek confederation, and many creeks stood by the United States. McIntosh lead an army of Creek Indians who would support Jackson in his attack, and together they took Miccosukee with little resistance. There were no signs of withdrawal, and Spanish town of St. Marks was taken five days later. Here the Scottish, Seminole sympathizer; Alexander Arbuthnot, was captured and would eventually bring controversy upon Jackson's campaign.

The trial of Ambrister during the First Seminole War

Jackson’s next target was Seminole chief Bowleg’s Town of Suwanee on the Suwanee River. Here McIntosh's army encountered the main Seminole force and a firefight ensued resulting in the Seminole forces being routed. The army continued at full pace trying to prevent the Seminole inhabitants of Suwanee from crossing the river. However word quickly spread and Suwanee began to evacuate in order to escape the onslaught. Later on in the day they attacked and quickly forced the remaining Seminoles to retreat. Jackson ordered the town to be destroyed, and in the process they captured Robert Ambrister, another Englishman who provided the Seminoles with weapons, and other supplies. Jackson, upon capturing a second British agent in Florida, confirmed his own suspicions of British involvement in the Native aggression towards the U.S. Jackson ordered Ambrister and Arbuthnot to be executed due to the allegations of aiding the Seminoles against the US. These executions would lead to an increased potential for conflict with Great Britain.

After the rout at Suwanee, Jackson quickly learned that 500 hostile Indians had gathered near Pensacola, the main Spanish settlement in West Florida. Jackson marched his army 240 miles to Pensacola which he occupied on May 24th without resistance. There was now only one Spanish center on the peninsula however the assigned task was now complete. The Seminole fighting force had broken west of the Suwanee River and was forced to disperse. Some forces fled to the Alachua area, however many withdrew to Tampa Bay and the lakes of North Central Florida. The Floridian Peninsula was now firmly under the control of the United States.

After the War

Although the United States coveted Florida, the executions of Arbuthnot and Ambrister had enraged Great Britain, and they didn’t want to risk Great Britain aligning with Spain in a possible war. Therefore the United States returned St. Marks and Pensacola to Spain despite Jackson's protest. However, recognizing that it had only taken Andrew Jackson eight weeks to conquer Florida, Spain realized that they could hope to maintain control of the Peninsula. They ceded the Florida to the US on February 22, 1819, in a treaty that would be finalized after two years time, and its conqueror; Andrew Jackson, would become its first governor. The First Seminole War had opened a period of population growth and economic gain for the United States. They would continue to prosper and expand for years to come.

Antebellum Florida: Territory to Statehood, 1821-1861

Slavery in Florida, 1821-1861

The Beginning of a Slave-Based Economy

The Market House of St. Augustine, Florida, formerly used as a Slave Market, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views

Under Spanish rule, slavery played a minimal role in Florida’s economy and culture. Much of the free Black population in Florida resided in St. Augustine at this time, where it was not uncommon to find black people who owned both rural land and slaves of their own. When Florida was eventually ceded to the British, the dwindling free black population remained in St. Augustine. The role of slavery drastically changed under British rule, and Florida saw a dramatic increase in institutionalized slavery. The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 signified the sale of Florida to the United States, and in 1821 the flag was officially handed over to Andrew Jackson and his men, thus making him the first military governor of Florida. Though Florida was now in American hands, British rule had left a lasting impact on slavery within the state. With abundant frontier now available, Americans began to take note of the economic potential that lay to the South. The slave trade in Florida was mainly concentrated in the heart of the “Cotton Belt,” which included cities such as Tallahassee, Jackson and Jefferson. In 1821, only a small percentage of wealthy white planters, a few free blacks in Eastern Florida and holdovers from the Spanish era owned slaves. When the transatlantic slave trade was abolished, Florida saw a rise in the domestic slave trade. The average number of slaves owned by a single planter had almost doubled now, as people began to fully exploit the growing fiscal worth of slaves. Slavery was a highly profitable business, and was therefore an important aspect of Florida’s economy. The necessity of slavery as a part of the economy was due to the fact that they were viewed as property, could be used as collateral for loans, act as extensions of credit and even be lent out to earn supplementary income for their owners. It was not uncommon for slaves to be hired out to perform jobs such as construction, roadwork and domestic work. During the 1830’s, Florida’s economy had almost completely shifted to farms and plantations based solely on slave labour. Florida’s expansion in its territorial era was chiefly rooted in a slavery-based farming and plantation economy, which drew political and social elites from prominent slave-owning planter families of the old South to Florida. Florida further prospered through trading along its expansive coastline, which allowed for easy export of cotton to many European destinations. By 1845, slavery had become a firmly established component of Florida’s culture and economy.

Solidifying the Institution of Slavery

Former slave at Kingsley Plantation

The institution of slavery played such a pivotal role in the economy that many government policies were being instituted specifically to solidify its place in the state. One way this was achieved was by separating slaves and free black people into their own distinct legal category as a way to keep the laws that govern white and black people separate. In 1827 provisions to the statutory law restricted implementation of the emancipation of slaves, and included the denial of free black people into the state in order to promote the expansion of slavery in Florida. By 1842 free blacks already in Florida were required to concede themselves to a white guardian or face persecution. Laws that prohibited the restriction of slave importation into the state were also included within these articles. The growing fear of abolitionism prompted the extreme oppression of black people through the further stringency of slave legislation. This also resulted in laws controlling the interactions between white and black people. Assisting a slave in escaping or being found guilty of stealing another man’s slave were considered crimes punishable by death. A Spanish plantation owner by the name of Zephaniah Kingsley, disagreed with the American attempt to segregate and reduce the free black population from the rest of Florida. He believed that Slavery would function best under the control of white elites along with the support of free blacks as the two groups would be able to better control a larger amount of slaves and eventually create a more prosperous system of slavery. Many other Spanish planters who had remained in Florida after 1821 agreed with his idea of a more humane brand of slavery, however their voices were muzzled by the rest of Florida's white population.

Slave Codes

The full equality of citizen’s delegitimized Florida’s slave based economy, and as a result legislations known as the Slave Codes were implemented. The Slave Codes maintained the subordination of slaves and implemented control over the race as a whole. The Slave Codes were also a way to preserve the economy, political hegemony and the status of white people within Florida . The intent of this oppressive legislation was to restrict freedoms such as the ability to communicate by prohibiting all slaves from learning to read or write. The codes also outlined that no slave could congregate without the supervision of a white man, nor could they possess weapons or property. They also sanctioned barbaric punishments such as branding, mutilation and corporal punishment if a slave were to disobey their owner. The preferred form of punishment by slave owners was the use of a whip, as it was able to inflict pain without leaving lasting scars, which would decrease the worth of one’s slave. These laws also acted as a way to protect the white population from insurrection, which was a growing fear due to the increase of Northern abolitionism. These codes provided the state the ability to clarify the status of a slave in society while stabilizing the hierarchy that existed in Florida during this time.

Native Relations in Antebellum Florida

A Strained Relationship

Americans quickly made preparations to subvert the resident Native population, the Seminoles, following the ceding of Florida to the United States in 1821. Animosity pervaded relations on both sides, stemming from the First Seminole War in 1817 and an increasing American presence near Indian lands. The Seminoles who were once a vast network of independent tribes, had already withered in the face of American expansion. In the years leading up to the Second Seminole War, they endeavoured to protect what land they still possessed.

Land given to the Seminoles in the Treaty of Moultrie Creek

The Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823)

Officials in Washington had long deliberated the issue posed by the Native population occupying their new territory. In 1821, Secretory of War John C. Calhoun proposed that the Seminoles either be concentrated into a single area within Florida, or removed from the territory completely. It quickly became clear which of these the American settlers favoured, and a plan was soon drafted to remove the Seminoles to a Creek reservation out of state. However, this idea was rejected wholly by the Seminoles due to difficult relations between the two Native groups. The government ultimately decided to collect and settle them within Florida, and called a gathering in September of 1823 at Moultrie Creek. The four hundred Seminoles who attended were represented by a Mikasuki-band chief, Neamathla. Commissioner James Gadsden led the representatives of the United States. The resulting Treaty of Moultrie Creek stated that all Seminoles would move to a four million acre reservation in the centre of Florida. They were to renounce all claims to their former territory, and would receive payments, including a monetary payment of five thousand dollars per year for twenty years.

Native Conditions Deteriorate (1823-1830)

It took two years for the Seminoles to relocate to their new territory. Meanwhile, settlers continued their aggressive push inwards towards more fertile lands, which increasingly brought them into contact with the Natives and their new reservation. The situation deteriorated through the decade, as each side complained of theft and trespassing by the other. Settlers would cross onto the reservation to capture escaped slaves who had come to reside there. In 1825, a drought resulting in poor crop yields near the end of the decade left a large portion of the Seminole community impoverished and starving. Famished, many resorted to foraging and theft across reservation lines. These episodes often ended in injury or death, as was the case in an incident in 1829 which ended in the deaths of two natives and the theft of their equipment. Meanwhile, pressures continued to expand as Florida residents across the land advanced their petitions for total Indian removal from America's new territory.

The Indian Removal Act (1830)

The fate of the Seminoles would not be a matter of debate for much longer. Andrew Jackson, a former governor who had long advocated for Indian relocation, was elected President in 1830. Soon after his election, he pushed for Seminole removal from Florida. On May 28, 1830, congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which allowed for the president to negotiate with the Seminoles for their removal to lands west of the Mississippi River. James Gadsden, who had negotiated the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, was again sent to negotiate on behalf of the government.

President Andrew Jackson

The Bad and the Ugly: The Treaties of Payne’s Landing (1832) and Fort Gibson (1833)

Starvation and hardship continued to plague the Seminoles through the early 1830’s. They were in a desperately poor position to negotiate when James Gadsden arrived in early 1832. Fifteen chiefs assembled with Gadsden and signed the Treaty of Payne’s Landing in 1832, which stated that they were to move to land set aside for them west of the Mississippi. This was conditional upon a favourable inspection by a party of their own representatives. Unfortunately, a detailed record of the meeting was not made, leading to speculation about the treaty's legitimacy. Nevertheless, a delegation of seven natives was sent to inspect the land in October of 1832. Upon completion, they signed the Treaty of Fort Gibson on March 28, 1833, which signified their approval of the land. Both of these treaties were called into question soon after being signed. The chiefs who had signed the documents either denied that they had done so, or protested of coercion. Further, Natives back in Florida claimed not to be bound by these treaties. The government, meanwhile, quickly ratified these documents and set a three year deadline for Indian removal. It was becoming increasingly clear that the Seminoles would not move out of Florida willingly. An outbreak of war soon seemed inevitable.

The Second Seminole War (1835-1842)

American Marines hunt Seminoles in the Everglades

The Seminole Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the United States military and the Seminoles; a Native American tribe originally from Florida. The conflict consisted of three distinct wars which were all fought largely over land disputes between the federal government and the Seminoles living in Florida. The Second Seminole war (1835-1842) is regarded by historians as the most brutal and costly war waged between the federal government and Native Americans. The second Seminole war was a result of the Dade massacre.

The Initiation of the War

The second Seminole war was initially prompted when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 which mandated all Native American tribes residing Florida be moved inland to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, permitting the use of military force if necessary. Initially most of the tribes moved with little resistance, however the Seminoles resisted this forced migration. Among the Seminole leaders resisting the Americans was a young, brave warrior by the name of Osceola. When non-violent protest against native relocation failed in 1835, over 5,000 Seminoles retreated into the swamps of the Florida everglades. By autumn of 1835, violence had broken out across Florida. Disillusioned and embittered by weak leadership, younger and bolder leaders emerged among the Natives. The Seminoles were a distinguished and feared guerrilla fighting force, one that Andrew Jackson had already fought against when he attempted to drive them out of the Floridian peninsula in 1817.

Allied with the Seminoles were many free African Americans, those whom had fled captivity and brutality at the hands of American settlers. Seeking a new life, many had been welcomed and integrated into Seminole community, a deed which further provoked the Americans. Two subsequent treaties did little to alleviate the situation and instead gave an outlet for hostilities to begin. In December, a Seminole force killed several high ranking officials on the outskirts of Fort King. On the same day, Major Dade and two companies of soldiers were ambushed in Sumter County, and all but three were massacred. The war had begun.

The Dade Massacre

In December of 1835 a number of Seminole ambushes resulted in heavy American casualties. The Dade massacre was one such incident of devious Seminole tactics. Major Francis L. Dade was traveling with a company of roughly 110 men from Fort Brooke to Fort King to provide military support against the Seminole threat. Dade and his men were ambushed by a group of Seminoles, killing all but a handful of American Soldiers. Days later on New Year’s Eve Osceola and a band of 250 Seminole warriors defeated a company of 700 soldiers under the command of General Duncan Clinch on the banks of the Withlacoochee River. Despite suffering few casualties, Clinch was forced to retreat and was soon replaced by General Winfield Scott. General Scott was regarded highly for his military prowess as well as his heroics in the war of 1812. However, Scott’s expertise was in conventional “gentlemanly” warfare; he was horribly unprepared for the guerilla warfare tactics employed by the Seminoles. The Second Seminole war lasted a gruelling 7 years and was in general regarded as a tremendous failure on the part of the United States military. American author Michael Grunwald regarded the Seminole war as “America’s first Vietnam – A guerilla war of attrition, fought on unfamiliar, unforgiving terrain, against an underestimated, highly motivated enemy who often retreated but never quit.” Public opinion surrounding the war was negative, congress wanted the war to be over, but feared forfeiting would make the federal government look weak and result in a domino effect of backlash from other tribes.

Concluding the War

In January of 1836, President Jackson appointed a new commander and sent fourteen companies to join the forces already within the territory. Vastly out-numbered, the Natives employed guerilla-style tactics to great effect. Skirmishes broiled across Florida through the next six years, as the United States drove out the Seminoles. Finally, Colonel Worth declared an end to the war on August 14, 1842. The seven years of conflict resulted in death or expulsion for a majority of the five thousand Seminoles who had once resided within Florida. A small force remaining was allowed to occupy a temporary reserve at the mouth of the Peace River. In contrast, at the peak of the conflict in 1837 a force of 8866 troops had been deployed by the United States, and 1466 had lost their lives. Estimates place the cost of the war as high as forty million dollars, solidifying the Second Seminole War as the costliest war of Native removal in American History. The settlers were left with a ravaged frontier, destroyed homes, and a depression. Yet, they had triumphed and claimed their new land, leaving the Seminoles broken and defeated.

Battle Conditions

The conditions on the battlefield were atrocious to say the least. The everglades proved to be treacherous to navigate by foot and impossible to navigate from horseback. Soldiers had to carry supplies through dense swamps and mangrove forests, meanwhile keeping an eye out for Alligators, Snakes and ambushes from the Seminoles. Mosquitoes also posed a massive problem for American soldiers. Unbeknownst to the Americans at the time, mosquitoes were not just a buzzing nuisance, but also vectors for diseases such as Dengue fever and malaria which caused more casualties than fighting with the Seminoles did.

Florida from Civil War to the Gilded Age, 1861-1900

Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida

Florida seceded from the United States on January 10th, 1861 becoming the third state to do so and was admitted to the Confederacy on February 4th, 1861. Secession to most Floridians was legal, logical and justified. J.E. Johns describes how the majority hailed the creation of the Confederacy as a permanent respite from the sectional controversies which had plagued the people of the United States prior to 1860.

Table showing the order in which the various Confederate States seceded from the Union, Florida being the third to do so.

The success of the secession movement in Florida was the result of events within the nation and the state between 1850 and 1860. Settlers had been flooding into the state during this time, mostly from Georgia and South Carolina. These settlers brought their traditions and state-rights philosophy. By the late 1850s, the Democratic Party – the fiercest defender of states’ rights and slavery – was the only true national party and was dominant in Florida, helped by popular anti-Republican Party sentiment within the state. When the Republican Party won the presidential election in 1860 with its anti-slavery position and heavily northern tinge, Florida quickly seceded.

The Civil War

During the Civil War Florida suffered economic hardship, naval blockade, internal dissension, Union invasion and defeat. Its main contribution to the war was not in the form of troops, but supplies. Florida was geographically vulnerable and was incapable of defending itself from union raids, naval blockades which consequentially compromised its methods of resupply. The State of Florida has a unique history that is easily distinguishable from other confederate states as it shared different geographical challenges, constructed and dissolved treaties with Florida natives and underwent significant African American recruitment to the union. General Winfield Scott pressed the importance in executing a naval blockade in the Mississippi River and around the coasts that would evidently isolate the confederates and eliminate any potential routes of foreign aid/ resupply.

Fort Pickens was the location of one of the earliest confrontations Florida faced with the Union and was to be one of the few southern forts to remain in Union hands throughout the Civil War. Other battles in Florida include, the Battle of Fort Meyers, Battle of Fort Brooke, Battle of Marrianna, Battle of Natural Bridge, Battle of Olustee, Battle of Saint John's Bluff, Battle of Santa Rosa Island, Battle of Tampa, and Battle of Gainesville. It was in September 1861 that the first bloodshed in Florida occurred when the Federal warship named Colorado came into contact with the Confederate vessel Juda near Fort Pickens. Union soldiers drove the Confederates from the vessel before setting fire to the ship. The first action by a Confederate force in Florida came as a result but failed to destroy or capture the fort.

The Confederate State of Florida found herself in a unique situation as it was tasked with providing able men to the confederacy as well as desperately defend its coast from Union raids and naval blockades. Florida’s efforts to provide its share of military contribution while securing its own territories resulted in failure in 1862 as the federalist troops successfully secured Fernandina and St. Augustine without much resistance and established numerous military bases along the coast. Union Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore had a firm foothold in Florida. He was famously credited for recruiting black troops in Florida and cutting off all confederate sources of resupply from and to the state.

Florida was a crucial factor for the South in the civil war in terms of supplying food and troops. After seceding from the union and joining the confederate states Florida had supplied 5000 troops by the end of 1861. Since Florida was a southern state it meant they relied heavily on plantations and slave labour to boost their economy, similar to other confederate states. During the civil war one of the big downfalls of the confederate states was their lack of firepower, which is why conscription became law in Florida in 1862, in order to provide more support.

Before the fall of St. Augustine, Florida legislatures appointed John Griffin to travel to Southern Florida and form a mutual alliance with the Seminole Indian tribes against the union. The foundation of this relationship would be on supplying staples, trade and military protection under the confederacy. However when St. Augustine fell to the Union, Southern Florida became a haven for draft dodgers, white northern sympathizers and many still loyal to the confederacy became paranoid that the natives had joined the union cause.

During the Civil War Florida often came into conflict with the Confederate government, notably over the issue of supplies. The governor during the war, John Milton wrote to President Jefferson Davis to warn him that Florida citizens “have almost despaired of protection from the Confederate government”. The defense of Florida went from inadequate to almost non-existent during the course of the war and even led to some suggesting the abandonment of the state. In one example Pensacola, the largest city of West Florida, became a city of deserted homes. Despite experiencing heavy union military pressure, Florida remained part of the confederacy until after the war as union forces could only control only a few major cities. However what is more interesting about Florida is the decisive recruitment and accomplishments of African Americans in the union army. Florida had among the lowest blacks volunteer turnouts to join the union army, though surprisingly they were acknowledged as representing 44.6% of Union Florida regiments and most came from East Florida. They represented 10% of Florida’s black population and by the war’s end they represented 15% of the union navy. The very fact that Florida remained a confederate state during this time speaks loud words about the number of black volunteers

The largest battle that took place in Florida during the conflict was the Battle of Olustee, February 1864, a victory for the Confederate Forces. It marked a “bloody check to the Union cause in Florida” and forced the Federal troops in East Florida back to the three fortified towns which it occupied – Fernandina, Jacksonville and St Augustine. Although this was a major Confederate success, Florida had relatively little value militarily to the Union and it thus had little impact on the wider war which the Confederacy was to lose. What the Battle of Olustee did was spell defeat to hopes among Unionists that Florida would be returned to the Union before the wars end.

Battle of Olustee.

President Andrew Johnson declared the end of the Civil War on May 9th 1865. The war had taken a devastating toll on the seceding states with the conflict having spread over the Confederacy “like some hideous flood”. Florida was no exception and it bore its full part in the struggle with some 16,000 of its best citizens having gone to war, fighting in all of the major battles. At least 5,000 Floridian soldiers died. Destruction of property was great also – falling from a total worth of $47,000,000 to $25,000,000 during the course of the war.

Reconstruction

On July 25th 1868, after the state ratified amendments to the Constitution to abolish slavery and grant citizenship to former slaves, Florida was fully restored to the United States. The period after the Civil War is known as the Reconstruction period. The initial plan for reconstruction was moderate but as Davis argues, radical reconstruction was probably inevitable from the hour Lincoln was assassinated. One of the most prominent aspects of the Reconstruction period was the Freedmen’s Bureau, a federal agency established in 1865 to aid freed slaves and it played a major part in the education of African-Americans in Florida after the Civil War.

Although Democrats initially controlled the Florida state government after the Civil War, the confederate states began to pass the infamous black codes. These laws, and legislature that passed them were described as “bigoted, vindictive and shortsighted" ultimately limiting the rights of African Americans and forcing them to work in a labour economy for low pay. Republicans in Congress suspended all Southern Governments and disfranchised all Confederate officers and elected officials, giving the party control of southern governments including that of Florida.

Racism continued to be enacted as policy. Former slaves were not permitted to testify in trials unless an all white jury had first determined that they were creditable or if a contract between a former slave, now a free worker and their employer was broken they could be sent to prison. The laws were an effort to make the society “separate but equal” however white offences were often overlooked or given small punishments. In one case a white man was charged with killing a freed slave and received a fine of $200 and one minute in prison.

Many of the recinstructionists in Florida were primarily focused on restoring the economy in the hope that a growing economy would help in the reconstruction process. The Freedman's Bureau also agreed that economic growth would help with reconstruction. Prior to the civil war and shortly after, Florida relied heavily on the cotton industry. Former slaves were encouraged to return to plantations and to continue to work there as share croppers. These sharecroppers were offered a percentage of what was produced. For the most part the former slaves never made enough to leave and would often buy personal items from the planation owners on credit, however they often did not make enough money to cover theses debts and would be unable to leave.

Florida’s economy underwent significant changes during Reconstruction. Before the war large plantations producing cotton with slave labour had been the most important aspect of the economy but this diminished in importance with the freeing of slaves as a result of the Civil War. Lumbering replaced much of this, becoming extensive in the state.

New industries emerged in Florida some of which included citrus, cotton, sugar and lumber among others. Slave labor was no longer an option for Plantation owners and instead had to hire African-Americans as employees although they were paid poorly. Their pay was so much lower than what a white man of the time would make that it discouraged European emigrants from moving to Florida due to an inability to compete for jobs.

In thirty years the state’s population tripled, growing from 140,424 in 1860 to 391,422 in 1890 due to increased opportunities and land development throughout the state. The massive population increase helped to bolster the workforce of the various plantations and farms as agriculture took root as one of the dominant industries of the state. By 1866 nine-tenths of Florida’s African American population were working in agriculture.

Although Florida saw economic growth after the end of the Civil War, the government had accumulated debt which threatened to bankrupt the state, thus leading to the sale of four million acres of land to Hamilton Disston ‘and associates’ for one million dollars in 1881. Intensive land development in Florida began following the purchase and new development programs were launched by Railroad companies in an attempt to encourage entrepreneurs to develop on land near the newly established rail roads.

Reconstruction ended with the Compromise of 1877 which installed the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House and gave the Democrats control of all state governments in the South. Although the Democrat, Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote, he was short of votes in the electoral college, with the electoral votes of three states, Florida included, disputed. The disputed states gave their electoral votes to Hayes as part of this compromise, making Hayes president.

Immigration

Ironically, Florida encouraged immigration in order to fill jobs and boost the economy. The Bureau of Immigration was used to abolish immigration tax in order to expand immigration in Florida. Florida tried to encourage people of the same religion and ethnicity to reside in the same areas as each other because they thought it would be easier for people to live in an environment they were already confortable in. They also attempted to attract wealthy land owners to come to Florida and not go to other booming states such as California by advertising their freed slaves as cheap labor. One reason why people might have been less accepting is because Florida was already apart of the confederate states, which meant they were pro-slavery and still looked at black people as property. In many cases former slave owners believed that a new government might let them keep their slaves or at least pay them for what they considered lost property. These were key indicators of how racist the south really was. Also, there were already Seminoles residing in Florida, which was another reason why southerners were not as welcoming of new immigrants because they wanted to feel a sense of security. This made Florida a more segregated state by choosing to have the different ethnic groups separated.

Even though many people disagreed upon diversifying Florida at the time, it has helped shape America into what it is today. Florida housed a variety of ethnicities, who brought their own way of life to the United States. This newfound diversity was plenty for Floridians to handle at the time because of what they lost in the civil war (eg. land and slave labour) and because of the lack of compensation from the federal government.

Modern Florida, 1900-1945

Introduction

Florida during the first half of the 20th Century experienced rapid change. The Great Migration, mass immigration, and the Land Boom of the 1920s made millions of people aware of Florida and its attractions for the first time. A booming post war economy after World War One and mass tourism greatly diversified and expanded the population of Florida. New communities and attractions now suddenly dotted Florida's coasts and interior, reflecting Florida's increased popularity. The first fifty years of the 20th century would greatly impact the culture of Florida.

Jim Crow and the Great Migration

Newspaper describing massacre in Rosewood Florida 1923

Jim Crow was the name for a system of laws passed in the Southern States during, and after the Reconstruction period of the Southern United States. The laws were passed as a legal means to re-establish and uphold white superiority after the abolition of slavery. These laws were not a thing of the past for Southerners of both races during the first half of the twentieth century, and Florida, being a former slave state, was no exception. In the past, there had been laws passed to segregate public life, but during the 1910’s and 1920’s the laws continued, with laws prohibiting a difference between the student’s and the teacher’s race in the classroom. Evidently the tension and opposition that existed between the races was highlighted in a racial conflict in Rosewood, Florida in 1923. Allegations of the rape of a white woman, Fannie Taylor, lead to a white mob killing several blacks and two white people in a shootout. These acts of violence were common throughout the South and throughout Florida, especially as the Ku Klux Klan gained power in the region. Another man accused of rape in 1921 was hung from a telephone pole in Wauchula. It was clear to the black residents of Florida that the Jim Crow laws were not going away and it was best to find a way to deal with it. Racism was not what blacks wanted in their lives.

In an effort to escape the economic hardships or Jim Crow laws many African Americans moved to the cities where the opportunity to gain an economic advantage was higher than within the rigged tenant farm system many black people worked and lived in. This agriculture industry was a big driving force of economic growth for black communities in developing states like Florida, but many left as the system fell apart during the Great Depression. This happened in three waves occurring; during and after World War 1, and in the 1930’s during the Depression. In the South as many as two million black families abandoned farm life for the cities during the 1930’s alone, while approximately 400 000 of them left the South to venture to the industrialized North to pursue a greater economic opportunity. This movement to the cities was named the Great Migration and it grew to define Florida’s urban culture. As the Depression set in, black families in Florida moved to cities like Jacksonville and Miami, creating a population and labour boom within those cities. Entrepreneurs looking to get into real estate used the subsidies on the National Housing Act to create low-income housing for black communities. Throughout the urban areas in Florida the creation of large Coloured Towns became existent, and as moderate portions of the cities were sectioned off as coloured areas. To put it into perspective, the white population of South Florida on average lived with 15 people per acre, but in Miami’s Negro District blacks lived in a concentration of 600 per acre. Despite the large explosion of housing in Miami’s Coloured Town, less than 10% of the black residents actually owned their own homes. This was the main reason why after the housing boom of the mid-1920’s many blacks found their way back to the returning tenant agriculture industry, only to return during the Depression.

African-Americans in Florida faced many of the same challenges that their kin were facing throughout the South and the United States as a whole. It showed that in Florida violence and fear was especially prevalent inside of the black communities. The first half of the twentieth century saw a major urbanization of Florida’s black population, but only new problems and prejudices would be faced in the cities.

Draining the Everglades

The drainage of the Everglades was a consequence of the United States push for progressive action within the late nineteenth, early twentieth century. The transformation of the Everglades was designed under the pressure from an increasing population along with the commercialization of the Florida dream. With this growth in population and the increased technological advancements of the 20th Century, the political necessity for the landscape reclamation in Florida’s Everglades became an imperative issue. The first estimation for drainage of the Everglades cost, was produced by Buckingham Smith’s “reconnaissance” of the region in 1847. Smith believed that the region could be reclaimed at the cost of $300,000 to $500,000. The United States Army Corps of Engineers later estimates for enhancing the water-control structures as a permanent solution for flood protection and water control, from Lake Okeechobee to South Florida, came at the price of $208,135,000.

Florida Everglades

The drainage of the Everglades began in 1906, without much preparation and was accelerated by the determination of Florida’s governor, Napoleon Broward. According to Broward, growth in infrastructure and the following economic boom would pay for the costs of draining the wetlands. The canals installed by developer Richard J. Bolles saw the sale of newly reclaimed land, first starting at $15 an acre, eventually becoming more complex in price due to a lottery based scheme. This proved to be a success, by 1911 more than 10,000 farms had been sold and by 1912 land developers had sold over 20,000 lots. This land distribution would become a significant factor for the developmental growth of Florida’s agricultural economy and the Land Boom.

The drainage of the Everglades would cause a significant environmental repercussion and would lower the surface of the land, inevitably causing Florida’s vulnerability for water damages through hurricanes and floods. The most devastating floods came from the 1926 “Miami” and the 1928 “Okeechobee” hurricanes. This caused the political-ecological shift to prioritize water control within the state of Florida, along with the South, throughout the 1930s on-wards. Projects such as the construction of the Tennessee and Tombigbee Waterway would show Congress’s concern in ecological matters within the South.

By 1920 the commercial sugarcane cultivation on drained Everglade soils had become a falling point for land sales. With the formidable task of land drainage, waterway control and the expansionist globalization of U.S. foreign imports, the Florida tropical frontier for sugarcane had been displaced by areas such: as Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Philippines and Cuba. This shift would affect the political goals for Florida during the 1928 election. The Drainage of the Everglades would later be considered an environmental disaster to future critics. The Everglades remained to be an issue within American politics and was one of the main topics of concern for the presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000.

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Florida Land Boom

During the 1920s, Americans experienced a new wave of technological and economic prosperity. The national economy was increasing at a rapid pace, spurring a growth in infrastructure because Americans could now afford to spend money on consumer goods. In this period, Florida was highly popularized because it was only a few days drive from the North, mosquito-borne diseases had been eradicated, and middle-class Americans began to vacation there. Florida’s tropical weather gave it great potential for tourism. To capitalize on this, advertisers labeled Florida as a paradise; a last frontier, and a source of eternal youth and industry. This, and in addition the symbiotic relationship between tourism and real estate advertisements easily sparked the land boom in Florida. This was also aided by Florida experiencing rapid immigration due to the expanded infrastructure which made travel very easy for middle class Americans. Florida’s population increased by approximately 300,000 from 1920-1925, this population surge resulted in huge inflation of the property market in Florida and Miami. This subsequent property inflation meant many land developers were attempting to purchase as much land as possible to construct hotels and homes to accommodate for the influx of people.

Following the conclusion of World War I, Florida remained largely the same as it had during colonial times. Its population of about a half a million split evenly between white Americans and African-Americans. For years the economy of Florida was driven primarily by agricultural industries such as sugar and cotton. That all changed in the 1920s when Florida real estate was coveted by a newly emerging American middle class. As the dust settled in Europe and a modern United States emerged, working hours began to shrink. The emergence of nine to five workdays and weekends introduced working class Americans to leisure, recreation and free time. Vacations and travel, that at one point were only reserved for the rich, became the pursuit of many different Americans. The Roaring Twenties enriched many Americans and ensured the continued growth of the middle class.

The emerging American middle class was largely responsible for the elevation of Florida from Spanish colonial sauna to America’s playground. Tourism began to take off following the First World War and this led to a burgeoning tourism industry, providing an economic boost and contributing to the diversification of Florida’s economy away from its primarily agrarian economy of old. Today, the tourism industry in Florida has grown to become one of the world’s largest economies which relies on this same industry, which is made evident by the existence of such institutions as Disney World. People began moving to Florida in large numbers in the early 1920s due to the relative ease of travel brought about by increased infrastructure. During World War I many American soldiers trained in Florida, after the war's conclusion many of them found themselves wanting to go back, thus veterans were among the first wave of migrants. Furthermore, innovations like air conditioning made Florida attractive to large numbers of Americans, causing thousands to pour into the state in search of the paradise promised by the weather and booming economy.

The numbers present a clear picture of the enormity of this land boom. In 1910 the population of Miami was about 5,000, however by 1930 that number had swelled to over 110,000 people. The boom created new cities and towns with many small communities growing to be cities of thousands during this period. However, in the early to mid 1920s, the boom turned into a full-blown bubble. In Miami Millions, Kenneth Ballinger wrote in 1936 that “the coasts where pirates under Morgan and Lafitte once plied their evil trade sprouted such riches that in one place ocean-side developers actually abandoned a pirate chest they could feel with their dredges, to get on with the more remunerative work of building a subdivision to sell.” Speculation was so rampant, developers didn’t bother collecting pirate treasure because it would take too long to extract! At its height, the boom fueled speculation to such dizzying heights that in some cases properties were exchanging hands up to ten times a day. However, not all of this growth was lost on speculators; there were countless of tangible investments to be found in Florida’s infrastructure, for instance The Dixie Highway connecting Chicago to Miami was completed in 1927 and had a lasting impact on the state. The Dixie Highway was one of the many projects undertaken during the 1920s designed to modernize Florida. As stated in the Florida Handbook: “…[the] spending of inestimable sums by public and private agencies for improvements” allowed for continued growth in the state.

Unfortunately that growth was postponed. Just as the boom was beginning to slow, a devastating hurricane hit in 1926 and before the state could fully recover it was slammed with another hurricane in 1928. As if Mother Nature couldn’t summon enough misery, the market crash of 1929 and the depression that followed prevented Florida from fully recovering until the run up in industrial production immediately preceding World War II. Although the bursting of the real estate bubble coupled with the Great Depression robbed Florida of meaningful growth for almost 15 years, the benefits of the Florida Land Boom and the bubble it produced were lasting and the impact it had on shaping Florida’s future was significant. The boom resulted in an increasingly urbanized Florida, with infrastructure like highways, bridges and public works which were by-products of an increasing population and enhanced political clout. Perhaps even more important was Florida’s image within the rest of the United States. No longer was Florida a southern, colonial backwater state, instead, from the 1920s onward, Florida would forever be seen as a sun-kissed ocean playground, the tropical Jewel in the American crown.

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The Highway

One of the largest causes of this great migration to Florida was the accessibility of highways which middle-class families used to travel to Florida. In such a sense, highways such as the Dixie and Lincoln were primary contributors to the Florida Land Boom in that they allowed potential land buyers to travel quickly across the country and reach Florida while the land was still inexpensive. The first highway in Florida was built in 1911 connecting Jacksonville to Miami which ultimately established the first road that could take you from the northern part of Florida too its south. Prior to the action taken by the Federal government in 1916, highway building was mainly pushed for and funded by highway associations composed of different interest groups. In order to meet the requirements of the newly established Federal Roads Act in 1917, state highways funded by the government were starting to be created. The U.S. 90 opened in 1923 and connected Jacksonville to Lake City becoming the first concrete highway in the state. Soon after, in 1928 the Tamiami Trail connecting Miami to Fort Myers was completed, establishing a road that allowed tourists to see the everglades but also linked the west coast to the eat coast. One of the main aspects of this highway which appealed to investors was the idea of a “loop road” for tourists which would allow them to drive along both Florida coasts, which obviously provided motivation for countless tourists to move to Florida, thereby partly causing the land boom. Ultimately, this highway which had such a large impact on the land boom showed Florida’s reliance on private capital to provide public infrastructure.

In order to attract tourists from other states it was also important to develop highways that linked Florida with other states across the nation. In 1926, the U.S. 1 - Highway was completed which connected Florida to New York but also intersected with the Dixie Highway that connected Florida all the way to Chicago. This gave citizens living in the North-Eastern parts of the U.S. a valid form of access to Florida for vacation opportunity. By 1930 it was estimated that approximately 2.5 million tourists were arriving to Florida primarily by automobile and once inside Florida had access to over 3,800 miles of designated roads that could take them all over the state. In 1937 a tourist booklet by the name of Highways of Florida was put out by the Florida State Road department. The 1940’s saw a surge in tourism with the new highways that had been built making it easier to travel.

Real estate activity started gaining traction in Florida with the state’s ambitious land reclamation program of the Everglades along the southeastern coast of Florida, especially around Miami. This caused several national companies to acquire large parcels of property and extoll the virtues of the soil for agriculture, community building, or sites of future industry . The advertisement of them and others, such as Carl Fisher who installed a billboard in Times Square stating that it’s “June in Miami” during the winter created frenzy. Because of that, masses flocked to Florida to profit off of the potential riches there.

Media Portrayal of Florida

Aside from accessibility, another main cause of the influx of newcomers to Florida was the use of media to paint a picture of Florida as a “vision of paradise.” Media at the time, especially newspapers, wrote about the tropical setting that was Florida, with large advertisements in popular newspapers which discussed up and coming developments of Florida real estate. Many of these advertisements were accompanied by illustrations which romanticized the state and was very appealing to the average citizen who was looking for a warmer climate. This portrayal of Florida coincided heavily with the adventurous attitude of the Roaring Twenties in which the suddenly wealthy middle class was looking for excitement and a new environment. Carl Fisher and George Merrick were the prime developers for starting the land boom in Florida because their heavy promotion allowed lots to be quickly bought for potential development, whether for leisure or industry. Easy credit from low yields in high grade investments also made it easier to invest and get bonds earmarked for infrastructure; e.g. hotels, golf courses, buildings, factories . Because of that, it allowed Carl Fisher, George Merrick, and others to create planned communities with amenities to entice many to Florida. George Merrick’s planned community of Coral Gables is a prime example of this. With a $3 million advertisement budget and 3,000 salesmen across the country, as well as William Jennings Bryan to extoll Coral Gables, it easily gained buyers across the country.

File:William Jennings Bryan Florida.jpg

William Jennings Bryan in Coral Gables, Florida

People called Binder Boys also invested in buying the land to become rich quick by selling these lots as quick as they bought it. Binder Boys precipitated the peak of the land boom by buying the options of land parcels that had a payment due in thirty days or less, which was more than the cost itself. After buying the land parcels, they would get an ownership document and flip the document for a higher price. This process would repeat again and again, rapidly driving up land prices.

Despite the frenzy in Florida, it did not spur the economic development it was thought to. Most of the planned physical structures for industries and tourism from the bonds were mostly on paper, leaving majority of the lots empty. Coral Gables and others were empty, because the buyers bought the land unseen. These issues were compounded with the failure of Florida’s logistics, stalling development.

The "planned" Aladdin City

Collapse and Aftermath

During the mid-1920s, Florida’s property market was incredibly profitable and investors of all sizes raced to purchase and develop land as quickly as possible to accommodate for the rapid influx of families looking to move to the Sunshine State. While peaking in 1925, this rapid development began to stutter and eventually came to a screeching halt in the summer of 1926, with buildings to be found throughout Florida in various stages of incompletion. This rapid decrease in development of Florida real estate was caused by a lack of potential buyers since the price of land had risen to ludicrous amounts. It was also hampered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue decreeing the entirety of purchase price had to be reported as income creating problems because the huge profits were only on paper; sellers only gained a portion of it. In addition, Florida’s rail lines and Miami port became unable to handle construction supplies to Miami. Because of that, the rail lines declared an embargo on all shipments, except food and fuel, from August of 1925, lasting until the spring of 1926. The Port of Miami had several ships sit outside of the harbour because of a lack of docks or workers stalled port activities. These issues thereby increased the price of these building materials, making them more difficult to acquire.

All of this created bad publicity from outside of Florida. The news caused the Land Boom to bottom out in 1926. Florida was also hit by a hurricane and a smallpox epidemic in 1926. Destruction from the hurricane and state officials covering up smallpox destroyed Florida’s image of prosperity and future innovation. The severity of Florida’s economic destruction from the Land Boom is exemplified by the fact that Coral Gables was burdened by credit claims of $35 million in 1929. Ultimately, Florida was hit by the Great Depression sooner than other states since the real estate bubble, which had so heavily relied on credit from banks, subsequently burst and as a result banks began to fail, being unable to pay back their creditors.

Birth of Tourism

In modern day Florida, tourism is a large aspect of the state’s day to day affairs. The rise of tourism began before the second world war and exploded into a major industry in 1945. At the turn of the twentieth century, the state of Florida awakened to the idea of developing tourism as a prominent industry into their economy. With its year round tropical climate, and advances in transportation with the recent invention of the automobile, Florida became an ideal destination during the winter months for American people across the nation. It gained a reputation for being a playground for the rich and slowly began to sway away from its designation as a traditional “Southern” state. The term “snowbird” was developed as many northerners flocked to Florida during the winter months to get away from the cold. Resorts and hotels to attract the wealthy upper class began to open up across Florida in cities such as Pensacola and St. Petersburg. In these cities, locals began to see the wisdom of encouraging tourism as a way to increase further settlement and investment. Lavish resorts with Spanish, and Victorian themes began to appear creating established resort communities in these cities. Tourism has been present in Florida since the early 1920’s, however due to the depression few people could afford to travel resulting in the industry being rather small. By the 1920s America was experiencing a revolutionary wave of prosperity amongst lower and middle class workers as wages began to increase, and working hours began to decline. Being able to go on a vacation finally became an option for these workers, and Florida became an ideal location for them. These tourists became known as “tin-can tourists” a name given to them by natives due to the fact that these travellers would bring canned food with them. Unable to afford the lavish resorts that the upper class vacationed at, motels and campgrounds with running water were created to support these groups of tourists. This rising number of automotive tourists inspired many citizens living in Florida to venture into entrepreneurial businesses. Restaurants and gas stations were soon established beside motels and campgrounds. As these developments across the state began to grow so did the number of jobs. Between 1920 and 1930 it was estimated that the overall employment in Florida increased by more than 55 percent, and the total number of jobs in the tourism industry doubled.

With a rise in tourism, the minority group known as the Florida Seminole tribe became subjects to cultural exploitation. The Seminole tribe were a curiosity to most of the tourists who visited Florida as they had previously lived in secluded areas of the Florida Everglades. With the completion of the Tamiami Trail that attracted many tourists to the everglades, the Everglades National Park was established forcing the Seminole tribe to have to relocate and abide by new laws which prohibited hunting inside the everglades. The Seminoles realized that the only way to survive would be to join the tourism industry themselves. The Musa Isle Village and trading post was developed by the Seminoles which attracted many tourists due to its exotic nature. At this post tourists were presented to native Seminole rituals such as; dancing, clothing, and alligator wrestling.

Florida and the Second World War

Based off of its geographical location Florida became an ideal location for the United States to establish military bases here once they joined the war in 1941. One of the most important institutions that came about was Camp Gordon Johnston. When the base was first established the living conditions that the soldiers became exposed to were awful. Buildings were made of light wood and had no floors, which left to many soldiers to suffer from the cold. The inhabitants of the base had limited facilities, and were unable to visit populated cities such as Tallahassee due to a lack of transportation. Many soldiers where unpleasantly surprised when they arrived at the base, expecting palm trees and balmy weather. This was not the case, and one soldier even referred to the base as “Hell by the sea” when writing letters to home . However, as the institution progressed, it became one of the most important places for training in an aspect that would help the United States win the war. Amphibious training, which incorporated attack from sea on land, would ultimately find the Americans victorious when storming the beaches of Europe.

Soldiers in line for lunch at Camp Gordon Johnston

Although some American soldiers faced unfavorable conditions during the war, nothing could compare to the discrimination and social issues faced by African Americans. From the beginning of the 20th century, there was a ‘separate but equal’ mentality when it came to African Americans, and this became even more present during the war. Racial disorders accounted for ix civilian riots, twenty military riots and forty lynchings . White officers mistreated many black soldiers, and although it was thought to be separate but equal, there was no equality inside of the military bases. When Camp Gordon Johnston implemented more facilities including theaters and a library, they were only available to the white soldiers. When the possibility for to visit neighboring cities came about, black soldiers were only allowed to be transported after the white soldiers had their choice. On such visits to places like Tallahassee and Frenchtown, riots would occur between black soldiers and civilians, and on one occasion, a black soldier was shot and killed by a white civilian officer. This was one of the many events that eventually led to 250 black soldiers from Dale Mabry Field and Camp Gordon Johnston storming Frenchtown in a large riot. The aftermath of this event left black soldiers even fewer opportunities, as they were not allowed to leave the bases. The World War II era set the stage for a black revolution but it would take another 15 years before a true civil rights movement would happen in America. Until than the African Americans would continue to have to live in an unrealistic world of separate but equal.

World war two was an important time for the state of Florida. Many military training facilities were built. Turning out troops and making products for the war became Florida’s second largest industry next to tourism at the time. The attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 saw great changes in the tourism industry of Florida. The start of the second world war and the bombing of Pearl harbour increased the flow of tourists. Miami became a hotspot for tourists, earning the name “Magic City” in 1943. By the end of the second world war there was a growing Hispanic and Latino population. This would see tourism in a more broadened demographic which helped solidify Florida as a leader in the tourism industry.

Race Relations in the 1920s

The race relations that existed in Florida between African Americans and Whites was not strong in the 1920s. One of the prominent African American newspapers in the country described one of Florida’s biggest cities, Miami, as the “forbidden city.” This was evident as African Americans were forced to settle west of the railroad, in inland Florida away from the shoreline were white settlers and tourists would predominantly be. Furthermore, those African Americans living west of the railway were forced to endure unsanitary living conditions. As a result, they succumbed to disease more easily and the infant mortality rate doubled compared to that of the rest of Florida.

A case that portrays race relations in Florida during this time period is the Rosewood Massacre of 1923. Rosewood was a community that was located in Midwest Florida and was inhabited by both African American and White people. This event proves to be an example of race relations during this time as the property damage and riots that ensued during the Rosewood Massacre were sparked by racial conflict. The destruction of the community was described as a race riot and resulted in houses owned by African Americans to be burned to the ground and never repaired. The Rosewood Massacre resulted in the deaths of eight people, two of which were white and six African Americans. This event was also significant because it was the first time where Black people were compensated for injuries sparked by racism, although this would come much later in 1994.

Florida and the American Dream, 1945-present

Map of Florida Regions with Cities

Florida and the American Dream, 1945-Present

Introduction

After World War II, Florida evolved from a small, mostly white southeastern state into a multicultural hub of world culture and is home to one of America's most vibrant and influential cities: Miami. During this progression into present day, major elements of modern society developed to benefit the growing populations and many large institutions that were founded to prevent post-war depression. The return of soldiers from World War II intensified demands for housing in Florida; however, it resulted in the development of suburbs, urbanization, and the expansion of business and enterprises. Florida's urbanization and city growth attracted the arrival of Cuban refugees and provided Cubans with an opportunity to prosper economically and socially. However, Florida's large coastline provided the state with great successes but also several internal and external failures that counteracted positive development. Florida's location may have its downfalls but it has encouraged the development of space industry in the United States. Florida recovered from World War II and engaged in a period of economic optimism, multiculturalism, and discovery in order to achieve the American Dream.

2000 Presidential Election Controversy

The 2000 Presidential Election was one of the most controversial elections in United States History, because of the closeness between Republican leader George W. Bush and Democrat leader Al Gore, some calling it, “The worst election in American history”. In one of the most tightly contested presidential elections ever, Bush ended up winning Florida’s 25 electoral district by only 537 votes, and winning the election 271-266 in electoral votes. The controversy around the counting procedure was immense. Al Gore initially won the election, but after overseas absentee votes came in, this allowed Bush take the lead and win. A proportion of the voting was by punch cards, where votes had to push through a cut out hole beside the candidate of their choice. This created hanging chads, where the card was not fully pushed, and the votes did not count even though the voter’s intent was there. This was a major national issue at the time. The amount of media stories about the main issues of the election (Crime, Education) had a sharp decline because of the media coverage regarding the Florida’s results and controversy.

The topic of conducting recounts in counties with close vote counts between Gore and Bush was discussed, but this decision to include recounts is made by Florida’s Secretary of State. Katherine Harris, a Republican who was holding that position, did not accept many recounts in areas that were known to have more left wing voters, ultimately helping Bush seal the victory.

In Palm Beach County, there was issues over how their ballot was set up, misleading some voters into voting for Reform Party candidate Pat Bachanan instead of Al Gore. Comparing presidential election results from 1996, Buchanan number of votes received (3,407) in 2000 is an outlier. With an election this close, is it impossible to know how many of those votes were intended to be casted for Gore. Datavote (the tabulating machine that was used to count the punch cards) also had higher levels of ballots that were marked twice where the candidates’ names covered over two pages. This created a spoiled ballot in the system, with confused voters.

Some counties did have the precinct tabulation, which was a voting system that warned the voter before they casted their ballot if it was spoiled. This allowed voters a second chance on correcting their ballot if they did not realize that they had marked the ballot twice by accident. This tabulation process made for far less ambiguous ballots, and creating over 70,000 uncounted votes that were intended for Gore, and less than 25,000 for Bush. If the whole state of Florida used the precinct system, and gave the votes warning, both of those numbers could have gone down drastically. The results of this election procedure was a disaster for Florida. Over 57,000 votes who casted a ballot on Election Day had their intentions miscounted. This ultimately should have had a different result, with Gore having an election win taken away from him. After this election, Florida made precinct tabulation mandatory, and scrapped the punch voting process leaving no more hanging chads in the future.

Urban and Suburban American Dreams

Homeownership in Florida was a consistent federal issue pre-dating World War II. However, the rapid population growth following 1945 intensified the issue of homeownership. From 1950 to 1985, Florida's population grew by approximately 8 million. Florida's population growth created demand for the urbanization of land, encouraging land to be used more effectively. In this period, neighbourhoods in and around Florida's major cities grew as a result of the Federal Housing Administration and the National Housing Acts.

National Housing Acts

In 1934, the United States Congress formed the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). At the end of World War II, the FHA managed home financing and successfully reduced mortgage payments to less than 10%. The FHA supported the development of buildings without excessive government spending. In 1943, the National Resources Planning Board constructed outlines for cities to replace urban slums.

A 2008 census of Homeownership rates in the United States dating from 1960. Notice the significant rise from the postwar period and the sudden drop in the 1980s.

By 1945, America had a national housing shortage. Due to fears of postwar economic depression and to alleviate America's housing shortage, the National Housing Act (NHA) was passed in 1949. The policy intended to eliminate housing shortages, clear slums, and improve the welfare and security of the nation by providing suitable living accommodations for American families. However, the NHA led to the uprooting and relocation of poor families in order to build expensive, elegant condos for middle and upper-class Americans. The NHA failed to provide impoverished Americans with suitable living accommodations. The Housing Act of 1954 attempted to confront the inequality created by the previous Housing Act; however, many families were still displaced or discriminated against.

The Federal Housing Acts were unable to improve the housing shortages due to Florida's rapid population growth. In 1985, Florida passed the Growth Management Act (GMA), which required the state to manage its growth in order to protect local housing policies and urbanization accordingly. The state government was expected to provide more affordable housing and prevent an urban sprawl to protect the environment. Urban limitations restricted the growth among specific regions in Florida while some unoccupied land was urbanized. As a result, housing prices increased and negatively affected residents living in major Florida cities.

Miami, Florida

Miami was dramatically affected by the changes made from the Federal Housing Acts, along with the widespread emergence of real estate in the twentieth century. In the 1950s, real estate companies marketed property in Florida as a "piece of paradise." Florida's real estate success led to rising housing prices for many decades to come. In Miami, suburban building was symbolic of the American dream. In 1947, Congress passed and act that allowed landlords to raise rents by 15% which led to harsh conditions for tenants. As a result of rising rent, demand for home construction increased in Southern Florida as many "rent refugees" flooded inland looking for affordable housing. After 1947, Southern Florida had the highest home building rates in the country.

Celebration, Florida

A Downtown view of Celebration, Florida.

The town of Celebration, Florida is a community that was built in the 1990s by the Walt Disney Company and is a significant example of urban planning in the United States. The development was undertaken by Disney Board architects Robert A.M. Stern and Jacqueline Robertson. The layout included a central downtown, multi-family apartments, restaurants, shops, services, and a single-family suburb. In 1994, Celebration was available for residents and was expected to achieve a population of 12,000. Celebration's association with Disney has given the town national attention and has made it a popular tourist destination. Although the community also lacks local government, the town's character and appealing architecture was a popular approach in marketing urban communities in the last two decades.

During its production, the community was advertised across America in the hope that Celebration would be a racially diverse town. To prevent discrimination, a lottery was held for homes in Celebration to give American's equal opportunity to obtain a home. However, a 2000 census found that whites were over-represented in Celebration as 88% of the 2,376 residents were white. Despite Disney's attempts to create an ideal example of American dream living, its residents were jeopardized by Florida's history of suburban segregation.

Disney World

Walt Disney World.

Open in October 1971, Disney World as inspired by Walt Disney's imagination, became one of Florida's largest tourist attractions. From this, Orlando like many other cities during this period, grew rapidly and became the center of American ideals. Disney World was designed to mimic the ideal American society. In fact, Disney World functions much like a city, with many commonly found city structures; the main entry way of “Main Street, U.S.A,” is complete with a railroad station, a city hall, and a variety of shops and stores. During its initial construction stage and within the first ten years of operation, Disney World generated $6.6 billion in wealth to Florida's economy. This impact was felt in all parts of the state, primarily in terms of increased tourist volume, the creation of specific facilities and the hiring of service staff. In the first two years following its official open, Walt Disney World drew over 20 million visitors and had employed over 13,000 workers.

Service Operations

Disney World attempts to promote a front-stage view to the patrons by suppressing backstage information from public awareness. Front-stage workers are mostly young, white, college-age, well-groomed, polite, obedient workers and give the younger population an opportunity to work for the American Dream. The consistency of providing the American image for guests is crucial to the daily operations of service while demonstrating the ideological needs of people to enjoy their atmosphere and not being exposed to the high degree of labour being done. It is the image of enjoyable family experiences that contribute to how typical Americans were feeling in the postwar period, wanting a return to normalcy along with a higher quality of life.

Disney World simultaneously mirrors and contradicts the American economic system. It favours free enterprise everywhere except in its own parks. Disney World controls what will be sold, what services will be provided, when the trains will run, what employees wear, and how employees behave and act. Disney World manufactures experiences and creates images of realities for their visitors, greatly influencing perceptions of idealism in American culture.

Cuban Miami

Cuban Refugees Arriving into Florida, 1959-1980.

Between 1959 and 1985, approximately 500,000 Cuban refugees arrived in Miami, Florida. Cubans fled to Florida to avoid Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution which invoked a socio-economic system that nationalized industry and agriculture. In December of 1960, the federal government established the Cuban Refugee Emergency Center in Miami in order to cope with the influx of refugees. While most financial aid came from the U.S federal government, Florida’s State Department of Public Welfare along with Miami’s Jewish Family and Children’s Services located housing, jobs, and basic food supplies for refugees.

The Golden Exiles

The first wave of refugees were known as the Golden Exiles as it consisted of the Cuban elite. The Golden Exiles were highly educated, had entrepreneurial experience, and a strong work ethic which helped revamp Miami’s business sector. By 1977, there were more Cuban-owned businesses in Miami than the total of Miami businesses in 1959. Many Cuban professionals remained in Miami because the University of Miami offered certificate programs for Cuban teachers and administration. The University of Miami medical school also offered Cuban physicians an examination that allowed them to practise in Florida. While many Golden Exiles opened successful businesses in Miami, some were forced into menial jobs as custodians or parking valets in Florida’s hotel tourism trade.

Operation Pedro Pan

Through Operation Pedro Pan, approximately 14,048 children arrived in Miami between 1960 and 1962. Operation Pedro Pan was a response to rumours that Castro planned to send Cuban children to the Soviet Union to be indoctrinated. The American government assisted Cuban parents in sending their children to Miami shelters and foster homes. While it was intended that the children be reunited with family, many children did not reunite with their family for 20 years.

The Mariel Boatlift

Cuban refugees arriving in Florida during the Mariel Boatlift, 1980.

Cubans arrived into Miami steadily between 1970 and 1979 however, between April and September of 1980, approximately 124,000 unexpected refugees arrived on the South coast of Florida through the Mariel Boatlift. In April of 1980, Castro allowed his subjects to leave Cuba which resulted in an unexpected mass migration to Miami. Those that arrived during the Mariel Boatlift were stigmatized as “Marielitos” and unwelcome. Unlike prior waves of refugees to South Florida, the Marielitos were largely comprised of those Castro found "undesirable:" patients in mental institutions and prisoners. Approximately 50% of the Mariel Boatlift refugees remained in Miami which burdened Florida State government because by 1980, the federal government ended preferential treatment of Cubans. Thus, the Miami community was left to care for the incoming refugees. On May 6th, 1980, President Jimmy Carter declared a state of emergency in Florida and tent cities were built in the Orange Bowl Stadium to accommodate the thousands of homeless Cubans. The Marielitos were stigmatized as criminals and cited as a reason for an influx of crime in Florida during the 1980s.

The Cultures of Little Havana

Miami was an ideal destination for refugees because the Southern Florida peninsula is only 98 miles from Cuba and shares a climate similar to Cuba. Miami’s large Hispanic population attracted Cubans because English fluency was not necessary to succeed in Miami. Cuban refugees settled in the Riverside neighbourhood across from the Miami River and the Riverside community was renamed Little Havana as it began to resemble a Latin American urban landscape. Little Havana mirrored Cuba’s culture prior to Castro’s regime as the community celebrated traditional singers Celia Cruz and Olga Guillot. Traditional Cuban singers like Cruz and Guillot influenced Cuban-American singers like Gloria Estefan to dominate the late 20th century American music industry. With the arrival of Cubans, Miami became increasingly more bilingual which encouraged Miami’s services to be conducted in Spanish, offering Spanish-speaking community members employment opportunities. Miami’s bilingualism also attracted international businesses and by the 1990s, 330 multinational companies, 29 binational chambers of commerce, and 49 consulates were established in Miami.

Cuban Political Influence

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Cuban-American Congress Member

Cuban-Miami’s business-focus encourages the state to support Republicanism as the Party tends to support capitalist interests. Republicanism dominance began after the Democratic failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. After the invasion, Cuban-Miami was disappointed in President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Party because their invasion was a devastating defeat for anti-Castro Cubans. Since the Bay of Pigs, Republicans prospered in the region and continuously defend Cuban embargoes and anti-Castro policy. In 1988, the community elected Ileana Ros-Lehtinen as the first Cuban American into the House of Representatives. Ros-Lehtinen is notorious for her anti-Castro politics and was engaged in controversy after she called for Fidel Castro’s assassination.

Cuban and African-American Relations

The Cuban community’s integration into Florida fostered further tensions among Miami’s African-American community. African-Americans were frustrated that Cubans received more governmental aid than African-Americans even though the refugees were not citizens. African-Americans were segregated while Cubans were integrated into Miami’s business and social scene which created more competition in the labour markets according to African-Americans. Racial tensions fuelled social unrest which led to social upheaval in the 1980s.

The American Space Industry

Apollo 11 Launch from The Kennedy Space Centre. July 16, 1969

Early involvement with space and increasing development in infrastructure has led Florida to become a world leader in space exploration and the space industry. Florida ranks among the top five states for aerospace employment at 132,000 in 2011. Housing more than 11,000 aerospace companies, Florida is the modern world’s cradle for space exploration and development. This reputation is fueled by Space Florida’s Customer Assistance Service Program, which provides operations funding and employment support for commercial aerospace exploration and research companies such as SpaceX. Space Florida is an aerospace economic development agency designed to assist in various aspects of commercialized aerospace efforts to commercial companies involved with aerospace and the space industry.

Modernization

Paired with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) 2011 budget of $2 billion for renovation and modernization of the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida aims to continue its efforts as a birthplace for hundreds of space exploration initiatives. This renovation sets to offer state of the art facilities and support for public companies to create and operate their own space exploration programs without the heavy individual investment in structures, technology and maintenance that is required in this industry. Lowering this barrier to entry yields an increase in company's research and development budgets, and allows those who are interested to more affordably enter the aerospace industry.

Florida's Space Coast

The Space Coast

Florida is home to the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on its “Space Coast", on the east coast of Florida, near the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Kennedy Space Centre was named after the United States' president of the time, John F. Kennedy, who set a goal on May 25, 1961, to land on the moon and return to Earth by the end of the decade. The center is responsible for the preparation of vehicles for launch, for final astronaut training, for preparation for emergency revere, and for the destruction of aborting manned vehicles. This location has been the launching location of all manned NASA space shuttle launches since its inception in 1962. Famous for the launch of the first moon landing mission, Apollo 11, the Kennedy Space Centre is home to many rocket launches due mostly to its modern infrastructure and ideal location.

Apollo 11

On the 16th of July 1969 over 750,000 people watched the launch of Apollo 11 take place and 9:32 am. The crew consisted of Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins. One spectator said that it was the beginning of a new era in the life of man. Many stood in awe at the sight before them, some applauded, but many knew that change was about to happen. Just four days later on July 20th, 1969, close to 530 million people watched on television as Neil Armstrong became the first man to take a step on the moon, stating "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” With only a short amount of time to stay on the moon, just twelve hours, Aldrin and Armstrong were to spend two hours and forty minutes on the surface, collecting dirt and rock samples to bring back for analysis. On July 24, 1969 at 12:50 p.m. Apollo 11 safely landed in the Pacific Ocean.

In 2014 a panel of discussion was held for employees at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre where the Apollo 11 crew spoke of their mission and the time following. The crew all stated what they thought was the key to their success which was as follows: meeting a challenge even though many thought it could not be done; the budget, the deadline and the quality of work NASA put in; smart, young people dedicated to the team. As well, all three crewmembers traveled around the globe following the mission and Collins reported that the reaction of some people was unexpected. He stated “The thing that really surprised me was that everywhere we went people didn't say, 'Well you Americans finally did it…they said, 'We did it.' All of us together, we did it. It was a wonderful sensation.”

Expansion

Following President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing man on the moon, increased expansion of launch operations was required. The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was chosen by the United States government for its favourable weather and isolation from the public for the launching of spacecraft. Transportation to and from the Cape is achieved via road, railway and water, and its close proximity to the equator allows for accurate launch planning through a more predictable rotation of the earth. This station is used by both government and commercial companies to launch and test spacecraft for research and exploration. Companies such as Boeing, SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Blue Origin utilize the facility to launch and test their projects.

Space Industry Influence

Florida’s main infrastructure has been moulded around the space industry. In 1958, the Brevard Engineering College was opened in Melbourne to provide classes for NASA workers. This college later became the Florida Institute of Technology in the late 1960s. Later, due to modified Florida legislature, the state’s education system evolved to heavily incorporate sciences and mathematics into the curriculum from kindergarten to grade 12. The Space Research Foundation was founded in 1983 to effectively collect and combine both university and college resources to better interact with the booming aerospace industry. This resulted in a 150% increase in Florida engineers who are trained for employment in aerospace efforts. Further development of legislation allowed for the passing of aggressive tax incentive packages to increase Florida’s ability to both attract and maintain aerospace business. Taking advantage of facility re-usability, Florida is able to apply its existing infrastructure in a modern context to increase the financial feasibility of projects in the future. Working closely with NASA and the Air Force, Space Florida is able to establish efficient operations on its “Space Coast” to provide world-class assistance to potential future customers in the space industry. Florida's space industry has also sparked space tourism in the state and space-buffs from all over the world continue to visit Florida for its relevance to modern space exploration.

Aerial View of Air Force Row at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, November 16, 1964
Shuttle Atlantis on The NASA Crawler (August 2, 2006)
Buzz Aldrin Walks on the Moon (July 20, 1969)

The Drug Trade

The trade route for drug exports into Miami, Florida.

In the 1980s, Florida's drug-trade grew exponentially, creating a major drug-issue in the United States. Florida's close proximity to Cuba, Columbia, and the Caribbean has made Florida an ideal location for the importation and exportation of drugs into the United States. Also, Florida's large coastline made Florida an attractive location for drug-trafficking because it is difficult for border police to patrol the entire coast. The inability to patrol the entire coast makes importation and exportation of cocaine easier for drug-traffickers. By the beginning of 1981, federal officials estimated that 70% of all cocaine and marijuana smuggled into the United States passed through the Miami area. Due to a high-concentration of drugs, Miami was labeled the drug capital of cocaine and marijuana in the 1980s.

Cocaine Cowboys

The 2006 documentary, Cocaine Cowboys, illustrates Miami's participation in the cocaine drug-trade during the 1970s and 1980s. The film follows Jon Roberts and Mickey Munday, two notorious Miami drug-traffickers. The film reflects Miami's violence, cocaine trafficking and the influence of Pablo Escobar's Colombian Medellín Cartel in Florida.

Major Players in Cocaine

Griselda Blanco, also known as the Black Widow, Godmother, or Queen Pin, was a notorious and violent cocaine distributor in Colombia and Miami during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1970s, Blanco turned Miami into the narcotics and cocaine capital of America through establishing trafficking-routes between Colombia and the US. Blanco was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2012.

The Medellin Cartel in Colombia was one of the most famous cartels. In a series of systematic and extremely violent moves, the cartel and its enigmatic leader Pablo Escobar became a legitimate force in the economy and politics of Colombia. Notoriously violent, Escobar is best known for assassinating a presidential candidate and organizing the explosion of a passenger airliner mid-flight. Escobar also wielded an unprecedented amount of political sway in Colombia (in part due to his penchant of murdering any political figure who spoke out against him) which allowed him incredible protection from the police, rival cartels and international organizations seeking his arrest. In 1989, Forbes Magazine valued Escobar’s worth at $2.5 billion, making him the seventh richest man in the world. Escobar was killed in 1993 as part of an international effort that relied on assistance from Escobar's direct competitor, the Cali Cartel. In 1991, the Cali Cartel produced 70% of the cocaine reaching U.S. soil and 80% of all cocaine exported from Colombia. They have been referred to as the most sophisticated gang in the world by using political influence and legitimate business ventures.

Andean Cocaine

Cocaine's Impact on Florida's Economy

Florida’s drug-trade attracts Colombian and Caribbean traffickers into the state which as a result, encourages foreign drug-traffickers to spend money within the state. However, Florida’s drug-trade has contributed to money laundering of cocaine-related income. Money laundering was centered in Miami likely due to the ineffectiveness of Florida’s police. As a result of the drug-trade, Florida spends more on federal law enforcement expenditures related to cocaine-related crime than any other American state. As a result of the cocaine industry, the state of Florida's GDP nearly doubled.

Miami police logo

Miami Vice

In the 1970s, concern over immorality arose with the increased use of cocaine and the growing debate surrounding decriminalization of some illicit substances. The vice unit, which was a police division that repressed moral crimes like drug-use, was expected to eliminate Florida's drug-use and diminish Florida's "vices." However, corruption in the police force allowed large quantities of cocaine to be distributed in Florida. There have been numerous cases in which Florida police forces have accepted bribes that allowed the continuation of drug-trafficking. The Miami River Cops Case was a notorious case of police corruption in which 200 of 1060 Miami police officers were investigated. It was discovered that Miami police officers raided a boat that contained millions of dollars worth of cocaine and stole the cocaine while the drug-traffickers jumped overboard.

Forms of Prevention

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the American government worked actively to end the importation and exportation of drugs into Florida. In the 1990's, the United States doubled the size of its border patrol, and then doubled its border patrol again in the 2000s. The United States incarcerated more criminals for drug-related offences than any other nation. In 1989, there were 85,525 arrests for possession and trafficking illicit substance and drug paraphernalia in the United States. However, the United State's prison system was unable to accommodate the influx of inmates. Due to the limited number of prison beds, some inmates were released prior to their release date in order to make room for a new inmate. In 1988, the average Florida prisoner served only 41% of their sentence, compared to 33% in 1989. Lenient sentences were problematic because they did not deter Florida's drug trade.

The "Sunshine State" in Popular Culture, 1865-present

Introduction

Florida State Seal

Home to sunshine, beaches, oranges and Mickey Mouse, the "Sunshine State" has become a popular image in American culture. From its early days of statehood, tourism and vacationing have been incredibly popular industries in Florida. While Florida's earliest tourism attractions were more primitive, such as sport hunting and fishing, the state's tourism industry diversified over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to include major attractions like Disney World. Outside the realm of tourism, Florida also has a strong sporting culture. The state is home to many sports teams at both professional and college levels, while hosting Major League Baseball's Grapefruit League. Another claim to fame for the "Sunshine State" is its identity as the retirement paradise, as many seniors chose to spend the golden years here. Moreover, Florida has a strong influence in the film industry. This chapter is dedicated to examining these elements, as well as others, that have made Florida a staple in the United States and world popular culture.

Vacation in Florida

Welcome To Daytona Beach

Florida’s climate, entertainment, and recreational opportunities offer a uniquely exotic and romantic way of life. This fantasy lifestyle is the main pull factor making Florida a primary destination for a tropical escape. In the early twentieth century, Florida boasted approximately 1.5 million visitors each year. In the 1940's, Seagrove Beach was a popular and semi-isolated family place to unwind, relax, swim, and fish. A sudden increase in popularity is seen after the state built Highway 30-A in the 1970's, as it created convenience and ease of access. In the mid-1980's, Seaside Beach became popular and was quite successful as it was designed to free people of the modern urban life. Florida’s tourism and vacationing greatly benefited from the post-World War II boom and from the prosperity and promise of the 1950's.

Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach Bike Week, 2008

Located along the East coast line of Florida, with over twenty three miles of white sand beaches and clear blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Daytona Beach is one of the most popular vacation destinations in Florida. John D. Rockefeller created the character of Daytona Beach in the late 1800's which is still thriving today. The beach offers a unique history, cultural activities, coastal pleasures, and adventure. Activities such as golfing, sailing, surfboarding, parasailing, and deep sea fishing are regularly offered. At the turn of the twentieth century, Daytona Beach became most well-known for famous automobile racing along its beaches. Today, it is known as the home of the Daytona International Speedway, home of the Daytona 500 stock car races. (See section on culturally significant sporting.) Daytona Beach is also the home of "Daytona Beach Bike Week", one of the United States' largest motorcycle events. First held in the late 1930s, Daytona Beach Bike Week attacks hundreds of thousands of patrons each year.

Disney in Florida

Disney's Construction and Impact

Walt Disney World Resort Logo

Florida's Walt Disney World is a prominent cultural icon for America and is often referred to as the popular culture capital of the world. Based on his dream of an idealistic utopia, Walt Disney built Disneyland in California in 1955. Not long after suffered a major setback when there was limited room for expansion. Walt and his brother Roy turned to the area surrounding Orlando, Florida as a strategic location to build their new park because of the cheap land prices, freeway proximity, and potential for millions of customers from east of the Mississippi River. In October 1965, the park was officially announced and Disney’s Imagineers quickly began constructing Walt’s dream. Although the park’s namesake died in late 1966, construction continued. After years of diligent work, Walt Disney World officially opened on October 23, 1971. Within its first year, the Florida park far outdistanced its Californian predecessor, claiming a total of 10,712,991 visitors and grossing over $139 million. Dependent on the season, Disney World employs between 8,000 and 15,000 individuals which, when added to daily visitor population, can amount to over 80,000 people within the park at any given time.

The construction and opening of Walt Disney World had a tremendous influence and catalytic effect on Central Florida. As the most expensive tourist destination ever built and the most widely publicized business venture in history, the Disney project has been deemed the most important economic event in Florida’s history. In the years following Disney World’s unveiling, land prices tripled, jobs far outnumbered available labourers, and Florida’s population skyrocketed. Tourists were drawn from the furthest corners of the country, and the world. This lead to an exponential boom in Florida’s tourism industry. Some of the main destinations that benefited were Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Tampa, while facilitating the construction and expansion of sights like the Kennedy Space Centre and Busch Gardens. Disney World itself emerged as a touristic phenomenon with its packaged vacations and ideas of a self-contained “total destination” resort, providing both convenience and entertainment to its guests.

Cultural Significance

Cinderella's Castle, Magic Kingdom

Mickey Mouse has been a cultural icon since the 1930's. Walt Disney World greatly expanded the influence of Disney in American popular culture. In the fabrication of his many worlds, including Magic Kingdom, Tomorrowland, and Fantasyland. Walt Disney was able to gauge common values and desires to influence Americans on a massive scale. Main Street USA, which welcomes guests into the park, recreates a typical turn of the century American Main Street that taps into American nostalgia and a desire to return to one’s own childhood and the childhood of the nation. Likewise, Tomorrowland embodies American dreams and desires for a brighter tomorrow. Cinderella’s storybook castle acts as the magnet of the entire park emphasizing the public’s longing for Walt’s fantastical utopia and a society much different from their own. In this way, Disney selects parts of the American experience and disseminates them in ways that are easy to understand, creating a symbol of American culture and commonality among Americans.

By creating a common culture, the Disney brand is able to promote the consumer and commercial cultures that are so central to the American ethos. Consumerism in the United States has reached unprecedented levels since the end of World War II as a result of increased leisure time and middle class influence, conveniently allowing Walt to expand his brand and influence in American popular culture. As time has progressed, the Disney brand had done nothing but increased in scope, size, and diversity. New Disney films and products are released annually allowing Disney to become an integral part of American childhoods and experiences. Within Florida, Walt Disney World has continuously expanded adding new parks like Animal Kingdom and constructing iconic landmarks like the Disney Monorail to enhance visitor experience.

Theme Parks in Florida

Universal Studios in Orlando

Since their emergence in Europe during the early 1500's, theme parks have remained an iconic image in American culture from the countries very beginning. Serving as a place of entertainment for the entire family to enjoy, amusement parks and theme parks alike have sprouted up across the nation since the early 1850's. Although these parks may be found in various locations across the nation, Central Florida has evolved into the hub for all things amusement.

Walt Disney World was innovative and like nothing before it, millions of people began to flock here quickly propelling the park onto the global stage. By the late 1980's Walt Disney World led all amusement parks in attendance, attracting visitors from across the globe. This shakeup brought in all sorts of new people. With this the image of culture of Central Florida began to suddenly evolve and change. Prior to Disney’s expansion Central Florida was predominantly home to many retired senior citizens. Since then, the region has been called home for a short time by hundreds of millions of tourists who have quickly taken over the surrounding industries.

Walt Disney World was able to successfully introduce a new culture to the region, causing the growth of that niche market and inspiring competitors like Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Universal Studios. These secondary competitors helped to ingrain and solidify the new culture that Walt Disney introduced. Executives at other entertainment companies were noticing the growing popularity of Walt Disney World, and began expand operations into this unique market. Having already been established since the 1950's, executives at Anheuser Busch realized they would be ruined if they did not expand their operations as well. Slowly adding to the growing thrill seeking culture, Busch Gardens also began to install thrill rides in their park in order to directly compete with Disney throughout the 1970's. Soon after, Sea World Orlando was opened for business in December of 1973, giving people yet another alternative to the already popular Disney World. As the entertainment and thrill seeking culture was seeing continued growth across the globe throughout the late 1980's. Universal Entertainment had a plan in the works that would enshrine the Central Florida region as one of the greatest family vacation spots in the world. By tapping into a niche market of extreme adrenaline junkies in 1990, Universal was able to successfully scale up operations, and has consistently placed second in global attendance ever since. Unlike its competitors Universal Entertainment was able to successfully target a different segment of the market, allowing the entire industry to evolve technologically as a whole into the new age. Although these parks continue to remain successful, they will forever be indebted to Walt Disney’s original vision that introduced an entirely new culture to the world.

The Elderly in Florida

The Retirement State

Elderly Man Playing Shuffleboard in Florida Retirement Community

Florida has long been unofficially deemed the “Retirement State”. This cozy spot on the Sunshine Belt is home to a vast array of seniors who are looking to live out their days in this worldly paradise, before passing on to the next. Florida provides the elderly with the greatest opportunity to live life to the fullest. A large pull factor is that it is often a place that these individuals vacationed in their youth. The static weather in Florida is incredibly attractive to seniors because one of the biggest hassles that they face is the maintenance of their dwellings. Slush, sleet, snow and falling leaves clogging up eaves-troughs become worries of the past as Florida has an average temperature of 22*C. In an interview, an elderly man summed up the appeal of Florida for himself and countless others when he said “In New York, I had cold, work, crime, and noise. Here, I have everything good”. A generation that is known for having sacrificed their own needs in the pursuit of bettering their children's lives is finally able to put themselves first. One way of doing this is to exploit the variety of activities that the constant warm weather allows. For example, residents may swim in beautiful pools, play bocce ball, or engage in a round of shuffle board. Many retirement homes offer less strenuous physical activity and replace it with cerebral acrobatics such as language classes. A popular language that is taught in these communities is Yiddish due to the large Jewish population. Events to occupy one’s time not only take place on the grounds of the community but also outside of it. Newspapers advertise breakfast and lunch specials that are specially catered to the senior’s preference and schedules. As a retirement state, Florida attracts many people from outside of the state especially in the northern United States and Canada.

Demographic Impacts

Florida Age Distribution, 2000 Census

Florida's population distribution is unique in that it includes a majority that is elderly. This demographic is unique because it challenges a major societal stereotype. This generalization is that the use of alcohol decreases as your age increases. However, in Florida, this is not the case. Senior Floridians boast the highest amount of risky drinking which is identified as 10 or more drinks in a week and or five or more drinks in a single sitting. When contrasting the amount of risky drinking done by the elderly in Florida to the rest of the country one finds that 24.1% versus 21.8%. Moreover, another social problem that is encountered by a certain section of this demographic is a lack of inclusiveness. This specific section is also referred to as the “snow birds”. A snow bird is a person who spends a significant amount of time living “up north” each year. When moving from one locus to another and back it is hard to maintain lasting relationships. Seniors are noted for being especially set in their ways. This is evident when one is organizing a weekly card night or golf game. During this process snow birds are commonly over looked. Another boundary that the aging population in retirement communities of Florida faces is that of transportation. The choice of many elders is to rely on their family and friends for rides to and from destinations. This often makes the seniors feel like a burden when asking for a ride, so only essential trips make the cut when querying for availability. An attempt to remedy this problem has been made by communities by providing a personal shuttle to and from shopping centers. The senior migration movement in Florida is still relatively young in the scheme of the state’s history. Hopefully these various barriers can be remedied.

Sports in Florida

Major Professional Sports

Sports Teams by State

Sports have always played a prominent role in the popular culture of Florida, both for residents of the State and visiting tourists. Although collegiate sports remain more popular, Florida has also produced a number of professional sports franchises across the 'Big Four' North American sports; this includes football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Currently, Florida is home to nine professional sports teams, the first of which was the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), established in 1966. The team was initially a member of the American Football League, a competitor of the NFL, before moving to the NFL in the 1970 during the AFL/NFL merger. Despite being the only major team in Florida at the time, the Dolphins were able to make history, becoming the first and only team in NFL history to go undefeated throughout an entire season. The 1972 Dolphins outscored opponents 440-209, on route to winning Super Bowl VII. By the 1980's, the major professional leagues of North America, the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) had yet to expand to Florida to any great extent.

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, professional franchises expanded into Florida. In one decade, Florida gained seven franchises and, as a result, became the home of a number of other champion professional sport teams. The Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins) won the World Series in 1997, just four years after being established as a Major League Baseball franchise in 1993, along with NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and NHL's Florida Panthers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also of the NFL, won the Super Bowl in 2002. The Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League won the 2004 Stanley Cup after entering the league as an expansion franchise in 1992. In 1988 and 1989, the NBA placed two expansion teams in Florida. The three time NBA champions, Miami Heat (2006, 2012, 2013) in 1988, became Florida’s first NBA team. Located in downtown Miami, the Heat are in a prime location to attract thousands of fans to their games. The following year, 1989, the State was granted its second NBA team, the Orlando Magic. The Magic had strong fan support in their first seasons, however, an aging arena and lackluster talent into the 2000's resulted in falling attendance numbers, which continue to be an issue for the franchise today, as mentioned by Michael A. Mitrook. In 1993, the Florida Panthers joined the NHL, David Whitson discussed how the Panthers lack the success and fan base of the Lightning, rendering them as one of the least attended teams in the league. The last franchise to come to Florida would be the MLB’s, Tampa Bay Rays in 1998. In total, the professional franchises in Florida have combined to win a total of nine championship trophies, and at least one in every of the "Big Four" American sports.

The Grapefruit League

Grapefruit League Spring Training Venue

Arguably, Florida’s greatest tie to professional sports is the Grapefruit League. Located in cities across the "Sunshine State", the Grapefruit League is home to the Major League Baseball spring training, currently hosting the pre-season training of fifteen MLB teams. The Grapefruit League began in 1888, long before a major league was established in Florida. Studies by the Florida Sports Foundation estimate that spring training produces more than $500 million in revenues annually. Thousands of tourists and fans plan vacations to Florida yearly to watch their favourite athletes play, with a total game attendance of over 1.7 million in 2015.

College Sports

Florida Gators Logo

Florida sports were traditionally dominated by college athletics. Two of the most popular teams are the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Florida Gators. Football being the sport of choice for most Floridians and each year, both teams attract roughly 80,000 people per home game. Florida’s loyalty is divided over the two teams but the common theme is that the team has become part of the identity of the fans. Both teams play in separate conferences in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and each year manage to have a powerful football program. The University of Florida pays homage to the symbolic alligator, while Florida State uses that of the Seminole. The name was chosen by students in 1947 and is officially sanctioned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.^[1]

Culturally Significant Sporting

Daytona 500, 2008

In the second half of the nineteenth century, as the railroad came to Florida, it became known as a sportsman’s paradise, as discussed by Larry Youngs. Florida had many exotic species such as alligators, sharks and various birds, which were unknown to the North. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many sportsmen came to the State to hunt. Unfortunately, this resulted in the major disruption of the ecosystem, as well as destruction of the animal species populations in Florida, which the State still deals with today.

In 1895, golf, a sport Florida is nationally renowned for, was first played in the northern parts of the United States. Migration south brought the game along, turning it into a year round sport, as discussed by Gary Ross Mormino. In the twentieth century, golf began to boom in Florida. First, courses were built for resorts, then, to housing developments in the State. By the year 2000, Florida had over one thousand golf courses. These factors allowed Florida to become one of the most popular golf destinations in North America. Due to its high concentration of golf courses it should be of no surprise that Florida has bred some of the top golfers on both the men's and women's Professional Golf Association Tour, like Matt Kuchar, Lexi Thompson and two time masters champion, Bubba Watson.

One of Florida’s most acclaimed sporting heritage is in that of motor sport, which is discussed extensively by Steve Glassman. Florida is home to the oldest race track in the United States, Sebring Race Way. Each year the race hosts what is perhaps the biggest race of the NASCAR season, the Daytona 500. The race first ran modestly in the 1950's, however, today NASCAR is the second highest rated spectator sport in the United States. Each February the State attracts over two hundred thousand fans flocking to Daytona International Speedway to watch the premier race of the season. The Daytona 500 each year features some of the best racers NASCAR has to offer, and each year is a new spectacle, however no race may trump the tragedy that was the 2001 running of the Dayton 500. It was in this year that a name synonymous with the sport of racing was killed. Dale Earnhardt was involved involved in a crash during the final lap which causing sever head trauma to Earnhardt, who refused to wear the restrictive helmet straps that may have significantly reduced the trauma. The race is now known as Black Sunday in the NASCAR community.

Gaming Industry

Greyhound Racing Track

Along with its collegiate and professional sport franchises, Florida also boasts a long history in the gaming industry. In the 1920's horse racing and dog racing became an integral part of the 'Golden Age' of sports and was attributed to the rapid increase of discretionary income associated with the economic boom of the period. The oldest greyhound track in the United States, Derby Lane, opened in 1927 and is located in St. Petersburg, Florida and the Miami Jockey Club opened Hialeah, the first thoroughbred horse racing track in Florida in 1925. The legalization of horse racing and dog racing in 1931 was a result of the economic need created by the Great Depression and the land boom of 1924-25. As part of the pari-mutuel industry horse racing and dog racing contributed to the $1,968,649.30 of the industry’s revenues by the end of 1939. By 1949, revenues had an increase of 1176.9% from when the sport began in 1931-32.

Jai Alai Fronton in Miami

In 1935, Jai alai was added to the list of legalized pari-mutuel events. This ball game came to Cuba from Spain in 1898 and from Cuba it was successfully introduced to Miami, Florida as a professional sport in 1926. Jai Alia’s addition to sport betting created quinella, perfecta, exacta and trifecta bets. To this day Florida has more Jai alia playing courts, known as frontons, then any other country. Together with Jai alia, horseracing and dog racing the pari-mutuel industry has created a sustainable source of entertainment and income for Florida that continues today. The industry has expanded from six dog tracks and three horse tracks in 1931 to eighteen dog tracks, seven Jai alia frontons, five thoroughbred tracks and one harness track in 2004. The pari-mutuel industry continued to grow and flourish up until the 1980s, when it experienced it first decline in patron attendance and revenues, a trend that continues today. This decline can be attributed to the increase in competition from the State lottery, slot machines and casinos.

Oranges in Florida

History of Orange Production and Usage

Florida: The Land of Sunshine, Oranges, and Health by the Belmore Florida Land Company in 1885. To see full document, visit: https://archive.org/details/floridalandofsun00belm

When one thinks of Florida, oranges may immediately come to mind. There are some more prominent Floridian symbols, such as Disney, but citrus production has been well-known for many years. In 1966, Florida was producing approximately ¼ of the world's orange crop. The fruit plays a key role in the history of the State because of the success Florida claims within the industry. Florida is well-suited for growing oranges due to its warm climate and the heavy amounts of rainfall it receives. The birth of the orange tree in Florida occurred after Ponce de Léon arrived in the area in 1513. De Léon and his crew had brought seeds with them from Spain and spread them everywhere they went in the New World. Native Americans expanded the growth of orange trees even further inland from the Spanish colonies by bringing seeds back to their homes as well. After Florida became a territory of the United States in 1821, the orange business started to grow in areas such as St. Augustine and the St. Johns River. Around 1835, oranges along the Indian River made Florida groves a worldwide hit.

Orange production began to have a significant influence on the State after the Disston Purchase in 1881, in which Hamilton Disston bought four million acres of land in Florida and re-sold much of it to land prospecting companies. These organizations began to use the success of the orange business to attract buyers. An example of this kind of advertising is a booklet made by the Belmore Florida Land Company in 1885 (see image on right). Its purpose was to convince settlers to come to Florida. A majority of the information it contains refers to orange production, strongly emphasizing the large income that orange farmers were making. The Belmore Florida Land Company made Florida look quite attractive when it portrayed orange production with descriptive and engaging language, for example: “the aesthetic cultivator becomes a true lover of his sweet and beautiful pet… when this beauty is accompanied with useful, golden, and gold-bearing fruit, affording a living and promising all other material luxuries, then the lover appreciates his grove only less than he does his wife…”. These sorts of advertisements influenced new settlers to immigrate to Florida and expand the industry.

Oranges continued their fame in Florida with the invention of frozen orange juice concentrate. Canned orange juice had been around since the early 1900s, but people did not overly enjoy the flavour, as it was said the production process tainted its original taste. Frozen concentrate on the other hand, was a huge success. During World War II, scientists in Florida came up with the idea when they were trying to figure out ways to ensure American soldiers were getting the vitamins they needed while out on the battlefield. The recipe was not successful until after the war, but consumers still went crazy for it.

Oranges and Tourism

Florida Oranges

Oranges became a symbol for Florida due to the tourism pull that they created for business purposes. In the first half of the twentieth century, fresh oranges and orange juice stands lined the highways of Florida and became quite popular for travelers. Unfortunately, as time has passed, Florida has become less well-known for its capital on oranges. Overall, the State is producing less than it used to. Until the 1980's, Florida was the leading international producer of orange juice, which changed due to a series of atypical winters causing frost damage to a large amount of orange trees. Today, Brazil has taken the reigns as the world leader in orange production, which can be largely attributed to the lost costs of available labour. Another theory on Florida's decline in orange production is attributed to the new tourist attractions in State. While this chapter lists the positive changes that Disney World brought to the State, there were also many negative side effects from the theme park opening in 1971, as well as the creation of SeaWorld in 1973. Citrus growers and other farmers sold their land to developers due to the huge boom in tourism that resulted from these theme parks. Even still, the orange became a symbol of the State itself and today represents its abundance, “golden” atmosphere, warmth, beauty, and vitality.

Film in Florida

Follow That Dream Premiere

History of Floridian Films

While Hollywood, California is the major center of film culture in the United States, Florida has been given the name of “Hollywood East” and is considered another major center of film. Florida’s film industry has been part of its culture for over half of a century and has managed to showcase Florida’s cites as well as its natural beauty. As a result, the film industry generates millions of dollars each year for the State. Whether it be a feature film, a television series, or a commercial, film productions help to show of the prestige of the State to the world. In the late 1930's, the Florida State government published Florida, A Guide to the Southern Most State, which was made to help bring business to Florida. The film industry became heavily interested in Florida due to its vivid scenery and potential for movie sets. During this time, two films, Seminole and Distant Drums, were set in Florida and played off of the Native American roots of the region. It would be during the 1950s that the film business in Florida would explode, as actors, producers, and film crews flocked to the State, making it a major centre for film and the new television industry. During this time, popular films like Follow That Dream, starring Elvis Presley, and arguably the best instalment of the James Bond series, Goldfinger, were filmed in Florida. In the 1980's, Florida would be the setting for the Bill Murray cult classic Caddyshack and the instant hit Scarface. Into the twenty first century, Florida continues to be a major center of the film industry, valued at over thirty billion dollars in 2007. Notably, the industry has had major trickle down impact on the States restaurants, hotels, and tourism.

Recent Films in Florida

Iron Man 3

Marley & Me

The following is a list of recent movies that have been filmed or created in Florida:

Tomorrowland (2015)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Pain and Gain (2013)
Magic Mike (2012)
Marley and Me (2008)
Sydney White (2007)
Miami Vice (2006)
Red Eye (2005)
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

References

↑ https://www.fsu.edu/news/2005/06/17/seminole.support/

History of Florida/Printable version

Introduction

Overview of Florida

Historical Overview

Early Beginnings

Overview of Historical Injustice in Florida

Early Economic Growth

Florida's Modern Tourism Industry

Native American and Colonial “Florida," 1497-1821

Native American and Colonial “Florida,” 1497-1821

Introduction

Pre-Seminole Indigenous Peoples of Florida (1497-1760)

The Calusa

The Timucua

The Apalachee

Origins of the Seminole People (1760)

European Interactions in Florida (1497-1821)

The Spanish in Florida

The French in Florida

The British in Florida

The War of 1812

Natives and the War

Britain and the War

Florida and the War

The Outcome of the War

The First Seminole War

Origins of the War

The War and Imperial Relations

After the War

Further Reading

Antebellum Florida: Territory to Statehood, 1821-1861

Slavery in Florida, 1821-1861

The Beginning of a Slave-Based Economy

Solidifying the Institution of Slavery

Slave Codes

Native Relations in Antebellum Florida

A Strained Relationship

The Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823)

Native Conditions Deteriorate (1823-1830)

The Indian Removal Act (1830)

The Bad and the Ugly: The Treaties of Payne’s Landing (1832) and Fort Gibson (1833)

The Second Seminole War (1835-1842)

The Initiation of the War

The Dade Massacre

Concluding the War

Battle Conditions

Florida from Civil War to the Gilded Age, 1861-1900

Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida

The Civil War

Reconstruction

Immigration

Further Reading:

Modern Florida, 1900-1945

Introduction

Jim Crow and the Great Migration

Draining the Everglades

Florida Land Boom

The Highway

Media Portrayal of Florida

Collapse and Aftermath

Birth of Tourism

Florida and the Second World War

Race Relations in the 1920s

Florida and the American Dream, 1945-present

Florida and the American Dream, 1945-Present

Introduction

2000 Presidential Election Controversy

Urban and Suburban American Dreams

National Housing Acts

Miami, Florida

Celebration, Florida

Disney World

Service Operations

Cuban Miami

The Golden Exiles

Operation Pedro Pan

The Mariel Boatlift

The Cultures of Little Havana

Cuban Political Influence

Cuban and African-American Relations