Florida's climate first drew people to the area more than 10 000 years ago People known as Paleoindians arrived searching for mineral water sources The first American Indian settlements were near wetlands By the year 700 CE tribes such as the Timucua and Apalachee began to form For the next 700 years these tribes were the only people to live in the area European explorers saw the Florida coastline for the first time in 1498 A few years later in 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first European to go ashore He named the area La Florida meaning land of flowers Approximately 300,000 American Indians lived in the Florida region at the time of Ponce de León's arrival However within 80 years slavery and disease resulted in death for most American Indians
The Ponce de León Inlet Light is one of the tallest lighthouses in the United States Members of the Calusa tribe killed Ponce de León in 1521 when he tried to establish a colony on their land Other Spanish explorers tried to establish colonies in Florida but all failed until 1565 That was the year Pedro Menéndez founded the city of St Augustine It was one of the first permanent European settlements in North America 7
From the 1600s to the mid 1800s various powers fought over Florida The Spanish and French both had towns or forts in Florida The British invaded several times Members of other native tribes came to Florida in the 1700s to escape wars farther to the north Some of these tribes merged to become the Seminoles From 1817 to 1858 there were three wars between the Seminoles and the US Army Known as the Seminole Wars all three conflicts started because of invasions by the US Army Between the second and third wars more US citizens moved to Florida With the increased population of white settlers Florida joined the United States as a new state in 1845 After the third Seminole War ended in 1858 only 200 Seminoles were still alive They struggled to rebuild their society
Established in 1565 St Augustine is one of the oldest cities in the United States Natural resources were one of the major reasons new people moved to Florida Large amounts of land were available for farming Sugarcane fruit and lumber were major exports And the state’s long coastline offered ports for shipping and naval activity The modern Florida economy is built on many of the same things including agriculture The state’s mild climate makes it great for farming 9
