Spanish Florida

The Spanish colonial territory of Florida (from the 16th century until its cession to the United States in 1821), notable for serving as a refuge where enslaved people fleeing the American South could find freedom, with Spanish policies and geography enabling free Black communities to form and defend themselves.

Claims that use this term

• A Black free-and-fugitive fort in Spanish Florida triggered the Seminole Wars and Jackson’s conquest
• Enslaved people fled south to freedom in Spanish Florida, not only north.
• Fugitive African slaves formed free self-governing communities under Spanish Florida