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Florida Web Sites: European Influence

Many of the following Web sites will be of interest to Florida educators. Please be aware that links may change at any time, and that neither the Florida Center for Instructional Technology nor the Florida Department of Education is responsible for the content of external Web sites.

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de Soto, Hernando

Catholic Encyclopedia: Hernando de Soto
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04753a.htm
An extensive summary of de Soto's life that includes related links.

de Soto National Memorial
http://www.nps.gov/deso/
The official Web site by National Park Service for the de Soto Memorial in Brandon Florida. "The mission of De Soto National Memorial is to commemorate Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who landed on the southwest Florida coast in 1539."

Hernando de Soto Biography
http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Great_Republic_By_the_Master_Historians_Vol_I/hernandod_bh.html
An excerpt from the book entitled The Great Republic by the Master Historians.

Hernando de Soto's American Conquest
http://hernando-desoto.com/american-conquest.html
Highlights de Soto's Florida explorations. Includes illustrations and links.

Hernando de Soto's Trails Through North America
http://www.floridahistory.com/inset44.html
Contains extensive text, maps, pictures and other graphics of Hernando de Soto's expedition. A must see site for any individual or class studying this Spanish explorer.

Spanish Exploration and Conquest of Native America
http://www.vaca.com/
Select events from a drop-down menu to get the "complete report" about de Soto's and de Vaca's expeditions.

Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro

Florida of the French - Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/french.htm
Outlines the events that led to the transfer of power over Florida from the French to the Spanish. Menéndez de Avilés' conflict with the French leader Jean Ribault is included with the sequence of events.

Narváez, Pánfilo de

Florida of the Conquistador
http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/conquis.htm#second
Provides textual accounts of many expeditions around the time of Narváez, including his own.

Pánfilo de Narváez
http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/conquis.htm#second
A brief synopsis of the Narváez expedition.

Pánfilo de Narváez
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/NN/fna22.html
A short account of Narváez in Texas and Florida including several additional bibliographical resources.

The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (1542)
http://ojinaga.com/cabeza/Chapter1/chapter1.html
This site is devoted to the account written by Cabeza de Vaca of his expedition with Narváez around the Gulf coast and later when he was one of a few survivors of the expedition. Narváez is talked about in his account of the expedition.

Ponce de Leon, Juan

A History of St. Augustine
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/history/history.html
This St. Augustine site has information about Ponce de Leon and history of the city from 1500 to the present.

Florida's Fountain of Youth
http://www.progress.org/fountain.htm
This site is an except for George Stimpson's book, A Book About American History." The passage gives background information on Ponce de Leon and his expedition to find Florida's Fountain of Youth.

Ponce de Leon, Juan
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562257/Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n.html
An article offered by Encarta Encyclopedia that includes a short summary and a map.

Ponce de Leon, Juan
http://www.bartleby.com/65/po/PoncedeL.html
A concise summary of Ponce de Leon's life presented in a timeline fashion by The Columbia Encyclopedia.

Who was Ponce de Leon?
http://www.publicbookshelf.org/public_html/Our_Country_Vol_1/whowaspo_bf.html
An excerpt from the book Our Country published in the late 1800s.

Ribault, Jean

Florida of the French
http://www.floridahistory.org/floridians/french.htm
Several important Frenchmen were instrumental in the settlement of Florida and Jean Ribault was one of them. This site provides a summary of his achievements.

The Age of Spanish Exploration, Conquest, and Early Colonization
http://www.artifacts.org/conquest.htm
A timeline of events from 1513 to 1607 with a map of various explorations in North America.

American Revolution (1775-1781)

Paris Peace Treaty of 1783
http://www.civil-liberties.com/books/colony8.html
At the end of the American Revolution, the Treaty of Paris was signed and boundaries were set from the Great Lakes on the North to the Mississippi River on the west to Florida on the south. Afterwards, Florida belonged to Spain again.

French and Indian War (1754)

A Brief History of the French and Indian War
http://www.philaprintshop.com/frchintx.html
A brief history of the French and Indian War that includes maps of the era.

Spanish-American War (1898)

Miami and the Spanish-American War
http://www.historical-museum.org/history/war/campmiami.htm
An account of the city's involvement in the war.

War of 1812

Chapter 6: The War of 1812
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/amh/amh-06.htm
Beginning on page 123, there is an explanation of why Florida was involved in the War of 1812. This site also contains a map of Florida on page 136.

War of 1812, The
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/1812.htm
Summarizes the causes of this second war for independence.

Articles

Charolotta: The Failed Utopia
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/4791/charlotta.html
"The village of Charlotta in British East Florida was founded by a wealthy Englishman with a vision of an "Ideal society." The settlers of this experiment were street walkers and paupers who wanted the simpler things: life, liberty and a patch of land without palmettos." This web Site explains the history of this society.

Winds of Time that Shaped the State
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/4791/winds.html
Describes how Ft. Caroline might have been as important as St. Augustine.

Books

Rebeckah: A 19th Century Florida Woman
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/4791/rebeckah.html
A fictionalized book about a woman who lived in East Florida during the early 1800s.

Forts

Aboard the Underground Railroad: Fort Mose
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/fl2.htm
Learn about this free African American settlement that had an important impact on Florida history.

Fort Caroline
http://www.nps.gov/foca/
"Fort Caroline National Memorial was created to memorialize the Sixteenth Century French effort to establish a permanent colony in Florida."

Fort Castillo de San Marcos
http://www.metro-orlando.com/castillodesanmarcos/
A slide-show of the oldest remaining European fortification in the United States. (Located in St. Augustine.)

Fort Jefferson
http://www.nps.gov/drto/
Information about America's largest nineteenth-century fort.

Fort Matanzas National Monument
http://www.nps.gov/foma/
Includes maps, pictures, and information about the fort's history.

Fort Pickens
http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Pickens.html
Contains information about the fort, a map of its location, and a picture.

GORP: Fort Barrancas
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_ns/fl/his1_gul.htm
Includes information about the construction of the fort, its significance in wars, and its later years.

Mike McMillan's Fort McRee
http://www.geocities.com/yello_armadillo/mcree.htm
A virtual tour of the fort as it once existed, complete with 3-D images.

Missions

Life at Early Florida Missions and Indian Villages
http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/places/missions.htm
A sixth-grade lesson plan for students who are learning about missions that took place in Florida in the 1600s and 1700s.

Mission of Nombre de Dios
http://www.oldcity.com/mission/
Offers details about the first Spanish mission in North America that took place in 1565 near St. Augustine.

 

 
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