The African American Heritage of Florida
"An important and gripping story. . . . All future renderings of Florida history will have to be cast in the light thrown by these scholarly chapters."--Michael Gannon, University of Florida Distinguished Service Professor"These carefully researched, cogently argued essays offer vivid and much-needed insights into the complicated story of race relations in Florida, in particular, the experience of Florida's African-Americans."--William H. Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History, Duke University "A remarkable set of scholarly essays [that] make a significant contribution to Florida's state history and to African American history in general. . . . They convey to general readers and students alike the active and dynamic role played by African Americans in American history."--Daniel H. Usner, Jr., Cornell UniversityAfricans participated in all the Spanish explorations and settlements in Florida, as they did throughout the Spanish Americas.  In Florida they helped establish St. Augustine and the free black community of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose.  Africans and African Americans fought in the many conflicts that wracked Florida, including the three Seminole Wars and the Civil War. Despite the oppressions of slavery and segregation, black Floridians struggled to establish their own communities, combat racism and economic deprivation, and negotiate the terms of their labor.  Against overwhelming odds, they helped develop communities like Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami, and they served as the critical labor force for the state's citrus, agricultural, and timber industries. For centuries, however, their heritage has been ignored.  These twelve essays examine the rich and substantial African American heritage of Florida, documenting African American contributions to the state's history from the colonial era to the late twentieth century. ContentsIntroduction, by David ColburnTraditions of African American Freedom and Community in Spanish Colonial Florida, by Jane LandersAfrican Religious Retentions in Florida, by Robert L. Hall"Yellow Silk Ferret Tied Round Their Wrists":  African Americans in British East Florida, 1763-1784, by Daniel SchaferA Troublesome Property:  Master-Slave Relations in Florida, 1821-1865, by Larry RiversBlacks and the Seminole Removal Debate, 1821-1835, by George KlosFreedom Was as Close as the River:  African Americans and the Civil War in Northeast Florida, by Daniel SchaferLaVilla, Florida, 1866-1887:  Reconstruction Dreams and the Formation of a Black Community, by Patricia KenneyBlack Violence in the New South:  Patterns of Conflict in Late-Nineteenth-Century Tampa, by Jeffrey AdlerNo Longer Denied:  Black Women in Florida, 1920-1950, by Maxine JonesUnder a Double Burden:  Florida's Black Feeble-Minded, 1920-1957, by Steven NollGroveland:  Florida's Little Scottsboro, by Steven Lawson, David Colburn, and Darryl PaulsonThe Pattern of Race Relations in Miami since the 1920s, by Raymond Mohl