Fort Mose Historic State Park - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fort Mose Historic State Park (originally known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose) is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

(designated as such on October 12, 1994), located two miles north of St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...

, on the eastern edge of a marsh. It is also a Florida State Park

Florida State Parks

The Florida State Parks encompass the majority of the lands that fall under the authority of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. There are 160 such entities, including nature reserves, recreation areas, and historic sites, which can be found in every corner of the state...

. Also spelled Fort Moosa or Fort Mossa.

Fort Mose was the first free black settlement legally sanctioned in what would become the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The community began when Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

was a Spanish territory

Spanish Florida

Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...

Historical background

As early as 1687, the Spanish government had begun to offer asylum to British slaves and in 1693 that asylum was made official by the Spanish Crown, that made it known that runaways would find freedom in Florida, in return for Catholic conversion and a term of four years of service to the Crown. In effect, Spain created a maroon

Maroon (people)

Maroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...

colony as a front-line defense against English attacks from the north.

Fort Mose

Incoming freedom seekers were recognized as free, taken into the Spanish militia and placed into service at the Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose military fort north of St. Augustine, which was established in 1738 by the Colonial Governor, Manuel de Montiano

Manuel de Montiano

Manuel de Montiano y Luyando was a Spanish General and colonial administrator who served as Royal Governor of La Florida and Royal Governor of Panama...

. The military leader at the fort was a Creole

Creole peoples

The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...

man of African origin, who was baptized as Francisco Menendez

Francisco Menendez (creole)

Francisco Menendez was a free black military leader serving the Spanish Crown in 18th century St. Augustine, Florida. He is first traceable as a slave in South Carolina who, like many of his contemporaries, escaped to St. Augustine, Florida...

by the Spanish

In 1740, British forces led by James Oglethorpe attacked and destroyed the fort. Its inhabitants fled to St. Augustine, where they stayed until Fort Mose was rebuilt in 1752. After East Florida

East Florida

East Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763–1783 and of Spain from 1783–1822. East Florida was established by the British colonial government in 1763; as its name implies it consisted of the eastern part of the region of Florida, with West Florida comprising the western parts. Its capital...

was ceded to the British in the Peace of Paris of 1763 most of the inhabitants, including many black militia troops, migrated to Cuba with the evacuating Spanish.

Because Fort Mose became a haven for escaped slaves from the British colonies

Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies in North America were established by Europeans during the 16th and 17th centuries and consisted of olden South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Georgia. Their historical names were the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, the Province of Carolina, and the Province...

to the north, it is considered a precursor site of the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...

External links

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