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Juan Ponce de Leon
The most famous explorer in Florida's history is Juan Ponce de Leon of Spain. He is the first European to land in what is now Florida. Watch this video segment to learn how Florida got its name.
EVEN BEFORE SPAIN HAD GROWN RICH
FROM THE GOLD OF THE AZTECS AND INCAS,
A MAN NAMED JUAN PONCE DE LEON
HAD REACHED WHAT IS TODAY'S STATE OF FLORIDA.
BEFORE BECOMING AN EXPLORER,
PONCE de LEON HAD LED AN AMAZING LIFE.
IN SPAIN, HE HAD SERVED IN THE PALACE OF THE KING AND QUEEN
AND HAD HELPED HIS COUNTRY DEFEAT
THE MUSLIM KINGDOM OF GRANADA.
HE HAD SAILED WITH COLUMBUS ON HIS SECOND VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD,
HAD BATTLED NATIVE PEOPLE ON TWO DIFFERENT CARIBBEAN ISLANDS,
AND HAD BECOME VERY RICH FROM THE GOLD
FOUND ON ONE OF THESE ISLANDS
THAT THE SPANISH NAMED...
IT WAS BECAUSE OF HIS WEALTH
AND EXPERIENCE AS A SOLDIER
THAT PONCE de LEON WAS CHOSEN BY THE KING
TO BE THE GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO
AND TO LEAD THE FIRST EXPEDITION
INTO THE UNEXPLORED LANDS
THAT LAY JUST TO THE NORTH OF THE SPANISH COLONIES
IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA.
BUT THIS TIME,
THE KING NOT ONLY WANTED PONCE de LEON TO SEARCH FOR GOLD
AND CLAIM NEW LANDS FOR SPAIN,
HE ALSO WANTED HIM TO LOOK FOR A MAGICAL SPRING
CALLED THE "FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH,"
FROM WHICH IT WAS SAID
FLOWED THE "WATER OF LIFE;"
WATER THAT HAD THE POWER TO CURE DISEASES
AND TO MAKE OLD PEOPLE YOUNG AGAIN.
PONCE de LEON'S EXPEDITION BEGAN WHEN HE SAILED NORTHWEST
FROM PUERTO RICO IN 1513.
DURING HIS VOYAGE, HE STOPPED AT...
THE ISLAND ON WHICH COLUMBUS
HAD FIRST LANDED IN THE NEW WORLD.
HE EXPLORED OTHER ISLANDS AS HE SAILED NORTH,
BUT HE COULD NOT FIND THE "FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH."
IN APRIL, HE LANDED ON THE MAINLAND OF NORTH AMERICA
IN A PLACE WHERE MANY BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS GREW.
BECAUSE HE WAS THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO LAND HERE,
PONCE de LEON CLAIMED THE LAND FOR SPAIN
AND NAMED IT "FLORIDA,"
WHICH MEANS...
DURING HIS EXPEDITION,
PONCE de LEON EXPLORED A LOT OF THE COAST OF FLORIDA,
BUT HE NEVER FOUND THE "FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH"
OR ANY GOLD.
A FEW YEARS LATER, HE CAME BACK TO FLORIDA
TO START A NEW SPANISH COLONY, BUT IT FAILED;
AND HE DIED A LITTLE LATER FROM WOUNDS HE SUFFERED
IN A BATTLE WITH THE NATIVE PEOPLE.
Transcript
Pedro Menendez de Aviles
Pedro Menendez de Aviles is famous for founding St. Augustine, Florida. He also took over the French Fort Caroline, which today is Jacksonville, Florida. Watch this video to learn more about Pedro Menendez de Aviles.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida on August 28, 1565. It was the feast day of St. Augustine, which gave the city its name. He came ashore with his 600 soldiers and settlers with banners flying and trumpets sounding. Following his charter, one of Menendez's first task was to drive out the French. His first attack against the French was at Fort Caroline at present-day Jacksonville, Florida.
But some of the Huguenots had been away from their fort at the time of the first massacre. They had been out in one of their pirate ships.
His second attack to drive out the Huguenots whom the Catholic Spanish considered heretics, occurred near this location where this small Spanish fort now stands.
The Spanish tracked them down there on the beach. The French surrendered hoping that they would receive mercy. But, instead, they were all massacred, put to the sword, with the exception of a couple of them who insisted that they were Catholic.
This fortress, built starting in 1737, is named Fort Matanzas, a Spanish word that means slaughter, referring to the massacre that occurred not far from here. This and other coastal fortresses along the southeastern seaboard are reminders of the struggle between European nations to dominate the New World.
Transcript
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson served as the seventh president of the United States, but before he was president, he was a general. Watch this video to see how General Andrew Jackson helped Florida become a U.S. state.
BY 1803, THE UNITED STATES
SHARED MUCH OF THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA WITH SPAIN.
THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT
IN WHAT WOULD BECOME THE UNITED STATES
WAS ESTABLISHED BY SPAIN IN 1565.
THAT WAS ST. AUGUSTINE IN FLORIDA,
AND TODAY, ST. AUGUSTINE IS THE OLDEST CITY
IN THE UNITED STATES,
BUT IT TOOK A WHILE
FOR IT TO BECOME A PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
HERE'S THE STORY.
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS MAP,
FLORIDA WAS ACTUALLY TWO PROVINCES:
WEST FLORIDA AND EAST FLORIDA.
THE UNITED STATES AND SPAIN HAD AN ONGOING DISAGREEMENT
OVER THE BOUNDARY OF WEST FLORIDA.
EAST FLORIDA, THOUGH, CLEARLY BELONGED TO THE SPANISH,
AND IT BECAME A REFUGE FOR RUNAWAY SLAVES, PIRATES,
AND ESPECIALLY SEMINOLE INDIANS
WHO RAIDED AND THREATENED SETTLEMENTS IN GEORGIA.
IN 1817, PRESIDENT JAMES MONROE
SENT GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON TO FLORIDA
TO STOP THE SEMINOLE RAIDS.
JACKSON WAS TOLD HE COULD CROSS THE BORDER INTO FLORIDA
BUT SHOULD NOT ATTACK ANY SPANISH FORTS.
JACKSON HAD ANOTHER IDEA.
HE SENT MONROE A LETTER SAYING THAT IF THE PRESIDENT WANTED,
HE, JACKSON, COULD TAKE ALL OF EAST FLORIDA IN 60 DAYS.
THE PRESIDENT DIDN'T ANSWER, SO JACKSON MARCHED INTO FLORIDA,
DEPOSED THE SPANISH GOVERNOR,
AND INSTALLED ONE OF HIS OFFICERS IN HIS PLACE.
TO SETTLE THE MATTER,
PRESIDENT MONROE GAVE THE SPANISH TWO CHOICES.
THEY COULD EITHER DO A BETTER JOB OF PATROLLING FLORIDA
AND ASSURE THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MORE RAIDS ACROSS THE BORDER,
OR THEY COULD GIVE FLORIDA TO THE UNITED STATES.
AND THAT'S WHAT THY DID.
IN 1819, A TREATY WAS SIGNED IN WASHINGTON.
EAST FLORIDA WENT TO THE UNITED STATES,
AND SPAIN GAVE UP ALL ITS CLAIMS TO WEST FLORIDA.
FLORIDA, THE SUNSHINE STATE, JOINED THE UNION IN 1845.
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