one of the most southern of the United States of North America, is a peninsula stretching far into the Gulf of Mexico, and to the Atlantic Ocean, comprised between the parallels of 25° and 31° N. latitude, and the meridians of 80° and 87° 35' W. longitude. It is 350 miles in length, and from 50 to 250 in breadth, containing 59,268 square miles. Florida is bounded on the N. by Alabama and Georgia, E. by the Atlantic Ocean, S. and W. by the Gulf of Mexico. During the greater part of the sixteenth century, however, the southern part of the eastern coast of North America was comprehended under the name of Florida; and in 1763, when ceded to Great Britain by Spain, it extended as far W. as the Mississippi, the northern boundary being the St Mary's river, from the ocean to its source, thence by a right line to the junction of the Flint and Appalachicola rivers, thence up the Appalachicola to the parallel of 31° N., and thence due W. on that parallel to the Mississippi river. That portion lying between the Mississippi and Perdido rivers is now included in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, while that part lying E. of the Perdido is in Florida.
It is now generally conceded that Florida was first discovered in 1497 by Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian in the English service, whence a right to it was claimed by the English; and it was included with Georgia in the charter Florida, granted by Charles II. to Carolina. In 1512 it was more fully explored by Juan Ponce de Leon, a companion of Columbus in his second voyage. He embarked from Porto Rico March 3, 1512, with three ships fitted out at his own expense. On Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards "Pascua Florida," land was seen, to which he gave the name Florida. He was subsequently appointed governor, and attempted, in 1521, to colonize the newly discovered land; but he was attacked by the Indians, many of his men were killed, and he himself mortally wounded.
In May 1539, Hernando de Soto arrived in the bay of Spiritu Santo, and passed across the country to the Mississippi. In February 1562 the French Calvinists sent an expedition under the command of Ribault, who discovered the St John's River; and taking formal possession of the continent, left a small colony on Lemon Island, while he returned to France. The colonists were hospitably received by the natives, but suffered many hardships, and were on the point of abandoning their settlement when Ribault again arrived from France, bringing supplies and reinforcements.
But the Spaniards, who not yet renounced their claim, actuated by jealousy against the Calvinists, sent an expedition under Pedro Melendez, who arrived in August 1565, and on the 4th day of September attacked and captured the French, who were all hanged on trees, with the inscription "not as Frenchmen, but as heretics." Three days afterwards the Spaniards landed in the harbour of St Augustine, on the Atlantic coast, and laid the foundation of that town, which is the oldest, by more than forty years, in the United States. Houses in it are yet standing which are said to have been built before Virginia was colonized.
In 1586, St Augustine was taken and pillaged by Sir Francis Drake. In 1597 the French, under Dominic de Gourges attacked and defeated the Spaniards, and, by way of retaliation, hung their prisoners on trees, with the inscription, "not as Spaniards, but as assassins."
In 1702 Col. Moore besieged the town for three months; but the Spaniards coming to its relief, he was obliged to retreat. Another attempt was made in 1740 by General Oglethorpe of Georgia to take St Augustine, but without success. In 1763 Florida was ceded to Great Britain by Spain, who received Havana in exchange. The British government subsequently gave great encouragement to agriculture, and numerous colonists poured into the country from various parts of Europe, and the settlements were in a most flourishing condition. It was, however, by a well-concerted scheme of the Spaniards, recaptured in 1781, and guaranteed to them in the peace of 1783. In 1821 Spain ceded the Floridas to the United States, and in July following it was, in behalf of the latter, formally occupied by General Andrew Jackson. Since its acquisition by the United States, Florida has been the seat of many sanguinary conflicts with the Seminoli Indians, led on by their daring chief Osceola. The savages, although a mere handful, managed to baffle for seven years the United States soldiers, by retreating to their swamps; and before they were finally subdued, in 1842, the expense to government was many millions of dollars. In 1846 the greater part of the tribe was removed beyond the Mississippi river, in pursuance of a treaty made with the U.S. government. In 1838 a state constitution was adopted preparatory to admission into the Union, which, however, was not consummated until March 3, 1845.
The executive power in Florida is vested in a governor elected by the people for four years, and receiving a salary of $1500 a-year. The legislative power is in the hands of a senate of 19 members elected biennially, and a house of representatives of 40 members, elected annually, and both by popular vote. The judiciary consists, 1st, of a supreme court composed of a chief and two associate judges, who hold four sessions annually, one in each of the following places—Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Marianna; and, 2d, of four circuit courts. Florida has but one member in the House of Representatives, and three electoral votes for the president. The assessed value of property in 1850 was $22,784,837, ordinary expenses, $45,000 per annum.
Chief towns—Tallahassee, pop. 1391; Jacksonville, pop. 1045. Tallahassee is the capital. Florida is generally level, probably never elevated more than 250 or 300 feet above the sea. The southern part of the peninsula is covered with large sheets of water called the Ever-glares, of immense extent, and filled with islands, and which, it is supposed, may be rendered available by drainage. The central portion of the peninsula is somewhat elevated, the highest point being 170 feet above the level of the ocean, and gradually declining towards the coast on each side.
The western coast of the state has a number of bays and rivers—Chatham, Charlotte Harbour, Tampa, Apalachicola, Choctawatchee, and Pensacola bays. The last affords an excellent harbour. There is also a chain of lakes running through the middle of the state, the largest and most southern of which is Lake Okechobee. The rivers are numerous, and are navigable for second-class vessels. In the N.W. is the Perdido, a small river separating Florida from Alabama, followed in order by the Escambia, the Blackwater, the Yellow-water, the Choctawatchee, and the Chipola, but none of great length; and all entering from the state of Alabama, discharge their waters in the Gulf of Mexico, with the exception of the Chipola, an affluent of the Apalachicola, which last also flows through Florida.
The rivers flowing into the Atlantic are the St Mary's (dividing Florida from Georgia), the St John's river, and Indian river. The St John's is navigable for 100 miles by vessels drawing 8 feet water. Among the other rivers on the western coast of Florida may be mentioned the Ocklockonee, the Suwanee, the Amasura, and the Charlotte.
The soil of this state is generally sandy, except in the Soll and hummocks, where it is mixed with clay; yet, owing to the productive climate, it is highly productive in many parts. The best lands, however, of the state lie useless at present for want of drainage, and can be had at $5 or $10 per acre. Florida is particularly well adapted for grazing. The number of farms in Florida in 1850 was 4304, containing 349,049 acres of improved land, and yielding 1,996,809 bushels of Indian corn, 66,586 of oats, 135,539 of peas and beans, 757,226 of sweet potatoes, 1,075,090 lbs. of rice, 998,614 lbs. of tobacco, 18,052,400 lbs. of cotton, 23,247 lbs. of wool, 371,498 lbs. of butter, 18,015 lbs. of cheese, 2510 tons of hay, and 2,750,000 lbs. of sugar; live stock valued at $2,880,058, and slaughtered animals $514,685.
Florida exports about 80,000 to 100,000 bales of cotton annually. The capacity and production, &c., may be stated as follows for the year 1854:
- Number of bales of 400 lbs. produced: 90,000 - Labourers employed: 23,000 - Acres in cultivation: 175,000
Florida abounds in forest trees, among which are the live oak (highly esteemed for ship-building), and other varieties of oak, swamp cypress, pine, hickory, magnolia, dogwood, and laurel. The Palma christi or castor-oil bean here becomes a large tree. On the islands and keys box-wood, satin-wood, mastic, and lignumvite, abound; arrowroot grows wild, and ginger and cinnamon are easily cultivated. The pine grows in that portion of the state near Indian river. Fruit trees in great variety find a congenial soil and climate in Florida (except in a few seasons of unusual severity). The lime, lemon, orange, olive, cocoanut, plantain, pine-apple, banana, guava, citron, pimento, coffee, pepper, cloves, &c., may all be successfully cultivated.
Florida is not a manufacturing state. There were in Manufacture 1850 but 121 establishments, producing annually $500 and tares upwards. Of these, the cotton factories employed 28 males; flour and grist mills, 14; saw and planing mills, 489; turpentine making, 75; tanning and currying, 12; brick making, 97. Value of home-made manufactures, $75,582.
Very little progress has been made in works of internal communication, nor is it to be expected in a state so thinly peopled, and whose settlements for the most part lie contiguous to some navigable waters. In 1863 there were 54 miles of railway completed, one connecting St Mark's with Tallahassee, and the other Iola and St Joseph's.
There is no system of free schools in Florida, nor any college. According to the census report of 1850, there were 69 public schools, and 34 academies and other schools.
Of the 177 churches in Florida, 56 belonged to the Roman Catholics, 10 to the Episcopalians, 1 to the Free Church, 87 to the Methodists, 16 to the Presbyterians, 5 to the Baptist, and 2 to minor sects, having a total accommodation of 44,960 sittings. Value of church property, $165,400.
### Statistics of Florida
| Names of Counties | Nativities, Dwellings, &c. | Education and Religion | |-------------------|----------------------------|------------------------| | | United States | Foreign Countries | Dwellings | Families | Academies and Private Schools | Public Schools | | | | | | | Paghs. | Annual Income | Paghs. | Annual Income | Total Education | White Scholars during year | Whites under 5 years old | Whites over 5 years old | Whites able to read & write | Accumulation of church persons | | Alachua | 854 | 9 | 274 | 274 | 30 | 60 | 960 | 93 | 223 | 65 | 375 | 200 | 15 | 635 | | Benton | 325 | 10 | 113 | 117 | 44 | 105 | 377 | 95 | 197 | 250 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 3600 | | Calhoun | 598 | 12 | 165 | 165 | 162 | 2356 | 2356 | 278 | 1471 | 363 | 2700 | 2700 | 2700 | 2700 | | Columbia | 1830 | 8 | 569 | 569 | | | | | | | | | | | | Dade | 36 | 85 | 23 | 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | David | 936 | 69 | 451 | 455 | | | | | | | | | | | | Escambia | 1337 | 469 | 583 | 583 | 25 | 8420 | 269 | 5280 | 5700 | 415 | 873 | 197 | 2500 | 3600 | | Franklin | 528 | 273 | 261 | 261 | 100 | 2900 | 30 | 350 | 3250 | 152 | 315 | 100 | 1500 | 1500 | | Gadsden | 2153 | 25 | 684 | 684 | 180 | 3600 | 300 | 3900 | 7200 | 454 | 1638 | 49 | 7300 | 7300 | | Hamilton | 1021 | 301 | 302 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hillsborough | 801 | 283 | 257 | 257 | 60 | 1000 | 120 | 1400 | 2400 | 250 | 432 | 132 | 660 | 660 | | Holmes | 684 | 2 | 185 | 187 | | | | | | | | | | | | Jackson | 2177 | 18 | 550 | 577 | 40 | 1000 | 172 | 4300 | 426 | 1173 | 280 | 3900 | 3900 | 3900 | | Jefferson | 1562 | 39 | 520 | 520 | 47 | | | | | | | | | | | Leon | 1828 | 73 | 737 | 737 | 349 | | | | | | | | | | | Levy | 146 | 10 | 64 | 64 | | | | | | | | | | | | Madison | 1902 | 11 | 458 | 458 | 100 | | | | | | | | | | | Marion | 1358 | 16 | 394 | 394 | | | | | | | | | | | | Monroe | 479 | 1882 | 420 | 443 | 73 | 1300 | 85 | 1150 | 2450 | 241 | 592 | 154 | 1200 | 1200 | | Nassau | 363 | 9 | 188 | 188 | | | | | | | | | | | | Orange | 66 | 6 | 55 | 55 | | | | | | | | | | | | Putnam | 379 | 7 | 108 | 108 | | | | | | | | | | | | St Johns | 184 | 63 | 321 | 345 | 160 | 1450 | 50 | 100 | 1550 | 375 | 552 | 100 | 1700 | 1700 | | St Lucie | 49 | 50 | 22 | 22 | | | | | | | | | | | | Santa Rosa | 1347 | 56 | 588 | 587 | 60 | 1000 | 100 | 1750 | 2750 | 239 | 815 | 178 | 1600 | 1600 | | Wakulla | 724 | 23 | 227 | 229 | 22 | 419 | 20 | 240 | 659 | 88 | 450 | 114 | 1250 | 1250 | | Walton | 827 | 37 | 267 | 267 | 35 | | | | | | | | | | | Washington | 913 | 29 | 273 | 275 | | | | | | | | | | |