Chapter 1 Discovery of Florida The first European attempt at a settlement in what became the United States was made in 1526 only 34 years after Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World This settlement was San Miguel de Guadalupe founded by Spain on North America’s Atlantic coast It happened nearly 60 years before the founding of Roanoke which is often considered the first settlement in North America The Old City Gates once the only entrance into St Augustine are now a landmark of the St Augustine Historic District 4
Like Roanoke San Miguel de Gualdape was doomed to fail The dream of a Spanish lawyer named Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón the outpost lasted only two months Native American attacks disease their leader’s death and conflict with each other proved too much for these settlers as they struggled to exist on the coast of what is now Georgia or southern South Carolina Of the 500 people who sailed from the settlement of Santo Domingo in the West Indies only 150 survived to return After that failure Spain made several more attempts at establishing a foothold on the Florida coast and finally succeeded St Augustine Florida about 40 miles 64 kilometers south of today’s Jacksonville is the oldest permanent European settlement in the United States It was founded as San Augustín on September 8 1565 The founder Pedro Menéndez de Avilés claimed this sheltered harbor and all of the land called La Florida in the name of his king Felipe II Pedro Menéndez de Avilés 1519-1574 5
THE NAME OF LA FLORIDA Juan Ponce de León first saw Florida shores on April 2 1513 Easter was coming so he named the land Pascua Florida or Floral Easter It became known as La Florida No written records exist to confirm the popular legend that Ponce was searching for a fountain of youth Juan Ponce de León 1474-1521 All of Spain’s explorations and early colonizing were linked to spreading the Roman Catholic faith The Spanish king and conquistadors saw themselves as agents of the Catholic Church in America viewing other sects as a threat to the true religion They believed that having left the Catholic Church Protestants were guilty of rebellion and could expect no mercy as Felipe II had written 6 A carving showing a Spanish priest and Native Americans planting a cross
These beliefs help explain the cruel behavior of many of the early explorers including Christopher Columbus Many Europeans believed that Native Americans held the wrong ideas about religion which needed to be changed On Hispaniola the West Indies island Columbus first colonized slavery harsh punishment and European diseases wiped out 200,000 of the 250,000 Arawak within 20 years When Columbus and his sailors came ashore the Arawaks ran to greet them carrying food water and gifts Other explorers and settlers followed the example set by Columbus These included Hernán Cortés in Mexico Francisco Pizarro in Peru English settlers in Virginia and Massachusetts and Dutch colonists in New York The Spaniards were mainly searching for God gold and glory That meant converting Native Americans to Catholicism finding gold and silver to take back to their king and winning fame and honor for themselves But another very important goal was finding land for people to live on 7
