Africans in Colonial Florida

Africans Come

Nov 19, 1501

Spanish settlers bring Africans slaves to the New World.

Free Africans accompony Juan Ponce De Leon

Nov 19, 1513

Free Africans Juan Garrido and Juan Gonzalez de Leon accompony Juan Ponce De Leon in his exploration of La Florida.

First enslaved Africans Brought to North America

Nov 19, 1526

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

Tampa Bay encounter

Nov 19, 1528

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

Survivors arrive in Mexico City

Nov 19, 1536

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

Hernando de Soto explores...

Nov 19, 1539

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

St Augustine

Nov 19, 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.

Freedm For Runaway Slaves

Nov 19, 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.

Slaves Escape to Florida

Nov 19, 1683

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

Fort Mose is established

Nov 19, 1738

Francisco 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 Invades Fort Mose

Nov 19, 1740

English invaders capture Fort Mose; blacks and Spaniards recapture it a few months later.

Trade occurs

Jan 1, 1763

Spain trades Florida to England in exchange for Havana, Cuba, 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 slaves are imported from Africa or brought south from other colonies.