The Florida Squeeze

The second part of our discussion on the War of 1812 in East Florida.

Fort Clinch is in Nassau County and played a crucial role in the Civil War.

The Kingsley Plantation in Duval County is managed by the National Park Service and discussion of it is featured in my new book, The American Conquest of Florida.

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.  […]

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 […]

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 […]

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  […]

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.