Fort Mose: Difference between revisions
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==Historical background== |
==Historical background== |
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As early as 1687, the Spanish government had begun to offer asylum to slaves in British colonies and in 1693 that asylum was made official by the Spanish Crown, that made it known that runaways would find freedom in Florida, in return for [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] conversion and a term of four years of service to the Crown.<ref>Riordan, Patrick: ''Finding Freedom in Florida: Native Peoples, African Americans, and Colonists, 1670-1816'', pages 25-44. Florida Historical Quarterly 75(1), 1996.</ref> In effect, Spain created a [[Maroon (people)|maroon]] colony as a front-line defense against English attacks from the north. Spain also aimed to destabilize the [[plantation economy]] of the British colonies to the north by creating a free black community that would serve as a beacon for slaves seeking escape and refuge. |
As early as 1687, the Spanish government had begun to offer asylum to slaves in British colonies and in 1693 that asylum was made official by the Spanish Crown, that made it known that runaways would find freedom in Florida, in return for [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] conversion and a term of four years of service to the Crown.<ref>Riordan, Patrick: ''Finding Freedom in Florida: Native Peoples, African Americans, and Colonists, 1670-1816'', pages 25-44. Florida Historical Quarterly 75(1), 1996.</ref> In effect, Spain created a [[Maroon (people)|maroon]] colony as a front-line defense against English attacks from the north. Spain also aimed to destabilize the [[plantation economy]] of the British colonies to the north by creating a free black community that would serve as a beacon for slaves seeking escape and refuge.<ref>{{citation|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PwrovfJvlKsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=The many-headed hydra: sailors, slaves, commoners, and the hidden history of the revolutionary Atlantic|page=205|author=[[Peter Linebaugh]] and [[Marcus Rediker]]|publisher=Beacon Press|date=2001|isbn=9780807050071}}</ref> |
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==Fort Mose== |
==Fort Mose== |
Revision as of 01:27, 8 February 2012
Fort Mose Historic State Park | |
![]() Site of the old fort | |
Location | St. Johns County, Florida, USA |
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Nearest city | St. Augustine, Florida |
NRHP reference No. | 94001645 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 12, 1994[1] |
Designated NHL | October 12, 1994[2] |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Fort Mose Historic State Park (originally known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé) is a U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated as such on October 12, 1994)[2], located two miles north of St. Augustine, Florida, on the eastern edge of a marsh. The original site of the fort was uncovered in a 1986 archeological dig. The 24-acre site is now a Florida State Park, administered through the Anastasia State Recreation Area. Fort Mose was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994. The fort has also been known as Fort Moosa or Fort Mossa.
Fort Mose (pronounced "Moh-say") was the first free black settlement legally sanctioned in what would become the United States. The community began when Florida was a Spanish territory.
Historical background
As early as 1687, the Spanish government had begun to offer asylum to slaves in British colonies and in 1693 that asylum was made official by the Spanish Crown, that made it known that runaways would find freedom in Florida, in return for Catholic conversion and a term of four years of service to the Crown.[3] In effect, Spain created a maroon colony as a front-line defense against English attacks from the north. Spain also aimed to destabilize the plantation economy of the British colonies to the north by creating a free black community that would serve as a beacon for slaves seeking escape and refuge.[4]
Fort Mose
Incoming freedom seekers were recognized as free, taken into the Spanish militia and placed into service at the Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé military fort north of St. Augustine, which was established in 1738 by the Colonial Governor, Manuel de Montiano. The military leader at the fort was a Creole man of African origin, who was baptized as Francisco Menendez by the Spanish[5] Word of the existence of free black settlement reached the Province of South Carolina to the north and helped to set off the Stono Rebellion in September 1739. During the slave revolt, several dozen blacks attempted to reach Spanish Florida unsuccessfully.
In 1740, British forces led by James Oglethorpe attacked and destroyed the fort in the Siege of Fort Mose. During the siege, a force consisting of Spanish troops, Indian auxiliaries and free black militiamen counterattacked Oglethorpe's troops, forcing them back to Savannah. Because the fort was destroyed in the attack, its inhabitants relocated to St. Augustine, where they stayed until Fort Mose was rebuilt in 1752. After East Florida was ceded to the British in the Peace of Paris of 1763 most of the inhabitants, including many black militia troops, migrated to Cuba with the evacuating Spanish.[6]
Because Fort Mose became a haven for escaped slaves from the British colonies to the north, it is considered a precursor site of the Underground Railroad.[7]
See also
Sources
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. June 21, 2008.
- ^ a b "Fort Mose Site". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2008-06-20.
- ^ Riordan, Patrick: Finding Freedom in Florida: Native Peoples, African Americans, and Colonists, 1670-1816, pages 25-44. Florida Historical Quarterly 75(1), 1996.
- ^ Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker (2001), The many-headed hydra: sailors, slaves, commoners, and the hidden history of the revolutionary Atlantic, Beacon Press, p. 205, ISBN 9780807050071
- ^ Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone. p. 74
- ^ Landers, Jane and Darcie MacMahon: Fort Mose: Colonial America's Black Fortress of Freedom, University Press of Florida.(Landers 1999; Landers and MacMahon 1995).
- ^ Aboard the Underground Railroad - Fort Mose Site
External links
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- Fort Mose Historic State Park - official site
- Fort Mose Historical Society
- History of Fort Mose
- St. Johns County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- St. Johns County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Fort Mose at The National Park Service
- Fort Mose Site at The National Park Service - Links to the Past
- Fort Mose Historic State Park at Wildernet
- Legacy of Fort Mose - Archaeology Magazine
- Fort Mose: America's Black Colonial Fortress of Freedom at Florida Museum Of Natural History
- Fort Mose - ThinkQuest
- Fort Mose: A Legacy That Can Not Be Ignored - Blacksonville.com
- Fort Mose Historic Site
- Florida state parks
- Forts in Florida
- National Register of Historic Places in St. Johns County, Florida
- National Historic Landmarks in Florida
- Ghost towns in Florida
- Pre-state history of Florida
- Protected areas established in 1994
- Parks in St. Johns County, Florida
- Museums in St. Johns County, Florida
- History museums in Florida
- African American museums in Florida
- Spanish forts in the United States
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
- Florida state park stubs
- Fortification stubs
- African American stubs