Africans in Colonial Florida timeline

Jan 1, 1501

Spanish settlers bring first slaves to the New World
Jan 1, 1513

Free Africans Juan Garrido and Juan Gonzalez de Leon accompany Ponce de Leon in his exploration of La Florida
Jan 1, 1526

First enslaved Africans brought to North America by Lucas Vazquez de Allyon expedition; established settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in present-day Georgia; this is the first European settlement in the geographic United States
Jan 1, 1528

Panfilo Narvaez attempts to settle area near Tampa Bay with 600 people including slaves. Lack of supplies and hurricanes doom venture.
Jan 1, 1536

Four survivors of the doomed Tampa Bay settlement end up in Gulf Coast after walking through the wilderness for eight years. Estevanico, an African slave, ensures their survival by learning to communicate with natives along the way.
Jan 1, 1539

Hernando de Soto explores Florida and muuch of the present-day southeastern United States with the aid of free and enslaved Africans
Jan 1, 1565

St Augustine, the oldest permanent city in the USA, established by Spain. It is home to over 600 people, including 50 African slaves. Some of these slaves immediately escape into the surrounding wilderness.
Jan 1, 1683

Spanish government in Florida grants freedom to all runaway slaves from English colonies to the North if slaves agree to convert to Roman Catholicism.
Jan 1, 1683

Hundreds of slaves from Georgia and the Carolinas escape to Florida as a result of Spanish government's decision.

this event happened between 1683 and 1738
Jan 1, 1738

Franciso Menendez, an escaped slave from the Carolinas agrees to help defend Florida from the British in exchange for freedom. Establishes Fort Mose, the first free black settlement in the present-day USA, two miles north of St. Augustine
Jan 1, 1740

English invaders capture Fort Mose; blacks and spaniards recapture it a few
Jan 1, 1763

Spain trades Florida to England in exchange for Havana, Cube, which Spain had lost during the Seven Year's War; as a result, large rice and indigo plantations pop up along the St. John's river in East Florida; thousands of sklaves are imported from Africa

Spanish settlers bring first slaves to the New World

Free Africans Juan Garrido and Juan Gonzalez de Leon accompany Ponce de Leon in his exploration of La Florida

First enslaved Africans brought to North America by Lucas Vazquez de Allyon expedition; established settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in present-day Georgia; this is the first European settlement in the geographic United States

Panfilo Narvaez attempts to settle area near Tampa Bay with 600 people including slaves. Lack of supplies and hurricanes doom venture.

Four survivors of the doomed Tampa Bay settlement end up in Gulf Coast after walking through the wilderness for eight years. Estevanico, an African slave, ensures their survival by learning to communicate with natives along the way.

Hernando de Soto explores Florida and muuch of the present-day southeastern United States with the aid of free and enslaved Africans

St Augustine, the oldest permanent city in the USA, established by Spain. It is home to over 600 people, including 50 African slaves. Some of these slaves immediately escape into the surrounding wilderness.

Spanish government in Florida grants freedom to all runaway slaves from English colonies to the North if slaves agree to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Hundreds of slaves from Georgia and the Carolinas escape to Florida as a result of Spanish government's decision.

Franciso Menendez, an escaped slave from the Carolinas agrees to help defend Florida from the British in exchange for freedom. Establishes Fort Mose, the first free black settlement in the present-day USA, two miles north of St. Augustine

English invaders capture Fort Mose; blacks and spaniards recapture it a few

Spain trades Florida to England in exchange for Havana, Cube, which Spain had lost during the Seven Year's War; as a result, large rice and indigo plantations pop up along the St. John's river in East Florida; thousands of sklaves are imported from Africa