Monthly Archives: February 2024
Escaping slavery through Florida in the 1820’s
Key Biscayne and the Cape Florida Light Between 1821 and 1825 the most frequent departure point for runaway slaves seeking freedom in the Bahamas was Key Biscayne. At the time, the area had no white inhabitants with the closest settlement after 1823 being Coole Hammock on the New River in what is now Fort Lauderdale. […]
Runaway slaves make a stand in Florida
For Black History Month, we’re sharing this excerpt from my most recent book, The American Conquest of Florida. The ultimate showdown over the future of Florida would take place on the banks of the Apalachicola River in Florida’s panhandle. The site is in present day Franklin County. John and Thomas Forbes The Forbes brothers were […]
The nation’s first underground railroad and Fort Mose
This is an excerpt from my book, Florida and the British, before the American Revolution King Charles II of Spain in 1693 issued a proclamation “giving liberty to all” runaway slaves provided they converted to Catholicism. It was effectively the response from Spain to England’s foundation of Charles Town. For several years prior to the […]
Deep Fake: When Seeing is Not Believing
Deep fake images have already been created and distributed showing Donald Trump getting arrested. These images are not real and the event did not happen. These images are synthetic yet it appears Trump got arrested. This, mind you, was made to show how far the technology has gone. It was done intentionally by someone who […]
Black History Month: The Monroe Doctrine and Slavery
This is an excerpt from my book: The American Conquest of Florida It’s not discussed much in relation to the Monroe Doctrine which is hailed as a triumph of American anti-imperialism. But what it was also doing was announcing to the British and the Spanish that our policy on slavery was really not the business […]
Lincoln’s Ghost: Now available in hardcover
A haunted White House, a naked Prime Minister, an ancient Indian Curse, and a never-ending ghostly party. The definitive collection of over two hundred years worth of Presidential ghost stories. The perfect mix of history, humor, speculation and campfire style ghost stories. Lincoln’s Ghost: Our Haunted Presidency is presented in an engaging manner for anyone with an interest […]
The Patriots War
This week on Jeffersonian Florida, we discuss the Patriots War of 1812-13 which was effectively the East Florida front of the War of 1812.
Fort Pickens – Civil War era portions
Fort Pickens played a huge role in the beginning of the Civil War (War Between the States). The fort which has similar style in its original conception to Fort Taylor in the Keys eventually gained new layers and batteries which are not included in this video.
Disney targets Florida in the early 1960’s
On this week’s Florida History Podcast, we begin our series on Walt Disney World and Central Florida with Walt Disney’s quest to build a second amusement park site – how locations such as Palm Beach County, St Louis and New York were strongly considered before settling on Central Florida. You can listen to the Florida […]
The Florida Squeeze 