1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Fry had various points on the show, 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 2: most recently in our episode on the rendition of Anthony Burns. 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 2: We have talked about people liberating themselves from enslavement and 7 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 2: escaping to Canada from the United States. Slavery was abolished 8 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 2: in some parts of what's now Canada in the seventeen nineties, 9 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 2: and then it was abolished all across the British Empire 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 2: that Canada was part of under the Slavery Abolition Act 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 2: of eighteen thirty three. It has not come up as often, 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 2: but we've also talked about people fleeing south to Mexico, 13 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 2: where slavery was abolished in eighteen twenty nine, and that 14 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 2: included people escaping from enslavement in Texas, which was part 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,199 Speaker 2: of Mexico in eighteen twenty nine but was exempted from 16 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 2: the decree abolishing slavery just a few months after it 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 2: was issued. And of course people did also escape to 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 2: other US states and territories, although they still faced the 19 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 2: risk of re enslavement under the Fusive Slave Acts of 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:26,279 Speaker 2: seventeen ninety three and eighteen fifty. I am not sure, though, 21 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 2: whether we have ever talked about the period in which 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 2: people were escaping to Florida. At the time, Florida was 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 2: Spanish territory and slavery had not been abolished there. And 24 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 2: that's at the heart of today's episode about the first 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 2: officially sanctioned settlement for free black people in what is 26 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 2: now the United States that was known as Fort Mosey, 27 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 2: just outside of Saint Augustine, Florida. In the eighteenth century. 28 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 2: Saint Augustine served as the capital of Spanish Florida or 29 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 2: La Florida, and it's the oldest continuous occupied city from 30 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 2: the colonial era of the United States. Listen, if you 31 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 2: grow up in Florida, you get told this all the time. 32 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 2: Let me assure you it was established in fifteen sixty five, 33 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 2: or more than forty years before the first permanent English 34 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 2: settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. Jamestown and the British origins of 35 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 2: the US do tend to get a lot more attention 36 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 2: in US history classes than Saint Augustine and Spain do, 37 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 2: and of course both of those usually get more attention 38 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 2: than the oldest continually occupied settlements established by indigenous peoples 39 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 2: like Acoma Pueblo and Oribi, which predates Saint Augustine by 40 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 2: centuries and are still occupied today. Yeah, my original draft 41 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 2: of this has said that Jamestown in the British origins 42 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 2: of the US tend to get a lot more attention, 43 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 2: unless maybe you live in Florida or in one of 44 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 2: the other places that was Spanish territory before becoming British 45 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 2: territory and then part of the United States. So Pedro 46 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 2: Menendez de Avilles established the city of Saint Augustine under 47 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 2: a license from King Felipe the Second, who wanted to 48 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 2: protect Spain's claims in the Americas from incursions by other 49 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 2: European powers. This included French Huguenots, who established a settlement 50 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 2: in what is now Florida in fifteen sixty two. Less 51 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 2: than a month after arriving in Florida. Three years later, 52 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 2: Pedro Menendez de avilleres led an expedition that killed nearly 53 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 2: all of those French colonists. 54 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: When Spanish forces were tasked with building things like forts 55 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: and settlements in the Americas, it was typical for them 56 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: to bring workers who were enslaved to the crown. The 57 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: Spanish system of slavery also incorporated the idea of manumission. 58 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: People might be freed as a reward, or enslavers might 59 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: use the idea of earning freedom to try to control 60 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: their workforce. Spanish law yeah also recognized some limited rights 61 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: and protections for enslaved people, including the right to own 62 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: property and earn money, which made it somewhat easier for 63 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: people to purchase their own freedom than in societies or 64 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: that was not the case. 65 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 2: Manumission was not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination, 66 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 2: and most Africans in Spanish societies were enslaved. There was 67 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 2: also stigma associated with having been previously enslaved, and freed 68 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 2: people's records usually made reference to that earlier enslavement for 69 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 2: the rest of their lives. But this did mean that 70 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 2: Spain and its colonies had a somewhat larger population of 71 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 2: free black people than some of the other slaveholding societies 72 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 2: of this era. When Menendez d' avilles arrived in Florida, 73 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 2: he had both enslaved and free Africans with him. That 74 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 2: was something that was true in other Spanish colonies as well. 75 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 2: By the end of the sixteenth century, more than ten 76 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 2: percent of the population of Saint Augustine was black, and 77 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 2: a significant number of those people were free. When the 78 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 2: British started establishing their own colonies in the Americas, slavery 79 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,919 Speaker 2: became part of the conflict between England and Spain. So 80 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 2: for context, Spain had claimed all of the Americas after 81 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 2: the voyages of Christopher Columbus at the end of the 82 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 2: fifteenth century. Other European powers mostly disregarded those claims, and 83 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 2: they started claiming territory and establishing colonies of their own, 84 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 2: most relevant to today's episode. In sixteen sixty three, England 85 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 2: established the province of Carolina under a royal charter. Its 86 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 2: southern border was close to the border between Florida and 87 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 2: Georgia today. A second charter in sixteen sixty five set 88 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 2: the Carolina border even farther south, with England claiming more 89 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 2: of Florida, including Saint Augustine. Disputes over this territory escalated 90 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 2: after English colonists established Charlestown that is now Charleston, South 91 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 2: Carolina in sixteen seventy. Spain had made some attempts to 92 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 2: colonize Florida but those attempts had not been very successful, 93 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 2: and Spanish authorities knew that if they lost Saint Augustine, 94 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 2: they would lose the whole peninsula. So they established forts 95 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 2: and they raised militias to try to defend this territory. 96 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 2: This included militias specifically for black, indigenous, and multi racial people. 97 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 2: And this is something else that was really typical across 98 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 2: the Spanish colonies and some other colonies. There just weren't 99 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 2: enough Europeans to defend all of the claims and the 100 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 2: Americas without help from other people. So typically there were 101 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 2: fighting forces of the European colonists as well as enslaved 102 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 2: and free black people, enslaved indigenous people, and indigenous allies. 103 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: The establishment of the first free black settlement in the 104 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: United States grew out of the consulate between England and 105 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: Spain and the fact that the idea of manumission was 106 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: already part of the Spanish institution of slavery. In sixteen 107 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: eighty seven, eight men, two women, and a three year 108 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: old girl arrived in Saint Augustine by canoe after liberating 109 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: themselves from enslavement in the province of Carolina. It's possible 110 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: that they were not the first people to flee to 111 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: Florida from Carolina, and that earlier arrivals just were not documented. 112 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: It is also possible that other people had tried to 113 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: make it through the swampy landscapes between England's settlements and 114 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: Saint Augustine and just had not survived, and it's likely 115 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: that these eleven people had the help of indigenous people 116 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: as they traveled through this territory along the coast to 117 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: get there. With the exception of the three year old, 118 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: probably these were people who had been enslaved in Africa 119 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: and transported to North America. At this point, slave traders 120 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,679 Speaker 1: were transporting people to Carolina, mainly from parts of central 121 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: and western Africa, where Portuguese merchants had been operating since 122 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: the fourteen hundreds, so it's possible that at least some 123 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: of these people were familiar with Catholicism as a religion. 124 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: Some of them may have spoken Portuguese, which would have 125 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: helped them communicate with the Spanish authorities in Saint Augustine. 126 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: It's even possible that they might have known about laws 127 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: and customs that would afford them some protection if they 128 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: asked for religious sanctuary, and about the possibility of manumission, 129 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: which Portugal and Spain treated fairly similarly. We really have 130 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: no way of knowing any of this for sure, but 131 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: according to Spanish accounts, after arriving in Saint Augustine, these 132 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: refugees asked to be baptized into the true faith, that 133 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: being Catholicism. After being baptized and after Catholic marriage, ceremonies 134 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: were provided for the couples. Six of the men were 135 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: put to work helping to build the Castillo de San Marcos, 136 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: that is, a masonry fort that was built to protect 137 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: Saint Augustine from both English forces and from pirates. The 138 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: other two men worked for a blacksmith, suggesting that they 139 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,719 Speaker 1: were probably already experienced in that trade. The women did 140 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: domestic work in the governor's house. All of these adults 141 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: were paid for their labor a paso per day for 142 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: the men and half a paso per day for the women. 143 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: They were housed with various residents of Saint Augustine. 144 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:34,479 Speaker 2: In sixteen eighty eight, James Culleton, Governor of Carolina, dispatched 145 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 2: Major William Dunlop on a diplomatic mission to Saint Augustine. 146 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 2: Among other things, he was instructed to demand the return 147 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 2: of the people who had escaped to Saint Augustine the 148 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 2: year before, who Coulton claimed had been stolen in a 149 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 2: Spanish raid on Edisto Island. 150 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: Diego de Queroga. Ilusada, acting governor of Spanish Florida, refused 151 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,719 Speaker 1: to return them, cite that they had all been baptized 152 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,359 Speaker 1: into the Catholic faith and were now employed in Saint Augustine, 153 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: and that some of them had married local people. He did, however, 154 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: offer monetary restitution to be paid to their former enslavers. 155 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: One man named Mingo was also accused of having committed 156 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: murder during the escape. Kiroga Ilosada told Dunlop that if 157 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: there was evidence of this murder, and if Mingo was 158 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: prosecuted and convicted, that he would be executed for that crime. 159 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: Kiroga Ilosada also assured Dunlop that if other enslaved people 160 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: escaped from Carolina to Florida in the future, they would 161 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: be quote, from time to time faithfully restored in their 162 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: own proper persons to the Governor of Carolina or any 163 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: sent by him. But that is not what happened. We'll 164 00:10:52,920 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: have more after a sponsor break it did not take 165 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: long for word to spread around the province of Carolina 166 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: that a group of people had escaped to Saint Augustine 167 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: and the Spanish governor had refused to return them. Soon 168 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: more people started liberating themselves and fleeing to the south. 169 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: This was enough of an issue that within a year 170 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:28,239 Speaker 1: of William Dunlop's negotiations with the Spanish, the Lord's Proprietors 171 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: of Carolina, which held joint ownership of the Carolina Colony, 172 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: told Governor James Cullton that he needed to put a 173 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: stop to it. 174 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 2: For the next few years, there wasn't an official policy 175 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 2: in Spanish Florida about what to do when Africans arrived 176 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 2: seeking refuge. Decisions were at the discretion of whoever was 177 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:53,559 Speaker 2: acting as governor, but a general practice did evolve. People 178 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 2: who agreed to be baptized as Catholics, swear their allegiance 179 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 2: to Spain, and work for the colony were treated is free. Eventually, 180 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 2: after authorities from Spanish Florida made several requests for some 181 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 2: more specific guidance from the Crown, the Council of the 182 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 2: Ends recommended formalizing what the governors had most of the 183 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 2: time already been doing on their own. In sixteen ninety three, 184 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 2: King Carlos the Ion of Spain issued a decree that 185 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 2: liberty would be given to anyone who arrived in Spanish 186 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 2: Florida and accepted Catholicism. A similar edict had done the 187 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 2: same in the Spanish Caribbean a little more than a 188 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 2: decade before this. The reason Carlos gave for this was quote, 189 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 2: so that by their example and by my liberality, others 190 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 2: will do the same. But he was not in any 191 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 2: way advocating for abolition, and his motivations were more pragmatic 192 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 2: than humanitarian. If Spanish Florida accepted refugees from the province 193 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 2: of Carolina, those people could bolster the size of the 194 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 2: Spanish militia. They often brought skills and knowledge from work 195 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 2: that they had been forced to do while enslaved, which 196 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 2: could benefit the Spanish. And if enslaved people knew there 197 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 2: was a possible haven in the south where they could 198 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:14,079 Speaker 2: be free, it could encourage more people to liberate themselves, 199 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 2: which could destabilize England's colonial efforts. Yeah, they might also 200 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:24,319 Speaker 2: have specialized skills and knowledge from before they were enslaved. 201 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,559 Speaker 1: Regardless, though, like he made that sounds. 202 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:30,839 Speaker 2: Like it was really out of the goodness of his 203 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 2: own heart and to set a good example for the 204 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 2: rest of the world. 205 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: But it was because they were assets. 206 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, they were assets, and he understood that they could 207 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 2: have an effect and if enough people left Carolina. So 208 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 2: over the span of about fifty years, more than one 209 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 2: hundred people are known to have successfully made their way 210 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 2: from the British colonies to Saint Augustine, where they were 211 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 2: granted asylum and freedom in exchange for conversion to Catholicism 212 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 2: and allegiance to Spain. In seventeen thirty eight, their population 213 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 2: had reached a size that Spanish authorities decided to establish 214 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 2: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, just north of 215 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,079 Speaker 2: the city, also known as Fort Mose. This was the 216 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 2: first officially sanctioned free black settlement in North America. 217 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: This was, of course, a segregation effort, and one of 218 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: its motivations was straightforward racial prejudice. Also, since slavery was 219 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: legal in Saint Augustine, there were enslaved people living there 220 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: and enslaved people who tried to escape from there, so 221 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: officials thought it was prudent to have the free black 222 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: population just live somewhere else, and it was also an 223 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: attempt to establish another line of defense between the colonial 224 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: capital and British territory. We just described it as a 225 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: free black settlement, which it was, but Fort mose also 226 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: became a multi racial and multicultural settlement. Its African residents 227 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: came from at least four different ethnic groups. In addition 228 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: to the freed people, there were also enslaved Africans, indigenous people, 229 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: and Europeans who married into the community and their multi 230 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: racial children. Fort mose was also assigned a Spanish administrator 231 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: who does not appear to have actually lived there, and 232 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: a Franciscan student priest who did. Captain Francisco Menendez was 233 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: tasked with leading the militia that was stationed at Fort Mosey, 234 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: and in many other ways he was seen as a 235 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: leader in the community. So we're going to back up 236 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: a little bit and talk about his backstory. He was Mendinga, 237 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: that's a Mande speaking ethnic group from West Africa. He 238 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: was probably born somewhere in the Gambia River region, and 239 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: the Mendinga in that area are predominantly Muslim. We don't 240 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: know exactly when he was born or what his original 241 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: name was the name Francisco Menendez came from someone who 242 00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: enslaved him after he was in North America. The province 243 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: of Carolina was officially separated into the colonies of North 244 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: and South Carolina in seventeen twelve, and Menendez was enslaved 245 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: in South Carolina by seventeen fifteen. Prior to that, the 246 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: timeline was a little vague. That year seventeen fifteen, the 247 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: Yamasi people and their allies, including the Creek and catawbinations, 248 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: as well as enslaved Africans, went to war against the 249 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: English colonists. This followed years of exploitation by white traders, 250 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: including forcing indigenous people into debt through unfair trading practices 251 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: and then enslaving them over non payment of that debt. 252 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: Another factor in this war was the ongoing encroachment of 253 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: the English onto indigenous lands. The colonists faced huge casualties 254 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: in this war and were vastly outnumbered by an alliance 255 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: of indigenous peoples from all over the Carolinas. Eventually, this 256 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: alliance had Charlestown almost entirely surrounded by land. The tide 257 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: only turned after reinforcements arrived from Virginia and North Carolina, 258 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: along with supplies from New England, and the Cherokee, who 259 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: had initially remained neutral, joined the colonist's side. After that, 260 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,920 Speaker 1: many of the indigenous and African combatants fled south to Florida. 261 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: This included Menendez and his wife, known as Anna Maria 262 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: de Escobar. She was also Mendinga, and the name we 263 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: know her by today also came from an enslaver. 264 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 2: Based on that sixteen ninety three decree from King Carlos 265 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 2: the Second. Menandez and his wife and the other Africans 266 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 2: who arrived in Spanish territory after the Yamasi War should 267 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 2: have been considered free, but during their retreat to the south, 268 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 2: a Yamasi man known as Pedro Bravo turned on them 269 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 2: and declared that about thirty Africans in the group were 270 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 2: his slaves. He sold them to the acting governor of Florida, 271 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 2: who then sold them to Francisco Menendez Marquees, which is 272 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 2: where Francisco Menendez got his name. Francisco Menendez made repeated 273 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 2: petitions for his own freedom, along with that of his 274 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 2: wife and the other people who had escaped with him. 275 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,679 Speaker 2: This included petitions that were written and signed in Spanish, 276 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 2: with the whole document in the same handwriting, which suggests 277 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 2: that he wrote it himself and that he had become 278 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 2: literate in Spanish while still enslaved. He was made commander 279 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 2: of a militia for freed people. In seventeen thirty three, 280 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 2: King Felippe the fifth of Spain issued an edict forbidding 281 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 2: compensation to the British for the loss of enslaved people 282 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,199 Speaker 2: who escaped to Florida. He also reiterated the policy of 283 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 2: offering freedom to people who escaped to Spanish Florida. Not 284 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 2: long after that, he modified that earlier edict, saying that 285 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 2: people would have to serve the crown for four years 286 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 2: before being freed. This point, Menendez, his wife, and the 287 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,400 Speaker 2: other people who had escaped with them had all been 288 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 2: enslaved since seventeen eighteen, and Menendez's enslaver was a royal accountant, 289 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 2: so even if that stipulation of four years of service 290 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,439 Speaker 2: to the crown, which had not existed before, had suddenly 291 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,399 Speaker 2: been applied to him, he would have met that criteria already, 292 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 2: but he and the others were still considered enslaved. 293 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: Finally, in seventeen thirty eight, a Yamasee chief known as Jorge, 294 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: advocated for Menendez, citing his actions during the war against 295 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: the British and describing Pero Bravo as a heathen who 296 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: did not know any better when he enslaved them. Jorge 297 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: also argued that the Spanish, on the other hand, should 298 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: have known better than to purchase Menendez and his compatriots 299 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:51,680 Speaker 1: from Pero Bravo. On March fifteenth, seventeen thirty eight, Governor 300 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: Manuel de Montiano finally granted unconditional freedom to everyone who 301 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,919 Speaker 1: had escaped from South Carolina, even though so they really 302 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: should have been free this whole time under existing royal decrees. 303 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: The people who had purportedly bought them were very annoyed 304 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: about this loss of their free labor. Francisco Menendez was 305 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: finally free, and he became captain of the militia at 306 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: Fort Mose. Fort Mose defended Saint Augustine against attacks from 307 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: the north in September of seventeen thirty nine. It was 308 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: also probably the planned destination of enslaved people who rose 309 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: up in the Stono River area south of Charleston. The 310 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: Stono Rebellion was one of the largest slave insurrections in 311 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: US history, in which between twenty and thirty white people 312 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: and between thirty and fifty Africans were killed. This rebellion 313 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,640 Speaker 1: led South Carolina to pass new laws restricting the lives 314 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,399 Speaker 1: and the movements of enslaved people, and it probably inspired 315 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: later uprisings in South Carolina and Georgia, which had also 316 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: been separated out from South Carolin in seventeen thirty two. 317 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: Fort Mose was also part of the defense of Saint 318 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,919 Speaker 1: Augustine during a war between England and Spain. We're going 319 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 1: to talk about that after we paused for another sponsor break. 320 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 2: In seventeen thirty nine, England and Spain went to war 321 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 2: in what came to be known as the War of 322 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 2: Jenkins Ear. That moniker traces back to seventeen thirty one, 323 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 2: when the British ship Rebecca was stopped and boarded by 324 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 2: a Spanish Coast Guard ship under the command of Captain 325 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 2: Juan de Leon Fandinho. According to the Rebecca's captain Robert Jenkins, 326 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 2: in the process of pillaging the ship and setting everybody 327 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 2: aboard a drift, the Spanish had cut off his ear. 328 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 2: Jenkins reported this to the House of Commons in seventeen 329 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 2: thirty eight and showed them the ear, which he had 330 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 2: preserved and kept. 331 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: This became a pretext for a war with Spain, but 332 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: there were other tensions that fed into it, including issues 333 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: that were connected to slavery. In seventeen thirteen, the Treaty 334 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 1: of Utrek that ended the War of the Spanish Succession 335 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,639 Speaker 1: had given the British South Sea Company a license to 336 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 1: sell enslaved Africans in Spanish America and to send one 337 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: trading ship to Spanish America each year. But a whole 338 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: lot of illicit trade operated under the cover of these 339 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: authorized voyages, and the legitimate ones also became their own 340 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,479 Speaker 1: source of conflict in the context of the ongoing border 341 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: disputes in Florida. The War of Jenkins's Ear gave James Oglethorpe, 342 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:50,400 Speaker 1: governor of Georgia Territory, his own pretext to invade Florida. 343 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: This point in the episode is where just Florida becomes 344 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: a battleground for a long time. A lot of things 345 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:02,639 Speaker 1: happened Owlethorpe's forced raided forts along the coast of Florida 346 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: and the Saint John's River, and in May of seventeen 347 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: forty they lay sieged to Saint Augustine and established a 348 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: naval blockade. Some of Oglethorpe's Indigenous allies killed some of 349 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: the defenders at Fort mose and its Black militia and 350 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: civilian residents were evacuated to Castillo de San Marcos and 351 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,880 Speaker 1: Saint Augustine. Before they left, they destroyed the fort's gates 352 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: and made holes in its fortifications so that the British 353 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: could not use the fort for their own defense. While 354 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,199 Speaker 1: the fort was no longer well fortified or secure, the 355 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:41,199 Speaker 1: British force, which included Black troops, indigenous allies, and units 356 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: of Scottish Highlanders, decided to use it as a camp, 357 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: and before dawn on June twenty sixth, the Free Black 358 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: militia under the command of Francisco Menendez, regular Spanish Army 359 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: troops and Seminole allies launched a surprise attack to retake it. 360 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: More than half of the one hundred and seventy British 361 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: occupiers and their allies were either killed or captured, while 362 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 1: only ten people were killed and twenty wounded on the 363 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: Spanish side, and this battle was nicknamed Bloody Moseic. After 364 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: this defeat, the British withdrew their naval blockade of Saint Augustine, 365 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: and not long after that Spanish reinforcements arrived from Cuba. 366 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: Oglethorpe's forces ultimately retreated back to Georgia. Since Fort Mose 367 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: had been almost entirely destroyed, its former residents remained in 368 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: Saint Augustine, and that's where most of them lived for 369 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: the next decade. That was true of Francisco Menandez's wife 370 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: and children. But he felt that he had earned an 371 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: officer's salary. He joined a corsairship, hoping to make his 372 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: way to Spain to make his case before the king. 373 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: But in seventeen forty one, the ship he was on 374 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,199 Speaker 1: was captured by the British, who figured out who he was, 375 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: tortured him, re enslaved him, and sent him to the Bahamas. 376 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 1: The details are not documented anywhere, but somehow he escaped again, 377 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 1: and he made his way back to Saint Augustine and 378 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: rejoined his family. 379 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 2: In seventeen fifty two, Florida Governor Fulgencio Garcia de Solice 380 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 2: decided to rebuild Fort Mose and return the Free Black 381 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 2: militia to it. This was not something that most of 382 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 2: those men wanted to do. We have not really spelled 383 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 2: this out, but Spain's offer of freedom came with a 384 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 2: lot of conditions. People who escaped to Florida were not 385 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 2: considered enslaved anymore, but for men, that militious service was mandatory. 386 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 2: The fort was also remote and swampy. Its housing was austere. 387 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 2: The population was a fraction of Saint Augustine's, so there 388 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 2: were not nearly as many opportunities for things like social 389 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 2: lives and education. This forced relocation was also obviously an 390 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 2: effort to once again remove the free black population out 391 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 2: of Saint Augustine because of their race. Ultimately, they didn't 392 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 2: really have a choice. Fort Mose was rebuilt, and by 393 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 2: seventeen fifty nine it was home to thirty seven men, 394 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 2: fifteen women, and fifteen children. Seven of those children were boys. 395 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: And eight were girls. The fort also had a wooden 396 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: church where everyone worshiped and where a priest lived. As 397 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: had been true of its earlier iteration, the second fort's 398 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 1: residence came from multiple African ethnic groups, as well as 399 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: European and indigenous people who married one of the fort's 400 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:41,120 Speaker 1: African residents. It's likely that even though its population was small, 401 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: the community at The fort was multilingual, with English, Spanish, Arabic, 402 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: and different indigenous languages from Africa and North America all 403 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: being spoken there. This rebuilt fort continued to serve as 404 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: an outer line of defense for the city of Saint Augustine. 405 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 1: In seventeen sixty two, as this region became involved in 406 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: the French and Indian War, an earthwork fortification was built 407 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: from one corner of the fort, extending west southwest for 408 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: about three quarters of a mile. The French and Indian 409 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: War is the name of the North American component of 410 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: the Nine Years War between France and the United Kingdom, 411 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,399 Speaker 1: which was also connected with the Seven Years War, which 412 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: involved pretty much all of Europe. Everybody gets to name 413 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:27,959 Speaker 1: their part their own thing, and it makes it very 414 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 1: confusing for the rest of us. This war ended with 415 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: the Treaty of Paris of seventeen sixty three, and under 416 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 1: that treaty, Spain seeded all of Florida to England in 417 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: exchange for Cuba, which England had occupied the year before. 418 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: England divided Florida into the two colonies of East and 419 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: West Florida, which set the stage for later disputes over 420 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: control of those two parts, which we are not going 421 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 1: to even try to get into here. Spain evacuated its 422 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: population from Florida, including relocated eating the free black population 423 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: of Fort Mose to Cuba. Yeah, even though there were 424 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 1: two colonies of East and West Florida, and sometimes things 425 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: applied to one of them and not the other. We're 426 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: just going to continue to talk about all of it 427 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: is Florida for the most part, because it became a 428 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: lot to try to explain every nuance of it. Francisco 429 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: Menendez and his family and about fifty other people were 430 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,120 Speaker 1: all relocated abord a schooner called Our Lady of Sorrows 431 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: in August of seventeen sixty three. Each family was granted 432 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,679 Speaker 1: some land and given supplies and an enslaved person to 433 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: help them establish a homestead. This land was in what 434 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: was thought of as the frontier around Matanzas, about sixty 435 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: miles or one hundred kilometers east of Havana, but it 436 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: was rocky, not very good for farming, and most of 437 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: them eventually returned to the area more directly around Havana. 438 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: These folks mostly disappear from the historical record. The United States, 439 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: of course, declared its independence from England in seventeen seventy 440 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: six during the Revolutionary War. That war ended. 441 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 2: With the Treaty of Paris of seventeen eighty three, which 442 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,280 Speaker 2: returned Florida to Spain. It is possible that some of 443 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,760 Speaker 2: Fort Mosees's former residents or their descendants went back to 444 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 2: Saint Augustine after this, but there's no documentation, so we 445 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 2: really don't know. Yeah, it's possible that there are records 446 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 2: somewhere that someone could unearth and pick through, but not 447 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 2: in what's available right now. After retaking control of Florida, 448 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 2: Spain continued to have a policy of treating people who 449 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 2: escaped to Spanish territory as free That ended on May seventeenth, 450 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 2: seventeen ninety, when King Carlos the Fourth issued a decree 451 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 2: abolishing all those earlier orders regarding the treatment of escaped slaves. 452 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 2: At that point, the United States Constitution had come into 453 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 2: effect and Thomas Jefferson had become the first Secretary of State. 454 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 2: This decree followed negotiations between Spain and the United States, 455 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 2: with the US trying to get Spain to put a 456 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 2: stop to this practice. Of course, this was also interconnected with, 457 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 2: like the United States getting on its own footing as 458 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 2: a newly established nation. 459 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: People still fled to Florida, though, but instead of trying 460 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: to get to Spanish territory, they tried to take refuge 461 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: in Seminole territory. So the name Seminole came into. 462 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 2: Use in the late eighteenth century for indigenous people who 463 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 2: were already living in the southeast and fled to this 464 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,719 Speaker 2: part of Florida in the face of violence from British 465 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 2: colonists and other indigenous nations. The Spanish granted some of 466 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 2: these people land with the hope of maintaining a buffer 467 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 2: between its settlements and the border with the United States. 468 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 2: Black Seminoles eventually became their own distinct ethnic group. In 469 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 2: eighteen twelve, in the face of rising tensions between the 470 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 2: United States and the United Kingdom would of course be 471 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 2: eventually the War of eighteen twelve, US officials intentionally stoked 472 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 2: fears of what would happen if Spain lost control of 473 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 2: East Florida, leaving it vulnerable to a British attack and occupation. 474 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 2: In response, the US attacked parts of northern Florida with 475 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 2: the goal of claiming it for the United States. Some 476 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 2: of the forces involved with this on the American side 477 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 2: were US military and militias from Georgia and Tennessee, and 478 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 2: they were at least tacitly supported by President James Monroe. 479 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 2: But there was also a group calling themselves the Patriot Army, 480 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 2: who were civilians who were basically acting on their own, 481 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 2: like the government had intentionally stoked people's fears about this, 482 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 2: the military involvement kind of like on the edge of 483 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,240 Speaker 2: official the Patriot Army just. 484 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: Doing their thing, just do it a vigilante style. These 485 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: combined US forces fought against the Spanish and against the Seminole, 486 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: and this conflict, known as the Patriot War, can be 487 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 1: seen as a precursor to the Seminole Wars that started 488 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixteen. During the Patriot War, some of the 489 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: American forces who invaded Florida occupied Fort Moseic. They were 490 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 1: defeated and in the process what was left of that 491 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: fort was destroyed. The United States once again gained control 492 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: of Florida under the Onise Adams Treaty of eighteen nineteen, 493 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: in which the United States got Florida and exchanged for 494 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: taking responsibility for about five million dollars in American damage 495 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: claims against Spain, tracing back to the Seminole Wars that 496 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: we mentioned a moment ago, and then, of course Florida 497 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: became a US state in eighteen forty five. The ruins 498 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: of the second Fort Mose were eventually overtaken by swamp, 499 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: while the site of the original fort was flooded due 500 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 1: to dredging operations in the late nineteenth century. The site 501 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: of the second fort was discovered in the nineteen sixties 502 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 1: by Frederick Eugene Williams. The third it was on land 503 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: owned by the Saint Augustine Historical Society, which Williams purchased 504 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight. It became a state park and 505 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: a series of archaeological projects were undertaken there starting in 506 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, with work done by doctor Kathleen Deagan 507 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,239 Speaker 1: of the Florida Museum of Natural History. The story of 508 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: this rediscovery, the archaeological work, and the creation of the 509 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: park is quite long, and it's complicated, As many such stories, 510 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,479 Speaker 1: it's a bit messy, and it's chronicled in an article 511 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: in Bitter Southerner called the First Floridians, which was written 512 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: by Jordan Bluemetti. 513 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,720 Speaker 2: Fort Mose was named a National Historic Landmark in nineteen 514 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 2: ninety five, and it is now part of Florida's Black 515 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 2: Heritage Trail. A recreation of the seventeen thirty eight fort 516 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 2: was built there just last year, surrounded by a historically 517 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:13,280 Speaker 2: accurate moat. This reproduction was made to meet modern building 518 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 2: and fire codes while also appearing as historically accurate as possible. 519 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 2: The park also hosts re enactors for militia musters and 520 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,759 Speaker 2: a recreation of the Bloody Mose Battle every year. The 521 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 2: next Bloody Mose reenactment is scheduled for June twenty seventh, 522 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. The Gullageechee Cultural Heritage Corridor was established 523 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 2: by an Act of Congress in two thousand and six. 524 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 2: The Gullageechee are descendants of people who are enslaved in 525 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 2: western and Central Africa and brought to the coasts of 526 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 2: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, where they developed 527 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 2: their own distinct culture and traditions. Fort mose is part 528 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 2: of the Gullageechee Corridor, and this corridor has also been 529 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 2: documented as a primary route for people who escaped to 530 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 2: s Augustine and Fort Mosey. So that is Fort mose 531 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,239 Speaker 2: Do you have a listener mail for us. I do 532 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,239 Speaker 2: I have such incredibly short listener mail, but it's so 533 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 2: cute great. 534 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: It just says, Hi, it's a key, We're out almost. 535 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,279 Speaker 2: This is from Jennifer. Jennifer says Hello, Holly Frye and 536 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:19,839 Speaker 2: Tracy W. 537 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:20,240 Speaker 1: Wilson. 538 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 2: I giggled when I saw the podcast on Rickets come 539 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 2: up in my feed. This is Rickets. What follows is 540 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 2: a picture of a black kitty cat on an animal 541 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:39,240 Speaker 2: print blanket. Behind this kitty cat is a zebra print 542 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:44,520 Speaker 2: pillow and like a dark burgundy pair of pillows. The 543 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 2: look on this cat's face to me is like I'm 544 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,919 Speaker 2: lonely and I'm thinking about my friend, and I want 545 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,800 Speaker 2: my friend to come over here. But this animal print 546 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 2: fuzzy blanket that I'm on is so comfortable that I 547 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 2: also don't want to get up to go look for 548 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,759 Speaker 2: my friend. But I'm lonely. So the email goes on 549 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 2: to say, I built an. 550 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 1: Emotionally complicated backstory for this cat. 551 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,879 Speaker 2: I mean black cats can be very expressive in their 552 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 2: facial expressions. Yes, So that email goes on to say, 553 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 2: I adopted Rickets Ricky to be a companion to my 554 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:30,240 Speaker 2: other cat Scurvy. I considered writing illustrated children's books about 555 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:34,800 Speaker 2: their adventures. That's all I needed to say, exclamation point, Jennifer, 556 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,320 Speaker 2: and I wanted to read this email to say, I 557 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 2: want some children's books about two cats named Rickets and 558 00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 2: Scurvy and their adventures. I would be very into this. 559 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 2: And I love that these kitty cats are named Rickets 560 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:50,560 Speaker 2: and Scurvy. 561 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: I think that's great. 562 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:59,839 Speaker 2: And then we love black cats in this household and podcast, 563 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:02,879 Speaker 2: so all of these things together, I said, I want 564 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 2: to read that. Thank you so much for this picture 565 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,840 Speaker 2: and for giving such great names so these cats, and 566 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:15,320 Speaker 2: for having the idea of illustrated children's books about Ricky Ricky, 567 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,799 Speaker 2: also Rickets and Scurvy. If you would like to write us, 568 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,960 Speaker 2: we are at history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. If 569 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,319 Speaker 2: you want to read the source lists for all of 570 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:31,640 Speaker 2: our episodes, that is at the website missinhistory dot com. 571 00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:34,319 Speaker 2: And if you want to subscribe to our show, you 572 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:36,759 Speaker 2: can do so on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere else 573 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:44,239 Speaker 2: you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 574 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,000 Speaker 2: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 575 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,160 Speaker 2: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 576 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:53,720 Speaker 2: you listen to your favorite shows.