Lesson A-12 The French Attempt a Florida Foothold

By Scott Fields

I. Lesson Summary Summary Since its discovery by Europeans in 1513, four powerful countries – Spain, France, Great Britain, and the United States, have shaped Florida culturally, politically, and geographically. Because of the lengthy two-and-a-half century Spanish presence in La Florida, and an influential but short-lived British occupation, the roles of Spain and Great Britain in the early development of the state have been largely emphasized in most accounts of Florida history. But France, too, played an important role in the early European development of Florida. This lesson explores the origins and effects of France’s brief Florida experience. Objectives Students will:

1.) Become familiar with vocabulary terms and names important to France’s 16th-century attempt to establish a New World colony in the Spanish territory of La Florida;

2.) Understand the reasons for a French settlement in Spanish-held territory, as well as the strategic importance of the location chosen by the French for Fort Caroline; and

3.) Discuss the implications of the European Wars of Reformation on Florida history, especially their effect on the founding of St. Augustine.

U.S. History Event or Era This lesson can be used with any unit on the Age of Exploration, Colonization of the New World, or a World History unit on the European Wars of Reformation in the 1500s. Grade Level This lesson is designed for middle school and high school; however, it can be adapted for upper elementary school as well. Materials The materials needed for this lesson include: “Overhead Transparency A-12-1”; overhead projector; “Introduction” and “Juan Ponce de León & La Florida” reading passages and questions (optional); “Spanish Attempts to Settle La Florida”, ”French Huguenots Attempt a Florida Foothold”, and “The End of the French Presence in La Florida” reading passages and questions; and “Processing Assignment A-12-1”. Lesson Time Two forty-five minute periods, or one block period.

II. Lesson Procedures Procedures 1.) (Optional) Depending on how familiar your students are with the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, the

wars that resulted in Europe, and the initial discovery of Florida by Juan Ponce de León, you may want to have them read the “Introduction”, “Juan Ponce de León & La Florida”, and answer the discussion questions on both before moving on to the information on the failures of Spain to establish a permanent settlement in Florida prior to 1565, and the establishment and demise of Fort Caroline.

2.) As students enter the classroom (or after they have read “Introduction” and “Juan Ponce de León & La

Florida”), have them view and answer the discussion questions for Overhead Transparency A-12-1. Then, discuss the answers as a class.

3.) Assign readings to students individually or in mixed-ability pairs. You may wish to also pass out the

“Vocabulary Checklist” (included in the Activities section) to each student to facilitate understanding of pertinent names and terms related to this subject.

4.) Instruct students to answer discussion questions to the best of their ability. Then, allow a few minutes for

discussion of the questions for each reading passage. To make the reading easier for the students, you may wish to lead a discussion after each passage, instead of after all students have finished all of the reading.

5.) Processing Assignment #1: this is found in the Assessment section of the lesson; have your students view

Processing Assignment A-12-1 and answer the questions.

Processing Assignment #2: have your students design a “perspective piece”; instruct them to design a drawing or write a newspaper article to represent different perspectives on either Pedro Menéndez de Avilés or Jean Ribault. The following are examples of perspective pieces on Hernan Cortés and Joan of Arc from Teacher Curriculum Institute’s History Alive! Interactive Student Notebook instructional manual (1999; pg. 53).

Overhead Transparency A-12-1 III. Activities

Look at the following map of the New World, circa 1565. After loading ships with gold, silver, and other valuables in the ports of Veracruz and Cartegena, the ships would travel to Havana, and then enter the Gulf Stream for the trip to Spain.

Puerto Rico Cuba

Fort Caroline, 1564 (French)

St. Augustine, 1565 (Spanish)

Gulf Stream (to Europe)

Route of Spanish treasure fleet

Havana

Pic

Veracruz

Hispaniola

Route of Spanish treasure fleet

ture from http://i-am.org/images/caribbean.jpg

1. Why would Spanish ships enter the Atlantic crossing to Spain?

2. The Florida peninsula was part of thof La Florida. For what reasons woucolony in Spanish-claimed land near

3. The Spanish village of St. Augustineafter Fort Caroline. Why do you thinwas important to establish a settlemcolony?

Cartegena

Gulf Stream for the trans-

e larger Spanish possession ld the French have built a the Gulf Stream? was established the year k that the Spanish felt that it ent so close to a French

Vocabulary Checklist

Directions: As you come across words or names in your reading that are bold-faced and underlined, find the same words or names on this sheet and write out the definition (they are in order of appearance). You may be asked to remember these terms later!!! 1.) Mercantilism- 2.) Line of demarcation- 3.) Treaty of Tordesillas- 4.) Protestant Reformation- 5.) Juan Ponce de León 6.) La Florida- 7.) Gulf Stream- 8.) Huguenots- 9.) Jean Ribault- 10.) Rene de Laudonniere-

11.) Port Royal/Charlesfort- 12.) Fort Caroline- 13.) Pedro Menéndez de Avilés- 14.) St. Augustine- 15.) Matanzas Inlet-

Introduction

In the years prior to Christopher Columbus’ voyages to the New World, the nation of Portugal was Europe’s leader in exploration. Because Portugal lacked a port on the Mediterranean Sea, and thus could not be part of the lucrative trade between Asia and Europe in the 1400s, Portugal’s rulers and leading thinkers made attempts to find new routes to the heart of the African gold and slave trade, and the bustling trading centers of India and China. By the late 1400s, Portugal had established open-ocean trading routes around the southern tip of Africa. Colonies and trading posts were established along the eastern African coast. Portuguese fleets began to make annual voyages to India and China, returning to port with cargoes of spices and silks that made Lisbon, the capital city, the new marketplace of Europe. One expedition to the Orient swung so wide to the west around Africa that it landed on the coast of South America in present-day Brazil. The leader of this trading fleet claimed all of the land he surveyed for Portugal. The dominant economic theory of the time, called mercantilism, held that a nation’s power was based on its wealth. Rulers tried to increase their nation’s total wealth by acquiring gold, silver, and other expensive trade goods. The nation’s that controlled the most trade routes and held the most territories overseas monopolized the power. In this race for empire and wealth in Europe, Portugal had a clear advantage. To that point, Portuguese efforts had centered on establishing trade by sailing south around the tip of southern Africa, known as the Cape of Good Hope, and then east across the Indian Ocean to ports in Asia. This route was full of danger, however; sudden violent storms and rough seas threatened to destroy entire fleets. The oceanic journey from Portugal to Asia was a very long one, too. Surely, there must have been a more effective way. Desperate to increase its wealth and its position of power in Europe, the nation of Spain, led by the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, financed a voyage to establish a westward trade route to Asia. An Italian sailor named Christopher Columbus, who had previously sailed for Portugal, led this expedition consisting of three small ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. However, on the way to the Orient, Columbus happened upon another continent. Faced with this new threat to its virtual monopoly on foreign trade, Portugal sought to protect its claims from its Spanish rivals. Because devoutly Catholic rulers led both nations, they agreed to allow Pope Alexander VI to settle the issue on how to divide lands that were already claimed, and those that would be discovered later. In 1493, Pope Alexander VI drew a line of demarcation, an imaginary line running down the middle of the Atlantic from the North Pole to the South Pole, to settle the dispute between Spain and Portugal, which at the time were Europe’s only nations with the power and technology to seek possessions overseas. The pope’s decision allowed Spain to control all the lands to the west of the line, while Portugal would possess empire in the lands east of the line. After Portugal complained that the papal verdict was unfair to them, the two nations agreed to move the line to the west, allowing Portugal to add Brazil to their colonies in Africa. As a result, this agreement, the Treaty of Tordesillas, divided the entire New World between Portugal and Spain. Before long, many Spanish vessels and fleets began surveying and charting the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast of what is now the southeastern United States. Columbus returned three more times to this New World, establishing settlements as he sailed along the coasts of Central America and the northern shores of South America. In these early days of exploration, though, forces at work in Europe were about to have a lasting effect on events in the New World. One day in April 1517, a young lecturer in biblical studies named Martin Luther visited a small German market town and was outraged by what he saw. In the town's central square, a representative of the Pope had set up a stand and was selling absolutions from sin to a long line of eager customers. These formal documents, called Indulgences, pardoned the bearer and his relatives - alive or dead - from any punishment for past or future sins. "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," cried the papal representative. It was a lucrative business. Angered, Martin Luther composed a list of 95 reasons, called the “95 Theses”, why the practice of indulgences defied the doctrine of the Catholic Church and sent his list in a letter of protest to his archbishop. He also nailed a copy of the list to the door of a local church. In his list, Luther claimed that the Bible was the only true guide for Christians. He rejected many other Catholic Church practices as well—even the authority of the Pope—because they were not mentioned in the Bible. Luther went on to write that faith alone, rather than good deeds, was the way to salvation. Church officials tried to get Luther to take back his statements, but he declined, saying, “I cannot go against my conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me.” Before Luther had voiced his beliefs, the countries of Europe had had their differences, but they had been bound together by a common church: Roman Catholicism. Luther’s complaints, however, struck a chord of discontent in the Church, and within a few years other protestors—Protestants—rallied to support Martin Luther's cause. Many thousands of people began to break away from the Catholic Church and begin their own Protestant churches. John Calvin, a French religious leader, also broke away from the Catholic Church. Like Luther, Calvin rejected the idea that good works would ensure a person’s salvation. He believed that God had already chosen those who would be saved. In England, King Henry VIII also left the Catholic Church because Pope Clement VII

had refused Henry’s request for an annulment of his marriage to his first wife. Henry then organized the Church of England (the Anglican Church). The Protestant Reformation was underway and with it began decades of religious conflict and bloodshed. Europeans born during this time in history were raised not knowing the meaning of the words “tolerance” or “mercy”; instead, they killed in the name of the God they worshipped and were prepared to die for believing what they believed. As Protestantism spread throughout northern Europe, the Catholic nation of Spain began to see the defense of Catholicism as a sacred mission. Little did anyone realize at the time that this religious struggle would soon find its way to the Atlantic beaches of Florida. Discussion Questions 1. Prior to 1492, which European nation was the most dominant, owing to its technological superiority and

control of the overseas trade routes to Asia? 2. How did the economic system of mercantilism affect Spain’s decision to challenge Portugal’s preeminence in

Europe as leading power?

3. Pope Alexander VI’s “line of demarcation” decision and the subsequent Treaty of Tordesillas seemed at the time to favor both Spain and Portugal. Which nation, in the long run, benefited the most? Explain your answer.

4. What movement that swept over Europe and caused many years of warfare did Martin Luther initiate? What was he protesting?

5. Before Martin Luther and his followers, what had been the common thread between European nations for hundreds of years?

6. How did the nation of Spain react to the Protestant Reformation?

Picture A-12-1: Juan Ponce de León claimed La Florida for Spain.

Juan Ponce de León & La Florida

Two decades after Columbus’s initial voyage to the New World, a Spanish explorer and military governor named Juan Ponce de León was chosen to lead an expedition of discovery to the uncharted regions of this New World. De León sailed with Christopher Columbus on Columbus' second voyage to the Americas in 1493. He and his family settled on an island in the Caribbean named Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic). He became a military commander at this post and was appointed deputy governor. In 1506, Ponce de León discovered a nearby island named Boprinquen. While there, he found large deposits of gold. Soon after his discovery, he left the island. He returned in 1508 on orders from the king of Spain to explore and colonize the island. He renamed the island Puerto Rico. He was the island's governor for two years until the king replaced him with Columbus' son, Diego. Now rich and with plenty of time on his hands, Ponce de León accepted a charter to discover and conquer the land to the northwest called “Bimini.” According to legend, this

“Bimini” contained a fountain of waters that made the old young again, a so-called Fountain of Youth. Another reason for embarking for Bimini was the search for gold and the glory of conquest. So, in mid-March 1513, de León led a three-ship group northwest from Puerto Rico. After several weeks of sailing across the open ocean, interspersed with a few random islands of the Bahamas, his ships landed on Florida's east coast near present-day St. Augustine on April 2nd. Spanish historian Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas wrote almost a century later, “…thinking that this land was an island, they called it La Florida [pronounced “LAH flow REE dah,” meaning “place of flowers”], because it was very pretty to behold with many refreshing trees, and it was flat, and even: and also because they discovered it in the time of Flowery Easter [Pascua Florida]...” Ponce de León had found Florida. He claimed this beautiful land for Spain. He decided to continue his exploration of this land and sailed down the coast. He encountered some rough currents at one point near present-day Cape Canaveral. Ponce de Leon and his men had discovered the Gulf Stream, a powerful and swift warm-water current that travels from the Gulf of Mexico to Northern Europe. Ponce de León named this place “Cabo de las Corrientes,” or “Cape of the Currents”. Ponce de León continued down the east coast of Florida and along the Keys until he arrived at an island that had many turtles. He named the island “Dry Tortugas” because there was no fresh water on the island and “tortugas” means “turtle” in Spanish. Continuing up the west coast of Florida, Ponce de León entered the Charlotte Harbor area. As he and his men explored inland for wood and fresh water, they saw the Calusa tribal village at Mound Key. After they were attacked on two separate occasions by the Calusa, they realized that the Calusa were an unfriendly tribe. The explorers fled back to their ships and decided to leave the area. They sailed back to Puerto Rico. In 1519, though, a Spanish soldier named Hernán Cortés, 500 Spanish soldiers, some horses, and a few cannons landed on the eastern shores of Mexico, near present-day Vera Cruz. Cortés learned from some local natives that there was a great empire to the west. These Aztecs had a capital city, Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City, the largest city in the world), which rivaled the splendor of anything in Europe. Gold, silver, and other precious metals were as plentiful as grains of sand on the beach, according to these natives. Within two years, Cortés and his men had destroyed the Aztec Empire, aided by other tribes that the Aztecs had dominated. A decade later, a similar story occurred in modern-day Peru, when Francisco Pizarro and 180 Spanish soldiers overtook the Inca Empire and took full advantage of all of the treasure they found there. These stories of gold, silver, empires of unbelievable wealth, and easy conquest made it back to Spain quickly. Soon, Spanish explorers sought far and wide for the riches that Cortés and Pizarro had encountered. Known as conquistadors, these explorers received charters from the Spanish rulers. They had the right to explore and establish settlements in the Americas. In exchange they agreed to give their rulers twenty percent of any wealth discovered. This agreement allowed Spanish rulers to launch expeditions with little risk. If a conquistador failed, he lost his own fortune; if he succeeded, both he and Spain gained wealth and glory. Bolstered by stories of vast riches to be claimed in the New World, Ponce de León returned to Florida again to build a colony in 1521. He landed on the gulf beaches between Charlotte Harbor and Estero Bay with over 200 settlers, horses, tools, and seeds. The plan was to set up a farming colony. As they went inland for fresh water, the Calusa ambushed them. Ponce de León was shot in the thigh by an arrow and was seriously wounded. The settlers decided to abandon the settlement and sail back to Cuba. As a result of his wound, Ponce de León died at the age of 61 in Cuba. Discussion Questions 1. What were Juan Ponce de León’s credentials to lead a voyage of exploration to the New World?

2. What was the reasoning behind naming the newly discovered land that Ponce de León encountered La Florida?

3. Looking back among Ponce de León’s discoveries, which do you think had the biggest impact for the nation of Spain? Explain your answer.

4. Why did Ponce de León attempt to return to La Florida in order to establish a settlement? Was his attempt successful? Why or why not?

Spanish Attempts to Settle La Florida

By the 1520s, Spain insisted that La Florida did not just apply to the wild green peninsula north of its colonial possessions in the Caribbean, but to tentire landmass, both explored and unknown, which made up eastern North America. This belief had precedent in Pope Alexander VI’s line of demarcation that split the colonial possessions of Portugal and Spain in 1493, and the resulting Treaty of Tordesillas.

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Before long, many Spanish vessels and fleets began surveying and charting the Atlantic coast of what is now the southeastern United States. Some ships probed the shores and the inland areas of this new land in search of forced labor that was needed in the developing farming enterprises of tSpanish colonies. One particular Native Amewas captured near a river named Jordan (theSantee River in present-day South Carolina) and taken to the Santo Domingo lawyer who had financed the slaving expedition. The lawyer, named Lucas Vazquez de Ayllón, quickly became

fascinated with the stories of a place called Chicora told by this native, who he nicknamed Francisco de Chicora. Persuaded by the captive that this land in what is now South Carolina was a “Garden of Eden”-type land of rich, fertile soil and great wealth, Ayllón asked for and received a charter to settle Chicora. In 1526, he sailed for this new and attractive land with six ships carrying 600 colonists (including women and children), three Dominicfriars, African slaves (the efforts to enslave Native Americans had not been successful because most had died), and a number of surviving Indian captives, including Francisco de Chicora. The settlers eventually landed on tGeorgia coast, where on September 29, 1526, they established the first European settlement in what is now theUnited States. This new settlement was named San Miguel de Gualdape. It was doomed from the start. First, b

Picture A-12-2: During the 1500s, Spain’s possessions in La Florida consisted of the entire eastern half of North America, stretching from Key West to Canada and west to Texas.

along with most of the provisions for all 600 colonists. Next, upon making landfall, Francisco de Chicora, probably the only person in the entire group who was familiar with the surroundings, escaped into the surrounding wilderness, never to be heard from again. Then, the onset of autumn brought storms, famine, cold weathesickness, and Indian attacks. Within a month, 200 Spaniards had died, including Ayllón. Following a mutiny among the remaining settlers, African slaves began deserting and found freedom in nearby native villages. Before December had appeared on the calendar, about 150 survivors boarded a ship and headed back to SaDomingo. The remains of this failed settlement have never been found. For the next four decades, Spanish expeditions to explore and settle tFlorida met a similar fate. • In April 1528, Pánfil

can slaves. The Spanish government had given him permission to settle and rule the land along the Gulf Coast from Northern Mexico to the Florida peninsula and as far inland as he was able to control. The settlement was quickly hit by hurricanes and supply losses. The entire enterprise failed miserably. Foursurvivors spent the next eight years wandering along the Gulf Coast, eventually reaching Mexico and thePacific Ocean.

Hernando detheastern United States. As with many other expeditions, this also resulted in failure, including

own death near the banks of the Mississippi River. After four years, the survivors had traveled six hundred miles and through ten of the modern United States. They finally made it to Mexico City in 1543 “dressed onlyin animal skins.”

In June 1559,een ships. Their mission: settle three areas of La Florida in order to establish a permanent Spanish

presence and discourage increasingly bold attacks on the Spanish treasure fleets (twice a year, these shleft Mexico in route to Spain weighed down with gold, silver, and jewels found in the New World) by French and English pirates along the North American coast; convert the natives to Catholicism; and find gold, silver, mercury, and precious gems. The fleet did not arrive in Pensacola Bay until August, an unusually long voyage. Food supplies were already running low when disaster struck in September: a hurricane killed aunknown number of colonists and destroyed all but three of the expedition’s ships. Half of the supplies were lost, including most of the remaining food. The surviving settlers were soon forced to eat acorns, tree leaves,

wild roots, and the leather of their own shoes. Their horses became so weak that they could not walk more than three miles a day in search of food. Finally, supply ships appeared and returned most of the remaining colonists to Mexico. Only Luna and several soldiers stayed to complete their mission, but Luna was eventually removed in favor of Angel de Villafañe, who abandoned the settlement in April 1561.

Soon after the Luna fiasco, King Philip II of Spain discouraged any further attempts at conquering La Florida;

it

iscussion Questions

he wanted to waste no more of his vast treasury or resources on sand and swamps, fever and hurricanes, or wildanimals and hostile natives. He agreed with a trusted advisor that because La Florida’s shoreline was too low and sandy, her countryside too poor in resources, and her harbors too shallow to permit useful settlement, no other nation would attempt to establish themselves there or challenge Spain by taking possession, even thoughhad been reported that French fishermen had been going ashore to prepare their catch and mend their nets. King Philip II’s advisor’s name was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés… D

. How large was the Spanish territory of La Florida? What would be some difficulties in governing a territory

. Why were African slaves used by the Spanish settlers of the Americas instead of Native American slaves?

3. Wh e was the first European settlement in what is now the United States located, and what was it called? Is

4. We sh attempts to settle La Florida generally successful or unsuccessful? For what reasons?

5. As a result of the various Spanish attempts to settle La Florida, what decision did King Philip II make

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regarding this New World territory?

French Huguenots Attempt a Florida Foothold

Even as King Philip II of Spain and his advisors were deciding to no longer attempt to settle La Florida, a French expedition was on its way to the St. Johns River. Since Pope Alexander VI had divided the New World between Spain and Portugal in 1493, and the Treaty of Tordesillas had established Spanish hegemony over colonial lands in North America, no other European power had dared to challenge this Spanish monopoly. In the mid-1500s, however, other nations began to see the wealth Spain was gaining from its overseas empire and decided to challenge Spanish holdings in the New World. In France, the Catholic king Charles IX decided that in order to gain wealth from the Americas, prey on the Spanish treasure fleets riding the Gulf Stream from Cuba to Spain, and rid his nation of troublesome French Protestants (called Huguenots), a new colony would be started in Florida. In the winter of 1562, during a period of peace between French Catholics and Huguenots, over 150 Huguenots boarded three French ships and set out for the New World to establish a Protestant state in which they could practice their religion freely, with no fear of persecution. Jean Ribault (last name pronounced REE-bow), a devoted Protestant, led them. Not long after the ships left France for La Florida, the entire country again erupted in religious warfare between Roman Catholics and Huguenots.

The French ships landed near the Cape Canaveral area on April 30, 1562. Continuing north, they entered the mouth of the St. Johns River on May 1st. Ribault immediately named the waterway the “River of May” and built a stone monument to mark his visit and claim the surrounding land for France on a small island he named “Mayport”. Ribault and his men spent the next two days trading with some friendly natives. Afterwards, Ribault continued north to a place in present-day South Carolina that he called Port Royal. Here, the Huguenots built a wooden fort and named it “Charlesfort”, in honor of their king. Then, Ribault left about thirty men to defend Port Royal, with provisions for several months. Before departing for France with the rest of his men, including Rene de Laudonniere (his second-in-command), Ribault promised to return within six months with more supplies and men. Things did not go according to plan. Upon returning to France, they found their homeport of Dieppe under siege by a Catholic army. Ribault fled to England, where he had his report to King Charles IX, “The Whole and True Discovery of Terra Florida,” published in English. He also met Queen Elizabeth I, who listened absorbedly to this fellow Protestant and enemy of Spain. After offering to return Ribault to La Florida with Englishmen in English ships, Ribault began to suspect that Elizabeth might have had designs on making Florida an English colony. When he tried to leave England, the queen had Ribault arrested and thrown in prison in the Tower of London for over a year. With the imprisonment of Ribault and continuing disturbances in France, reinforcements were not sent to Port Royal until April 1564. For the group of French Huguenots that were left at Port Royal by Jean Ribault, things quickly went wrong. Fire destroyed most of the food and supplies. The group’s

Picture A-12-3: A replica of the monument erected by Jean Ribault near the mouth of the St. Johns River in May 1562.

commander, Captain Albert de la Pierria, slowly went insane, hung a drummer boy with

his own hands, and sentenced another man to death by exiling him to a nearby island where he would slowly starve. The men under his command finally revolted, killed him, and built a makeshift boat out of pine, vines, and moss in order to sail back to France. All of the men except one, 17-year-old Guillaume Rouffi, climbed in the boat and left Port Royal and Charlesfort behind. Rouffi stayed, saying that he would rather take his chances with the local natives than risk drifting back to Europe with no navigator or compass. The overloaded boat sailed into the open Atlantic, where it drifted with almost no wind for three weeks. The men resorted to eating their own clothing and leather shoes until there was none left. At that point, deciding that it was better for one to die for the benefit of the others, the men drew straws and a man named Lachere, the same man who had been sentenced to death by starvation by Captain de la Pierria, “won.” His prize: his flesh would be divided up equally between the others on the boat. Just before Lachere was to be killed, an English ship sighted the wretched craft and rescued all aboard. All of the men were returned to France. Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities at Havana had learned of the French Huguenot settlement at Port Royal and dispatched an expedition to investigate in the spring of 1564. The Spanish soldiers who arrived weeks later found a deserted settlement and quickly burned every trace of it to the ground. While there, the local natives brought Rouffi to the Spaniards, who questioned him and then departed with him for Havana, satisfied that the last hint of Protestantism in the Spanish Catholic territory of La Florida had been destroyed. During this time in France, an interval of peace interrupted the religious warfare that had consumed the nation for many months. A new commander was chosen to lead a renewed effort to settle an area of La Florida: Rene de Laudonniere, Ribault’s former lieutenant. On April 22nd, twenty days before a large Spanish contingent was dispatched to obliterate Port Royal, de Laudonniere set sail from France with three ships, 300 men, four women, livestock, supplies, and various items to trade with the natives they encountered. Among the new French settlers was Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, an artist who had been commissioned by the French government to prepare

an account of what he saw in the New World. His Narrative of Le Moyne included text and forty-two separate drawings of native Floridians. Le Moyne’s drawings and descriptions are by far the best accounts that exist to this day of the natives of Northeast Florida that lived in the St. Johns area prior to rampant European colonization.

When they arrived at the St. Johns River in Florida, they stopped about five miles upstream and built a triangle-shaped fort overlooking the river for protection. They named it “Fort Caroline” in honor of their fourteen-year-old king, Charles IX. At first the colony prospered as de Laudonniere explored the interior of what he called “New France”. Good relations were established with the local Timucuan Indians, who traded with the colonists, helped them build shelters, and gave them food for a time. With this apparent success, Laudonniere called for music and a feast to celebrate their good fortune on June 30, 1564. Of this celebration he wrote, "We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please His Grace to continue His accustomed goodness toward us." This was 57 years before the better-known Thanksgiving celebration at Plymouth, Massachusetts. But it soon became clear that most of the colonists had not come to Florida to “settle” anything; instead, they had come to get rich from either the gold or silver rumored to be in the vicinity, or at the expense of the Spanish treasure ships sailing by in the nearby Gulf Stream on their way to Europe. Food quickly became scarce during the ensuing winter, and de Laudonniere imposed rations on everyone. Restless and adventurous members of the group staged a mutiny and stole two vessels. They then set out to sea to plunder Spanish

ships and raid Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, killing any and all Catholics that they could find. Instead, these mutineers alerted the Spanish authorities to the renewed French presence in La Florida. A Spanish fleet captured and killed one group of the French pirates, but another small group made it back to Fort Caroline at the helm of a Spanish ship that they had captured. De Laudonniere had all of them executed and had their bodies hung up on display as a deterrent for any other would-be mutinies.

Picture A-12-4: Fort Caroline; the side of the fort facing the river was built with planks. The other two sides were constructed of earth. The oven was built outside the fort to reduce the risk of fire. (Engraving originally by Jacques Le Moyne)

By the summer of 1565, de Laudonniere’s health had begun to fail and his leadership was being questioned again. Many of the discouraged Huguenots began making preparations to return to France if the opportunity presented itself. In August, that opportunity finally appeared: four English ships sailed upriver to Fort Caroline, commanded by Sir John Hawkins and led by a Frenchmen who had deserted with the others months before that Hawkins had picked up in the Caribbean while selling slaves to the Spanish. Hawkins and de Laudonniere quickly struck a deal: the French gave the English guns, a cannon, and gunpowder; in return, the English gave their Protestant brethren a ship. Before setting out to sea two days later, Sir Hawkins even threw fifty pairs of shoes into the deal. The French colonists now impatiently waited for the wind and tide to change so that they could depart La Florida once and for all. Several days later, seven more ships arrived along the Florida coast with 500 soldiers, artisans, and seventy women, and sailed down the River of May to Fort Caroline. The astonished Huguenots were amazed at what they saw, but were even more amazed at who they saw leading this group of ships: at the helm of the flagship stood Jean Ribault, who had finally returned to La Florida. Discussion Questions 1. For what three reasons did French king Charles IX decide to establish a colony in Spanish-claimed La

Florida? a. b. c.

2. True or false (if “False”, make it correct by crossing out the incorrect part of the statement and rewriting it with the correct part): The first French settlement in La Florida was Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, Florida.

3. What happened to the French Huguenot settlement at Port Royal?

4. Who was chosen to lead France’s second attempt at settlement in La Florida? Was this person an effective leader? Explain your answer.

5. How did Spanish authorities in the Caribbean discover that Huguenots had established a permanent settlement on the St. Johns River?

6. Though the Huguenots at Fort Caroline had received a ship in trade with Sir John Hawkins, why did they not use it to sail back to France?

The End of the French Presence in La Florida

After more than a year imprisoned in the Tower of London, Jean Ribault was released and went home to France. In the spring of 1565, the French Crown prepared to send Ribault back to La Florida to strengthen the French presence there. A Spanish spy in the French town of Dieppe, on the English Channel, made King Philip II of Spain aware of the ships, soldiers, and supplies being readied for the voyage. Of particular interest to Philip II was the military equipment (guns and cannons) that was loaded for the trans-Atlantic journey. To Philip II of Spain the French were not only trespassing on land assigned by the Holy Catholic Church to the Spanish Crown, but they were also heretics violating the faith he was sworn to uphold. Already furious that

French Huguenots had established a second settlement in La Florida, Philip II instructed a trusted advisor to sail with a large fleet to the New World, establish a permanent Spanish presence in La Florida, convert the natives he encountered to Catholicism, and drive the French “heretics” out of Spanish lands “by what means you see fit.” The advisor’s name was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the very same advisor who three years before had rthat Spain abandon all efforts to settle La Florida.

ecommended

Menéndez had gained royal favor years before by taking action against French pirates in the waters surrounding Spain. Later, he was placed in charge of escorting the Spanish treasure fleets from Havana to Spain. In his service to the Spanish Crown, he had gained a

reputation for prompt and decisive action. Now, he was entrusted with the largest armada of ships and colonists that had ever left Spain for the New World. In late June 1565, Menéndez set sail for La Florida with nineteen ships containing over 1,500 people, including soldiers, sailors, locksmiths, millers, silversmiths, tanners, sheepshearers, and farmers. Many of these men had wives and children who joined them. Shortly after the voyage began, the ships were scattered by a hurricane. After the storm

had passed, Menéndez could only account for five of the nineteen ships that had begun the journey. He continued without the others to Puerto Rico, where they found four vessels from the previous nineteen-ship group that had preceded them. With this diminished force, Menéndez moved against the French. Leaving most of the settlers who had joined him in Puerto Rico, Menéndez left for Florida with five ships, 500 soldiers and 200 sailors.

Picture A-12-5: General Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of St. Augustine

On August 28th, after two weeks at sea, Menéndez and his forces reached Cape Canaveral and headed north. They stopped at the French-named “River of Dolphins” and renamed the area “St. Augustine” in honor of arriving in Florida on the Catholic feast day of San Augustín. That same day, Ribault had arrived at Fort Caroline. As Menéndez crept up the Florida coast, Ribault took over for the sickly de Laudonniere and set the colony of Fort Caroline to work strengthening the French settlement on the River of May, which we now call the St. Johns River. The Spanish headed north as quickly as they could, hoping to get to Fort Caroline before Ribault arrived with French reinforcements. On September 4th, Menéndez sailed up to the mouth of the St. Johns and immediately saw four large French ships at anchor on the other side of the sandbar that marked the entrance to the river. Despite seeing other French ships further upriver, Menéndez ignored the warnings of his officers and decided to challenge the French. As the wind died and night fell, the Spanish ships glided in among the French vessels. They anchored within speaking distance of the French ships at the bar, and after a long silence Menéndez hailed the nearest vessel. He was answered, "France." "And what are you doing in the territories of King Philip of Spain?" he asked. "Begone!" was the reply. Menéndez then asked, "Are you Catholics or Lutherans?" and was answered, "Lutherans of the new religion." The French officer then inquired who his questioner was and what was his errand, and was answered, "I am Pedro Menéndez, commander of this armament, which belongs to the king of Spain, Philip the Second. I have come here to hang and destroy all the Lutherans whom I shall find either on land or sea, according to my orders received from the king, …and these orders I shall execute to the letter; but if I should meet with any Catholic on board your vessels, he shall receive good treatment. As for the heretics, they shall die.” The threat of Menendez, coupled with an attempt by some Spanish sailors to board a French vessel, caused the captains of the French vessels to cut their cables and put to sea. The Spanish ships followed, firing their heavy bow-cannons at the French boats. They chased them far, but could not catch them. "These enraged devils," wrote a member of Menéndez’s fleet, "are such capable seamen, and maneuvered so well, that we could not take one of them." The Spaniards finally turned back toward the coast, followed by the Frenchmen, who saw the smaller Spanish vessels enter a river about thirty miles south of the St. Johns River, and the larger ones, including Menéndez’s flagship, anchor at its mouth. They also saw Spanish soldiers and provisions landed not far above that anchorage. With this important news the Frenchmen hastened back to Fort Caroline and reported to Ribault all they had seen. He immediately prepared to attack his enemies with his ships and his whole land force. For the next three days after arriving back at St. Augustine, Menéndez put all available men to work unloading the rest of the supplies from the ships and built a fortification around the council house of a local Indian chief. Finally, on September 8th, amid trumpets, cannons, and flags, Menéndez came ashore and claimed all of the surrounding land in the name of God and King Philip II. Mass was said, and Menéndez’s men took oaths of loyalty to him as governor of the new colony and military commander. Local natives took part in the ceremony and the feast that followed. Thus, the town of St. Augustine was born. It is now the oldest surviving settlement in the United States. Meanwhile, on the St. Johns River, a war council was held in Laudonniere’s quarters as he lay sick in bed. Ribault decided to pursue Menéndez south before he could build any fortifications, despites de Laudonniere’s objections. On September 10th, Ribault left Fort Caroline with 400 soldiers, 200 sailors, and twelve ships, leaving behind 240 men to defend the settlement, most of which were too ill to be depended on to fight if the need arose. The next day the Huguenots found the Spanish ships anchored just off St. Augustine, about thirty miles to the south of the entrance to the St. Johns River. Noticing that the largest ship was missing, Ribault ordered his boats to pursue the missing vessel instead of attacking the Spanish at their hastily built base. This turned out to be a fatal mistake; an unexpected hurricane (they were all unexpected in those days) soon bore down from the north, scattering Ribault’s ships before smashing them along the beaches as far south as Cape Canaveral. Menendez, unaware of the extent of the French disaster, realized that Ribault would have no way of returning to Fort Caroline as long as hurricane-force winds and rain continued from the north. He seized the opportunity to

take Fort Caroline. With twenty axemen to clear the way, 300 harquebusiers (soldiers who carried large primitive muskets called harquebuses) and 180 other soldiers, Menéndez marched through intermittent driving rain for three days to cover the forty swampy miles to the Huguenot settlement, sometimes through water so deep that swimming was required. It was raining furiously at dawn on September 20th when Menéndez pointed at Fort Caroline and gave the order to attack with the cry of “Santiago!”

Picture A-12-4: an example of a harquebus

The French who had been left to guard the fort overnight had been relieved by their commanding officer due to the inclement weather. As a result, the fort had been left defenseless. The French were completely taken by surprise. Said a survivor later, “They vied with one another to see who could best cut the throats of our people.” In an hour, 132 Frenchmen were killed and almost sixty women and children were taken prisoner; fifty others, including de Laudonniere, Le Moyne, and Ribault’s son Jacques, escaped through the dark woods to two small ships that Ribault had left behind. They immediately set a course for France, never to return to La Florida. Renaming the captured fort “San Mateo” (St. Matthew), Menéndez left 300 men there to guard it, and headed back to St. Augustine, where he arrived on September 24th. Four days later, local Indians brought word of a large

group of Frenchmen walking along the shore several miles south of the Spanish settlement. Immediately, Menéndez set out with 50 men to meet their avowed enemies. Eighteen miles south of St. Augustine, the salty waters of the river that flow past the city bend eastward and meet the Atlantic Ocean at a lovely inlet with a menacing name—Matanzas, which means “the slaughters” in Spanish. Here, at dawn on September 29th, Menéndez and his soldiers met the French survivors. The French had no way to cross the river. Knowing this, and believing that the Frenchmen were tired and hungry, Menéndez demanded that they all surrender to the Spanish. A French sergeant replied that they would surrender on the condition that their lives would be spared. As Father Francisco Lopez, Menéndez’s chaplain who was present on the beach that morning, later wrote:

“…our brave captain-general answered 'that he would make no promises, that they must surrender unconditionally, and lay down their arms, because, if he spared their lives, he wanted them to be grateful for it, and, if they were put to death, that that there should be no cause for complaint.' Seeing that there was nothing else left for them to do, the sergeant returned to the [French] camp; and soon after he brought all their arms and flags, and gave them up to the general, and surrendered unconditionally. Finding they were all Lutherans, the captain-general ordered them all put to death; but, as I was a priest, and had… mercy, I begged him to grant me the favor of sparing those whom we might find to be Christians. He granted it; and I made investigations, and found ten or twelve of the men Roman Catholics, whom we brought back. All the others were executed, because they were Lutherans and enemies of our Holy Catholic faith.”

In order to carry out the executions, Menéndez had the Huguenots ferried across the river ten at a time. They were then given food and drink until all of them were accounted for. Then, he ordered the prisoners’ hands to be bound and for them to be marched behind the dunes near the beach. Once out of view of the other prisoners, the unlucky Huguenots were put to the knife. On October 10th, word came that another large group of Frenchmen were stranded on the same spot. Menéndez marched to Matanzas Inlet with several soldiers the next day, where they found 320 French soldiers under the command of Jean Ribault. Upon seeing the Spaniards led by Menéndez, 170 Huguenots refused to surrender and marched south, leaving Ribault and 150 of their comrades at the mercy of the Spanish. The French commander was brought over the river to speak with Menéndez. Finally, the two leaders met. It was later said that Ribault offered a large ransom for his life, but Menéndez had him executed like all of his men, with the exception of four professed Catholics and a dozen drummers and trumpeters.

Picture A-12-5: Menendez orders the execution of the French “heretics.”

The Frenchmen who had refused to surrender marched as far south as Cape Canaveral. Once there, they used the wood from one of their wrecked ships to build a fort and a small boat. After learning of their whereabouts, Menéndez set out by land and sea to capture them. Some men marched along the shore while others moved along at about the same pace (25 miles a day) in ships just offshore. Finally, on November 26th, the Spanish reached the French and persuaded all but twenty to surrender without a fight. In return, Menéndez promised to make them all prisoners and send them back to Europe, a promise that he kept. There is no historical record about what happened to the twenty Huguenots that did not surrender on the beach. Many months later, when King Philip II of Spain read Menéndez’s report of such complete victory in La Florida, he wrote a cramped little note in the margin: “As to those he killed, he has done well.” This rout of the “heretical” Huguenots seemed to suggest to Philip II that their cause had been righteous and that God favored the Catholic nation of Spain. The massacre of the two groups of Huguenots brought condemnation upon Menéndez and the Spanish monarch. Indeed, the French ambassador to Spain reported to Paris that Philip II and his advisors were more pleased about the result of Menéndez’s actions against the French than if the victory had been against Muslim invaders. Defenders of Menéndez, and the Spanish commander himself, maintained that his victims were foreigners without any right to be in Florida, that they were not soldiers but pirates intent on preying on Spanish ships, and that they were Lutherans—the name given to all Protestants by 16th-century Catholics—and therefore heretics who should be put to the sword for blasphemy. Another point in Menéndez’s favor was that he did not have the resources to take 350 Huguenot prisoners: he did not have enough ships to transport them, enough men to guard them, nor enough food to sustain them and his own colony. Besides, as long as these Frenchmen remained, they would remain a threat to the security of St. Augustine. His defenders also pointed out that if Menéndez was a cold-blooded murderer, then why did he spare 150 Huguenots near Cape Canaveral? Their answer is because these men posed no threat to St. Augustine or its food supply.

With his total victory over the French in Florida, Menéndez set to work building the town of St. Augustine, establishing Catholic missions for the Indians throughout La Florida, and building forts to prevent any further intrusion by foreign powers, most especially the Protestants of France or England. St. Augustine would go on to serve as an important Spanish colony by providing protection and supplies for the Spanish gold fleets that sailed from Havana, Cuba, to Spain each spring. It also provided a base for missionaries and traders who explored as far north as the Appalachian Mountains and Chesapeake Bay, establishing outposts in the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina (including the settlement of Santa Elena, which was a stone’s throw away from the prior French settlement of Port Royal), and across northern Florida. With England’s creation of the Carolina colony in the 1660s and Georgia in 1733, St. Augustine would become a base for attacks on these Protestant rivals and a refuge for Indians fleeing English slaving raids and Africans escaping plantation slavery until England was given Florida by the Spanish as a result of the Seven Years’ War in 1763. As for the French, they dropped any further plans to challenge Spanish authority in the southeastern part of La Florida, instead choosing to settle parts of the far northern regions of North America in order to take advantage of the fur and timber trade in what is now Canada. Menéndez had been extremely fortunate in his dealings with a numerically superior French force: if things had worked out a little differently, Jacksonville (the present-day site of Fort Caroline), and not St. Augustine, might now be known as the oldest permanent settlement in the United States. Discussion Questions 1. For what two reasons was King Philip II of Spain angry about the French Huguenot settlement at Fort

Caroline, on the St. Johns River? a. b.

2. Who did King Philip II send to La Florida, and what were his instructions?

3. In his first action against the Huguenots at Fort Caroline, why do you think that Menéndez did not take any of the settlers who had journeyed with him to the New World?

4. Using the information in the text, create a brief timeline (on a separate sheet of paper) of the three months of events from August 28-November 26, 1565, starting with Pedro Menéndez de Avilés first reaching the Florida coast.

5. For what reasons did the Spanish consider Menéndez successful in his mission to La Florida?

6. What were the lasting effects of the establishment of St. Augustine and the decimation of the French Huguenots in Florida in 1565?

Answer Key to Discussion Questions for “Introduction”

1. Prior to 1492, which European nation was the most dominant, owing to its technological superiority and control of the overseas trade routes to Asia? Portugal

2. How did the economic system of mercantilism affect Spain’s decision to challenge Portugal’s

preeminence in Europe as leading power? Mercantilism held that a nation’s power was based on its wealth; therefore, seeing how advantageous overseas exploration and trade had been in increasing Portugal’s wealth, and consequently power, Spain also wanted to expand its commercial enterprises and overseas possessions.

3. Pope Alexander VI’s “line of demarcation” decision and the subsequent Treaty of Tordesillas seemed

at the time to favor both Spain and Portugal. Which nation, in the long run, benefited the most? Explain your answer. Answers will vary, but students should be left with the idea that Spain benefited the most because, in the next couple of centuries, the Spanish empire expanded across the globe, while Portugal’s weakened. Because Spain gained possession of North and South America (with the exception of Brazil), they also reaped the rewards of the resources that they found in these places (it should be noted that no one at the time knew how much territory there actually was in the Americas, a fact that may help explain why Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas).

4. What movement that swept over Europe and caused many years of warfare did Martin Luther initiate?

What was he protesting? The Protestant Reformation; Luther was protesting supposed abuses of power by the Catholic Church in Europe, especially in cases where he felt that the Catholic Church was following policies opposite to Scriptures.

5. Before Martin Luther and his followers, what had been the common thread between European nations for

hundreds of years? The Catholic Church

6. How did the nation of Spain react to the Protestant Reformation? It saw the defense of Catholicism as a sacred mission.

Answer Key to Discussion Questions for “Juan Ponce de León & La Florida”

1. What were Juan Ponce de León’s credentials to lead a voyage of exploration to the New World? He had sailed with Christopher Columbus on Columbus’ second voyage to the New World; he had served as military commander and deputy governor of Hispaniola; and he had discovered and served as governor on the island of Boprinquen (now Puerto Rico).

2. What was the reasoning behind naming the newly discovered land that Ponce de León encountered La Florida? It was seen for the first time during the season of Pascua Florida (“the Feast of Flowers”), and it looked to be a lush and flowery land.

3. Looking back among Ponce de León’s discoveries, which do you think had the biggest impact for the

nation of Spain? Explain your answer. Answers may vary, but should include either the Gulf Stream or Florida.

4. Why did Ponce de León attempt to return to La Florida in order to establish a settlement? Was his

attempt successful? Why or why not? Answers may vary, but could include that Ponce de León was probably motivated by the riches encountered by Cortés in the Aztec Empire; his attempt would most likely not be considered successful, since he was killed by natives and the rest of the settlers fled back to Cuba.

Answer Key for Discussion Questions for “Spanish Attempts to Settle La Florida”

1. How large was the Spanish territory of La Florida? What would be some difficulties in governing a territory

this large? La Florida included the entire eastern half of North America, stretching from Key West to Canada and west to Texas; answers will vary, but could include something about how hard it would be to govern and protect people over such a vast area without modern conveniences.

2. Why were African slaves used by the Spanish settlers of the Americas instead of Native American slaves? The Native Americans were dying at an alarming rate, necessitating the use of African slaves.

3. Where was the first European settlement in what is now the United States located, and what was it called? Is it still there today? Why or why not?

The first European settlement in the present-day United States was called San Miguel de Gualdape, and was located somewhere on the coast of Georgia; no recognizable trace of it remains; all of the settlers deserted San Miguel de Gualdape

4. Were Spanish attempts to settle La Florida generally successful or unsuccessful? For what reasons? They were generally unsuccessful because of poor leadership, bad weather, hostile natives, lack of supplies, and general misfortune.

Answer Key for Discussion Questions for “French Huguenots Attempt a Florida Foothold”

1. For what three reasons did French king Charles IX decide to establish a colony in Spanish-claimed La

Florida? a. Gain wealth from the Americas; b. Prey on Spanish treasure fleets riding the nearby Gulf Stream; c. Rid France of Huguenots (Protestants) 2. True or false (if “False”, make it correct by crossing out the incorrect part of the statement and rewriting it with

the correct part): The first French settlement in La Florida was Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. False; the first French settlement in La Florida was Port Royal, on the coast of South Carolina.

3. What happened to the French Huguenot settlement at Port Royal?

The leader lost his mind, the colonists revolted and killed the leader, and then all of the colonists except one made a boat out of resources found nearby and attempted to sail back to France.

4. Who was chosen to lead France’s second attempt at settlement in La Florida? Was this person an effective

leader? Explain your answer. Rene de Laudonniere; answers will vary

5. How did Spanish authorities in the Caribbean discover that Huguenots had established a permanent

settlement on the St. Johns River? After several deserters of the French colony at Fort Caroline became pirates of Spanish shipping in the Caribbean.

6. Though the Huguenots at Fort Caroline had received a ship in trade with Sir John Hawkins, why did they not

use it to sail back to France? They had to wait for a favorable wind and tide to leave for France; Jean Ribault arrived before that could happen.

Answer Key for Discussion Questions for “The End of the French Presence in La Florida”

1. For what two reasons was King Philip II of Spain angry about the French Huguenot settlement at Fort

Caroline, on the St. Johns River? a. the French were trespassing on land assigned by the Holy Catholic Church to the Spanish Crown; b. the French that were trespassing on his lands were Protestants.

2. Who did King Philip II send to La Florida, and what were his instructions?

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés; his instructions were to sail with a large fleet to the New World, establish a permanent Spanish presence in La Florida, convert the natives he encountered to Catholicism, and drive the French Huguenots out of Spanish lands by whatever means necessary.

3. In his first action against the Huguenots at Fort Caroline, why do you think that Menéndez did not take any of

the settlers who had journeyed with him to the New World? Answers will vary, but might include something about Menéndez perhaps feeling that non-military colonists would slow down his first objective, which was to drive the French out.

4. Using the information in the text, create a brief timeline (on a separate sheet of paper) of the three months of

events from August 28-November 26, 1565, starting with Pedro Menéndez de Avilés first reaching the Florida coast. Answers will vary.

5. For what reasons did the Spanish consider Menéndez successful in his mission to La Florida?

Menéndez established the settlement of St. Augustine, which became the first permanent European settlement in the United States, and because he successfully ended the French attempt to colonize La Florida.

6. What were the lasting effects of the establishment of St. Augustine and the decimation of the French

Huguenots in Florida in 1565? Answers will vary, but will probably include the importance of St. Augustine to the Spanish Empire of the 16th and 17th centuries.

IV. Assessment

Matching: match the following terms/names with the correct definitions to the right. 1. Mercantilism

a. The first European settlement in the present-day United States; located somewhere on the coast of Georgia

b. Spanish general who was responsible for driving the Huguenots out of La Florida and establishing Spanish authority

c. French Protestants d. Spaniard credited with being the first European to see

Florida; also discovered the Gulf Stream e. Economic theory of the 1500s; a nation’s power was based

on its wealth; the nation’s that controlled the most trade routes and held the most territories overseas monopolized the power

f. Place of “the slaughters”, just south of St. Augustine; this is where Spanish soldiers executed French Huguenots on two separate occasions

g. Oldest settlement in the United States; once the capital of Spanish Florida

h. Agreement between Portugal and Spain in 1494 to divide all New World territories between them

i. Huguenot leaders who established settlements in Spanish-controlled La Florida

j. Huguenot settlement established in 1564 on the St. Johns River, inside the city limits of modern Jacksonville, FL

k. Boundary established by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 to settle territorial dispute between Portugal and Spain

l. Movement inspired by Martin Luther; thousands of Luther’s followers broke away from the Catholic Church and established their own churches in protest of some policies of the Catholic Church; resulted in years of warfare in Europe

m. First Huguenot settlement in La Florida, established in 1562 and located in present-day South Carolina

n. Spanish territory in the New World which consisted of the present-day eastern half of North America

2. Line of demarcation 3. Treaty of Tordesillas 4. Protestant Reformation 5. Juan Ponce de León 6. La Florida 7. San Miguel de Gualdape 8. Huguenots 9. Jean Ribault/Rene de Laudonniere 10. Port Royal/Charlesfort 11. Fort Caroline 12. Pedro de Menéndez de Avilés 13. St. Augustine 14. Matanzas Inlet

15. In modern Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean), Spanish is the dominant language spoken, Catholicism is the major religion practiced, and Spanish customs are long established. How did Pope Alexander VI’s line of demarcation and the Treaty of Tordesillas in the 1490s lead to a predominantly Hispanic part of the world over five hundred years later?

16. For what reasons did King Philip II at first abandon attempts to settle La Florida in the mid 1500s?

a. Other European nations were already establishing colonies there; b. All other previous attempts had resulted in failure, draining Spain’s treasury; c. He wanted to concentrate on the Wars of Reformation in Europe; d. The pope had told him not to.

17. Why did King Charles IX of France agree to send colonists to Spain’s La Florida territory in 1562? a. To rid France of the Protestant Huguenots; b. To capitalize on raids of Spanish treasure fleets sailing by in the offshore Gulf Stream; c. To take advantage of whatever resources could be found in the Americas; d. All of the above.

18. Take the following terms and write them under the appropriate heading, “Spain” or “France”: Huguenot,

Catholic, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Jean Ribault, Fort Caroline, St. Augustine, La Florida, Port Royal. Spain France

19. Read the following exchange between Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Huguenots:

“…the Spanish ships glided in among the French vessels. They anchored within speaking distance of the French ships at the bar, and after a long silence Menéndez hailed the nearest vessel. He was answered, ‘France.’ ‘And what are you doing in the territories of King Philip of Spain?’ he asked. ‘Begone!’ was the reply. Menéndez then asked, ‘Are you Catholics or Lutherans?’ and was answered, ‘Lutherans of the new religion.’ The French officer then inquired who his questioner was and what was his errand, and was answered, ‘I am Pedro Menéndez, commander of this armament, which belongs to the king of Spain, Philip the Second. I have come here to hang and destroy all the Lutherans whom I shall find either on land or sea, according to my orders received from the king, …and these orders I shall execute to the letter; but if I should meet with any Catholic on board your vessels, he shall receive good treatment. As for the heretics, they shall die.’”

Based on this encounter, one can deduce that: a. Pedro Menéndez was a Catholic; b. Pedro Menéndez had orders to kill any Huguenot he found in La Florida; c. Pedro Menéndez and his soldiers killed hundreds of Huguenots at Matanzas Inlet; d. Pedro Menéndez established St. Augustine. e. A & B only

20. Put the following events in the proper sequence: a. Pedro Menéndez and his soldiers kill over 300 Huguenots at Matanzas Inlet, south of St. Augustine; b. Juan Ponce de León explores Florida; c. French Huguenots set up the settlement of Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River; d. The Treaty of Tordesillas divides the New world between Spain and Portugal, with Spain later

claiming all of the lands of North and South America; e. Spanish soldiers and settlers led by Menéndez establish St. Augustine; f. French Huguenots set up the settlement of Port Royal, on the coast of present-day South Carolina; g. Spanish explorers and settlers fail at establishing lasting colonies in La Florida and decide to give up

any future attempts at settlement.

Answer Key for Assessment Questions

1. Mercantilism-e 2. Line of demarcation-k 3. Treaty of Tordesillas-h 4. Protestant Reformation-l 5. Juan Ponce de León-d 6. La Florida-n 7. San Miguel de Gualdape-a 8. Huguenots-c 9. Jean Ribault/Rene de Laudonniere-i 10. Port Royal/Charlesfort-m 11. Fort Caroline-j 12. Pedro de Menéndez de Avilés-b 13. St. Augustine-g 14. Matanzas Inlet-f 15. In modern Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean), Spanish is the

dominant language spoken, Catholicism is the major religion practiced, and Spanish customs are long established. How did Pope Alexander VI’s line of demarcation and the Treaty of Tordesillas in the 1490s lead to a predominantly Hispanic part of the world over five hundred years later? Answers will vary

16. For what reasons did King Philip II at first abandon attempts to settle La Florida in the mid 1500s?-b 17. Why did King Charles IX of France agree to send colonists to Spain’s La Florida territory in 1562?-d 18. Take the following terms and write them under the appropriate heading, “Spain” or “France”: Huguenot,

Catholic, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Jean Ribault, Fort Caroline, St. Augustine, La Florida, Port Royal. Spain France

Catholic Huguenot Pedro de Menéndez de Avilés Jean Ribault St. Augustine Fort Caroline La Florida Port Royal

19. B or E are acceptable 20. D, B, G, F, C, E, A

uestions:Q Martin Luther, who led the Protestant Reformation against the Catholic Church, was German. ermany and France were both areas of Europe that had strong Protestant support during the Wars of eformation. Spain, however, was a strong Catholic nation that persecuted any citizens (or others, for that atter) who were suspected of practicing the new “Lutheran” religion. How does the German artist that produced is picture portray the Spanish? How does he portray the French? Do you think that this is an entirely accurate

ortrayal of the events on Matanzas Inlet in 1565? Why or why not?

German engraving, French commander Jean Ribault (kneeling) is shown pleading to Pedro dez de Avilés (seated) for the lives of his fellow Huguenots, shown in the background being

Processing Assignment A-12-1 (the engraving and narrative pictured here was supplied by the Museum of Arts and Sciences in St. Augustine, FL)

In this 1655 Menénmassacred at the hands of the Spanish. The English translation of the narrative that accompanies this engraving describes how the Spanish pretended not to understand Ribault.

GRmthp

. Resources

NTITLED VIEW OF JEAN RIBAULT PLEADING FOR HIS LIFE BEFORE PEDRO MENENDEZ IN ST UGUSTINE” by Theodor DeBry (1528-1598). Museum of Arts and Sciences (St. Augustine) acquisition ade possible in part by a grant from The Bureau of Historical Museums, Division of Historical esources, Florida Department of State.

ppleby, Joyce, et al. The American Journey.

V

“UAmR

Glencoe McGraw-Hill: New York, NY. 2003.

annon, Michael, Ed. The New History of Florida

A G . University Press of Florida: Gainesville, FL. 1996.

udge, Joseph. “Between Columbus and Jamestown: Exploring Our Forgotten Century.” National Geographic J ,

March 1988; 330-63.

ebeau, Charlton W. A History of Florida T . University of Miami Press: Coral Gables, FL. 1971.

ttp://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/national_parks/fort_caroline_sea_lanes.jpg h -map of Florida, Fort Caroline, St.

ugustine, and the routes of the Spanish fleets

ttp://www.nps.gov/timu/education_guide/clash_cultures/cc_background_info.htm

A h - info on Fort Caroline

ttp://www.nps.gov/timu/indepth/foca/foca_home.htm h - info on the Timucuan Reserve Nat’l Park in Jacksonville

ttp://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/ribault/ribault1.htm h - elementary school-themed lesson on Jean Ribault

ttp://fcit.usf.edu/florida/photos/military/caroln/caroln.htm h - photos of Fort Caroline replica in Timucuan Preserve

ttp://www.mikestrong.com/fortcar/ h - independent website on Fort Caroline

ttp://photo.itc.nps.gov/storage/images/foca/foca-Thumb.00001.html h

ttp://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/spanishmassacre.htm h -Father Francisco Lopez’s account of the massacre at

atanzas Inlet

ttp://www.jayikislakfoundation.org/millennium-exhibit/pics/time/0144.jpg

M h -picture of the massacre at Matanzas

let

http://www.nps.gov/foma/home/home.htm

In

- Fort Matanzas National Park website http://www.keyshistory.org/FL-Fla-Fr.html - info on the French in the Florida Keys

/www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_Vol_1/frenchco_ch.htm http:/ l -19th-century history on Fort Caroline and the establishment of St. Augustine http://www.keyshistory.org/FL-Fla-Fr.html -“1st Thanksgiving” at Fort Caroline http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/maps/maps.cfm#16c -maps of the New World, including La Florida