History of Pensacola, Florida - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The history of Pensacola, Florida begins long before the official founding of the modern city in 1698. The area around present-day Pensacola

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

was inhabited by Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

peoples thousands of years before the historical area. The historical era begins with the arrival of Spanish

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

exlorers in the 16th century. In 1559 Tristan de Luna established a short-lived settlement at Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles long and 2.5 miles ...

which became one of the first European-established settlements in what is now the continental United States; however, it was soon abandoned. In the late 17th century the Spanish returned to the area to found the modern Pensacola as an outpost from which to defend their claims to Spanish Florida

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...

. The city's strategic but isolated position led to it changing hands among different Western powers a number of times; at different times it was held by the Spanish, the French, the British, the United States, and the Confederate States of America.
The original inhabitants of the Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

area were Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

peoples. At the time of European contact a Muskogean-speaking tribe known as the Pensacola

Pensacola people

The Pensacola were a Native American people who lived in the western part of what is now the Florida Panhandle from the time of first contact with Europeans until early in the 18th century. They spoke a Muskogean language. They are the source of the name of Pensacola Bay and the city of Pensacola...

lived in the region. The area's recorded history begins in the 16th century, when the first European explorers

European colonization of the Americas

The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...

came there. Early exploration of Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

(called Polonza or Ochuse) spanned decades, with Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...

(1513), Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....

(1528), and Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto (explorer)

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....

(1539) plus others charting the area.

Due to prior exploration, the first settlement in the region was large, landing on August 15, 1559,
and led by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano

Tristán de Luna y Arellano

Tristán de Luna y Arellano was a Spanish Conquistador of the 16th century. Born in Borobia, Spain, he came to New Spain in about 1530, and was sent on an expedition to conquer Florida in 1559...

with over 1,400 people on 11 ships from Vera Cruz

Veracruz, Veracruz

Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.
However, weeks later, the colony was decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559, which killed hundreds, sank 5 ships, grounded a caravel

Caravel

A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...

, and ruined supplies. The 1,000 survivors divided to relocate/resupply the settlement, but due to famine and attacks, the effort was abandoned in 1561. About 240 people sailed to Santa Elena (today's Parris Island, South Carolina

Parris Island, South Carolina

Parris Island is a former census-designated place , currently a portion of Port Royal in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,841 at the 2000 census. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Parris Island is included within the Beaufort Urban Cluster and the larger...

), but another storm hit there, so they sailed to Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

and scattered. The remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Mexico, and the Viceroy's advisors concluded northwest Florida was too dangerous to settle, for 135 years.

The Spanish later built 3 presidios in Pensacola, in 1719, 1722 and 1754.
From 1763, the British went back to the mainland area of fort San Carlos de Barrancas, building the Royal Navy Redoubt, and Pensacola became the capital of the 14th British colony, West Florida. After Spain joined the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

late, in 1779, the Spanish captured East Florida and West Florida, regaining Pensacola from (1781–1819). In an 1819 Transcontinental Treaty (Adams-Onis), Spain renounced its claims to West Florida and ceded East Florida to the U.S. (US$5 million). In 1821, with Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

as provisional governor, Pensacola became part of the United States.

First Spanish period (1559-1719)

European exploration of the area began in the 16th century. In 1516 Diego Miruelo became the first European to sail into Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

. The expeditions of Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez

in 1528 and Hernando de Soto in 1539 visited the bay, at which time it was known as the Bay of Ochuse.

One of the first European settlements in what is now the continental United States was established at the modern site of Pensacola by conquistador Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano

Tristán de Luna y Arellano

Tristán de Luna y Arellano was a Spanish Conquistador of the 16th century. Born in Borobia, Spain, he came to New Spain in about 1530, and was sent on an expedition to conquer Florida in 1559...

in 1559. In one of several attempts by the Spanish to facilitate colonization of Santa Elena

Santa Elena, la Florida

Santa Elena was a Spanish settlement founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina. There had been a number of earlier attempts to establish colonies in the area by both the Spanish and the French, who had been inspired by earlier accounts of the plentiful land...

(now Parris Island, South Carolina

Parris Island, South Carolina

), de Luna landed on Santa Rosa Island

Santa Rosa Island, Florida

Santa Rosa Island[p] is a 40-mile barrier island located in the U.S. state of Florida, thirty miles east of the Alabama state border...

on August 15, 1559 and established a settlement of about 1,000 as a base for further exploration.
Weeks later, the settlement and its fleet, carrying supplies, were decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559, and after many attempts to divide and relocate the colony, the site was abandoned two years later.
The Spanish later built 3 presidios in Pensacola:

Presidio Santa Maria de Galve
Presidio Santa Maria de Galve
The Presidio Santa Maria de Galve, founded in 1696 by Spanish colonists, was in the area of Fort Barrancas at Naval Air Station Pensacola in northwest Florida, USA....

(1698–1719): the presidio included fort San Carlos de Austria (east of present Fort Barrancas
Fort Barrancas
Fort Barrancas or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas is a historic United States military fort in the Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically on Naval Air Station Pensacola....

) and a village with church; in 1719, the area was captured by the French, but in 1722, after a hurricane, the settlement was burned before return to Spanish control;

Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (1722–1752): this next presidio was on Santa Rosa Island
Santa Rosa Island, Florida
Santa Rosa Island[p] is a 40-mile barrier island located in the U.S. state of Florida, thirty miles east of the Alabama state border...

near the site of present Fort Pickens
Fort Pickens
Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947...

, but hurricanes battered the island in 1741 and 1752, and the settlement was moved to the mainland; another hurricane in 1762 destroyed the remnants on the island.

Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (1754–1763): the final presidio was about five miles east of the first presidio, over in the present-day historic district, now known as Seville Square, in downtown Pensacola, named from the "Panzacola" tribe.

The present city of Pensacola was established by the Spanish in 1698 as a buffer against French settlement in Louisiana

Louisiana (New France)

Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...

. Another important Spanish settlement had been established at Saint Marks in Wakulla county (San Marcos de Apalache) in 1733. The Spanish settlers established a unique Creole

Louisiana Creole people

Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...

culture in the region and brought in the first African slaves to the area and introduced the Roman Catholic Church.

(ETYMOLOGY) The city was named after the Panzacola Indians

Pensacola people

, a tribe that lived near the bay when the Spanish arrived.

The area was first referred to as "Panzacola" in 1686, when a maritime expedition, headed by Juan Enríquez Barroto and Antonio Romero, visited Pensacola Bay in February 1686. Barroto and Romero had orders to survey essentially the entire northern Gulf coast from San Marcos de Apalache (near Tallahassee) westward, looking for the new French "lost colony" of René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (which was found at Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...

, Texas in 1689). The diary of their ensign Juan Jordán de Reina recorded that Native Americans in the region around Pensacola Bay called the area "Panzacola" after the Panzacola Indians of the area, and he judged the bay, "the best that I have ever seen in my life."

In 1693, seven years later, Mexican Viceroy Gaspar de Sandoval Silva y Mendoza, the Conde de Galve (1688–1696), sent General Andrés de Pez

Andrés de Pez

Andrés de Pez y Malzarraga was a Spanish Naval commander and founder of Pensacola, Florida.-Life and career:Andrés de Pez was born into a naval tradition. His father and older brother were Spanish Naval captains...

to explore the north Gulf coast from Pensacola Bay to the mouth of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. The renowned Mexican scientist, mathematician and historian, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora

Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora

Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. A polymath and writer, he held many colonial government and academic positions.-Early career:...

, accompanied Pez. The Pez-Sigüenza expedition consisted of two ships, leaving Veracruz

Veracruz

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

in late March 1693 and reaching Pensacola in early April. The Spanish re-christened Pensacola Bay as "Bahía Santa María de Galve" (after the Virgin Mary and the Conde de Galve, still Viceroy of Mexico at the time). Arriving back in Mexico, Sigüenza wrote a glowing report and enthusiastically endorsed the notion of a settlement on the bay, in his letter to the viceroy. One of the expedition's goals was to determine how flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

and fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

in the Pensacola region could benefit the Spanish. Charged with such a task, Siguenza, prone to exaggeration, described a veritable paradise, teeming with food resources and ample economic opportunities. The Mexican savant also wrote detailed descriptions of waterways in the area and described abundant trees on Blackwater River

Blackwater River (Florida)

The Blackwater River of Florida is a river rising in southern Alabama and flowing through the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico. The river enters Florida in Okaloosa County and flows through Santa Rosa County to Blackwater Bay, an arm of Pensacola Bay. The river passes through Blackwater...

and East River

East River

The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...

as "lofty and stout, suitable for building ships of any draft". Overlooking the many drawbacks that Sigüenza reduced in his report, the Spanish Crown endorsed the settlement of Pensacola Bay on June 13, 1694. A year later, in 1695, Andrés de Arriola inspected both the mouth of the Mississippi River and Pensacola Bay but did not find the bay to be the paradise Sigüenza had described. Preoccupied with King William's War

King William's War

The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...

(1689–1697), however, the Spanish delayed settlement of Pensacola until 1698.

Previously, Pensacola Bay had been known as "Bahía Santa María de Filipina" as it was named so by Tristan de Luna when he founded the area's first settlement. "Panzacola" was affirmed as the area's name by a royal order of Spanish King Ferdinand VI in 1757.

The Spanish resettled Pensacola in November 1698 under the direction of the first governor, Andrés de Arriola.

The early years of settlement were extremely tenuous; the soil was poor, it was irregularly resupplied, and it was seen as an unpopular military posting due to disease, heat, and the poor conditions. French explorers had hoped to colonize the same site, and ended up founding Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

in 1699. This presence presented a risk to the Spanish, who had opposed the French in the Nine Years' War. Incursions into Spanish territory by traders from the Province of Carolina

Province of Carolina

The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...

proved to be more problematic, especially after Queen Anne's War

Queen Anne's War

Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...

(1702–1713) made the French and Spanish allies against the English. During the conflict English-allied Creek

Creek people

The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...

Indians made repeated raids in the Pensacola area, and twice besieged the fort

Siege of Pensacola (1707)

The Siege of Pensacola was two separate attempts in 1707 by English-supported Creek Indians to capture the town and fortress of Pensacola, then one of two major settlements in Spanish Florida. The first attempt, in August 1707, resulted in the destruction of the town, but Fort San Carlos de...

in 1707. The Indian population of northern Florida was virtually wiped out by English raids in the war, and those who survived fled to Pensacola, Mobile, and St. Augustine.

French period (1719-1722)

Governor of French Louisiana

French Louisiana

The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions:* first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France; and,...

, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, took Pensacola for France on May 14, 1719, arriving with his fleet and a large ground force of Indian warriors. The Spanish commander of Pensacola, Metamoras, had not heard that war had been declared between France and Spain, and his garrison was so small that he felt it would be useless to resist: at four o'clock in the afternoon, he surrendered on the conditions that private citizens and property should not be disturbed and the garrison should march out with honors of war and be shipped to Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

in French vessels. Bienville left about sixty men at Pensacola and sailed away.

The French, who had established settlements also further west at Mobile

Mobile, Alabama

and Biloxi, held Pensacola during this period. Overall, French influences were generally dominant among the Creoles on the Gulf Coast west of Pensacola, with Spanish influences dominant among Creole

Louisiana Creole people

s in the modern Panhandle. A hurricane drove the French from Pensacola in 1722 and the Spanish moved the town from the storm-vulnerable barrier island to the mainland.

The French captured the settlement in 1719 and remained in control for three years. They burned the settlement upon their retreat in 1722.

Second Spanish period (1722-1763)

The area was rebuilt, but ravaged by hurricanes in 1752 and 1761.

Population growth remained modest during this period, which was characterized by missionary work

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

with Indians and the development of Pensacola as an important port and military outpost. Conflict with French and British interests was common, although Spain's informal alliance with France meant that the greatest threat was from English pirates, smugglers and especially merchants, whose ability to sell goods more cheaply than Spanish companies diminished local support for the Bourbon monarchy

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...

in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

British West Florida (1763-1781)

Following Great Britain's victory in the Seven Years War

Great Britain in the Seven Years War

The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1756 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the...

(known in America as the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

) in 1763 the British took control of Pensacola under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763)

Treaty of Paris (1763)

The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...

. It is during the British occupation that the area began to prosper. Pensacola was made the capital of British West Florida

British West Florida

West Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783 when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris. Effective British control had ended in 1781 when Spain had captured Pensacola...

and the town was laid out in its current form around the Seville Square district by surveyor and engineer Elias Durnford

Elias Durnford

Elias Durnford was a British army officer and civil engineer who is best known for surveying the town of Pensacola and laying out a city plan based on two public places ....

.

At the end of the massive French and Indian War of 1756-1763, the British gained access to inland areas as far west as the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

and the French were expelled from the North American mainland. Louisiana was transferred from French to Spanish control. West and East Florida were transferred from French and Spanish control to British control. The British colony of West Florida, with its capital at Pensacola, included all of the Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River, as well as southwestern Alabama, southern Mississippi, and the Florida parishes of modern Louisiana. West Florida included the important cities of Pensacola, Mobile, Biloxi

Biloxi, Mississippi

Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....

, Baton Rouge, and, disputably, Natchez

Natchez, Mississippi

Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...

. In 1763, the British laid out Pensacola's modern street plan. This period included the major introduction of the slave-based cotton plantation economy and new settlement by Protestant Anglo-British-Americans and black slaves. British East Florida, with its capital at Saint Augustine, included the rest of modern Florida, including the eastern part of the Panhandle.

During the American Revolution

American Revolution

(1775–1783), Georgia, including inland Alabama, revolted against the British crown, but East and West Florida, like the Canadian colonies, remained loyal to the British. Many British Loyalists, or Tories

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

, settled in Florida during this period. Like the French, the Spanish allied themselves with the American rebels. In 1781, in the Battle of Pensacola

Battle of Pensacola (1781)

The Siege of Pensacola was fought in 1781, the culmination of Spain's conquest of the British province West Florida during the American War of Independence.-Background:...

, the Spanish attacked the British there and succeeded in capturing West Florida for Spain. At the end of the war with the American victory over the British, East Florida was also transferred to Spain.

Third Spanish period (1781-1819)

The Spanish recaptured Pensacola in 1781 and retained control (excepting three short-lived invasions by American General Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

in 1813, 1814, and 1818) until 1821, when the Adams-Onís Treaty

Adams-Onís Treaty

The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty or the Purchase of Florida, was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that gave Florida to the U.S. and set out a boundary between the U.S. and New Spain . It settled a standing border dispute between the two...

ceded all of Spanish Florida

Spanish Florida

to the United States.

The Spanish now controlled the entire Gulf Coast and Mississippi River Valley, a region vital for shipment of American goods such as cotton, tobacco, and corn. This situation was not acceptable for the American Southern settlers of inland Alabama and Mississippi, who were rapidly expanding profitable cotton plantations (and hoping to expel the remaining Indians from the entire region). After the transfer of the vast Louisiana territory

Louisiana Territory

The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed to Missouri Territory...

from Spain to France and the subsequent purchase of the region by the United States, Spanish East and West Florida were surrounded by American Southern states and territories. Anglo-American settlement of West Florida increased and the Spanish, busy with growing rebellions throughout Mexico and South America, were not able to focus on fortifying the region. In 1810, American settlers in the part of West Florida west of the Pearl River declared the West Florida Republic a state independent from Spain. The region was annexed into the new state of Louisiana in 1812. The residents of the prosperous Alabama and Mississippi territories, eager to avoid being trapped in landlocked states without seaports, agitated to annex more of West Florida. They succeeded in doing so with the military aid of General Andrew Jackson. He captured much of West Florida in the 1810s. He briefly returned Pensacola to Spain but areas further west became part of the new states of Mississippi (1817) and Alabama (1819).
In 1819, the United States once again captured Pensacola and, in 1821, all of modern Florida was transferred to the United States. Residents of Pensacola, where Anglo-Southerners now outnumbered Creoles, voted to become part of Alabama. However, as Pensacola was the largest city and most important port in Florida, Pensacola remained part of the new American Florida territory, giving Florida its current borders for the first time.

First United States period (1821-1861)

In 1825, the area for the Pensacola Navy Yard was designated and Congress appropriated $6,000 for a lighthouse. The first permanent Protestant Christian congregation (First United Methodist Church) was established in 1827.

The Pensacola area is home to three historic U.S. forts, Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947...

, Fort Barrancas

Fort Barrancas

Fort Barrancas or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas is a historic United States military fort in the Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically on Naval Air Station Pensacola....

, and Fort McRee

Fort McRee

Fort McRee, was a historic military fort constructed by the United States, on the eastern tip of Perdido Key, to defend Pensacola and its important natural harbor...

, as well as Barrancas National Cemetery

Barrancas National Cemetery

Barrancas National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, in the city of Pensacola, Florida. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2005, had 32,643 interments.- History :...

. The city and Fort Barrancas were the site of the 1814 Battle of Pensacola. Fort Pickens was completed in 1834. It holds the distinction of being the only Southern fort to be held by the United States throughout the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Andrew Jackson served as Florida's first territorial governor, residing at the capital of Pensacola. He was noted for his persecution of Indians and Creoles, many of whom left the territory to be replaced by an increasing number of Anglo Southern settlers, including many planters and black slaves. To determine a location for a territorital capital, riders on horseback were sent on the Old Spanish Trail from the territory's two main cities, east from Pensacola and west from Saint Augustine. The riders met at the Indian village of Tallahassee, which became the new territorial capital city. As cotton plantations flourished, Florida's growing population came to be 50% slave. In the Panhandle, most slaves outside of Pensacola were concentrated in the new capital of Tallahassee and in the plantation counties near the Georgia border, notably Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, and Jefferson. Sandier areas near the coast were less dominated by plantation agriculture.

On March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state. Its admission had been slowed by the struggle with the Seminole Indians in sparsely populated South Florida and the need to wait for a free state (Iowa) to enter along with it. North Florida, including the Panhandle, remained the most populated part of the state.

Confederate period (1861–1865)

When Florida seceded from the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

on January 10, 1861, remaining Union forces in the city evacuated to Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens

. The Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

then held Pensacola until the northern invasion of the city in May 1862. Fort Pickens was never captured by Confederate forces.

In January 1861, Florida became the third state to secede from the Union and join the newly formed Confederate States of America. Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens

, one of three forts guarding the entrance to Pensacola Bay, was held by Federal troops. In the Battle of Santa Rosa Island

Battle of Santa Rosa Island

The Battle of Santa Rosa Island was an unsuccessful Confederate attempt to take Union-held Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, Florida.- Background :...

, the city of Pensacola and the two Confederate forts fought against an invading United States army and forces stationed at Fort Pickens. Pensacola was conquered by U.S. troops and most of the city was burned. Residents evacuated inland to Greenville, Alabama

Greenville, Alabama

Greenville is a city in Butler County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census, the population was 7,228. The city is the county seat of Butler County and is known as the Camellia City. The movement to change the Official Alabama State Flower from the goldenrod to the camellia originated in...

. The Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory

Stephen Mallory

Stephen Russell Mallory served in the United States Senate as, Senator from Florida from 1850 to the secession of his home state and the outbreak of the American Civil War. For much of that period, he was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs...

, was a Pensacolian and is buried in the city's historic Saint Michael's Cemetery.

Second United States period (1865-Present)

The ravages of Reconstruction greatly damaged the region's economy. Florida was readmitted to the Union on 25 June 1868.

Cotton, worked largely by the sharecropper descendants of freed slaves, remained crucial to the economy but slowly economic diversification and urbanization reached the region. Vast pine forests, their wood used to produce paper, became an economic basis. A brickmaking industry thrived at the turn of the twentieth century. Shipping declined in importance, but the military and manufacturing became prominent. Harvesting of fish and other seafood are also vital. Aside from cotton and pine trees, major crops include peanuts, soybeans, and corn. The Historic Pensacola Museum of Industry

Historic Pensacola's Museum of Industry

The Museum of Industry is part of the Historic Pensacola Village complex in the Pensacola Historic District. It describes in detail the main industries of early Pensacola: fishing/ice, clay/brickmaking, lumber, and transportation.-The Building:...

gives a detailed account of these turn-of-the-century foundations of the local economy.

Having cultural ties to the old South

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, racism was very evident in the culture of the city in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1972, newly desegregated Escambia High School

Escambia High School

Escambia High School is a high school located in Escambia County, Florida.Malcolm Thomas is the current Superintendent of Schools for the Escambia County School District-History:...

endured a bloody race riot

Race riot

A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...

after black students fought the school's band and other white students when the band played the school song, "Dixie

Dixie (song)

Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...

," at a football game. After a larger riot in 1974, the school's mascot, a rebel

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

, was subsequently changed to a gator

Gator

Gator is often used as an aphaeresis of the word "alligator".Gator may refer to:*Gator , a 1976 action movie starring and directed by Burt Reynolds*Gator , a swimming pool game*Gatorade, a popular brand of sports drink...

.

The late twentieth century saw a dramatic increase in the beach-based tourism industry and the rapid development of previously pristine wilderness beaches, particularly those around Panama City

Panama City, Florida

-Personal income:The median income for a household in the city was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830...

, Fort Walton Beach and Destin, Florida

Destin, Florida

Destin is a city located in Okaloosa County, Florida. It is a principal city of the Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.Located on Florida's Emerald Coast, Destin is known for its white beaches and emerald green waters...

. The region did not receive the twentieth century influx of northern retirees and Latin American immigrants and remained an Old South stronghold of mostly (excepting military families) native-born residents. Only in the last few decades has the tourism and retiree beachfront development characteristic of peninsular Florida reached the region. However, this development is now rapid and dramatic, despite periodic hurricane damage.

Many barrier island areas have gone from sand dunes and water to condos and houses; other areas remain undeveloped, especially the beautiful Gulf Islands National Seashore

Gulf Islands National Seashore

Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of 7 islands...

Other notable facts

From 1886 to 1887, the famous Apache Indian chief Geronimo

Geronimo

Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...

was imprisoned in Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens

, along with several of his warriors and their families. Fort Pickens is now a part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore

Gulf Islands National Seashore

, and as such, is administered by the United States Park Service.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.