The Colonial History of Pensacola (original) (raw)

This article begins by documenting the main reasons the Spanish failed to establish a self-sustaining colony in Florida during the First Spanish Period, 1513–1763. It then documents the steps Great Britain took during its short-lived possession of Florida (1763–1783) to occupy, govern and repopulate the territory with the ultimate goal of transforming it from an unproductive Spanish backwater into a civilized and profitable British colony, centered on the plantation system and black chattel slavery. Ultimately, this article contends, contrary to what some historians have argued, that the British, despite the brevity of their rule, greatly influenced the social, political and economic development of Florida.

The fall of Spanish Florida’s western mission chain between 1704 and 1706 brought the ravages of the English-sponsored Indian slave trade into South Florida, which had previously remained isolated from intensive European contact for more than a century. The peninsula was quickly evacuated, with Indian refugees coalescing both to the south around present-day Miami and the Florida Keys and to the north around St. Augustine. Final remnants of both groups independently settled in Cuba in 1760 and 1763, leaving the entire southern peninsula under Creek domination. This paper presents newly-discovered details and ongoing analysis of this process. Paper presented at the 60 annual Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina, November 13, 2003.

On the final day of January in 1766, the duly-appointed British Governor of West Florida gave a direct order to the commander of the Pensacola Garrison, Ralph Walsh, to open one of the fort gates to let in a Native American leader known as the Wolf King. In defiance of the governor’s expectations, Lieutenant Colonel Walsh refused the order. This was the beginning of a chain of often laugh-worthy events which compose what is here called The Walsh Affair. Why did Walsh refuse the order? What was the social and political context that allowed him to disobey the sitting governor? What were the consequences for those involved? This fascinating and far-reaching incident in local history reveals important details about life on the far-flung West Florida frontier where new and extreme circumstances allowed for novel social behaviors to develop.