The Historical Archaeology of Seventeeth-Century La Florida

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, St. Augustine was still recovering from Francis Drake\u27s 1586 raid during which the town and fields were ravaged.1 Officials were also evaluating the fallout from the 1597 Guale Rebellion during which four of the five friars working among the native peoples were killed, and rebuilding the town following a devastating fire in 1599. If not for St. Augustine\u27s strategic location and perceived progress in the religious conversion of natives, Florida might well have been abandoned at the turn of the century. As it turned out, the next century would be the period of Spain\u27s most extensive presence in La Florida

Colonialism on the Spanish Florida Frontier: Mission San Luis, 1656-1704

The status of indigenous chiefs in the Americas was acknowledged by Spaniards in 1492.1 This resulted in a hierarchical social order of republics, including a Republic of Spaniards, a Republic of Indians, and a third order of free blacks and mixed bloods ... presumed to have an African taint. 2 During the seventeenth century, this framework became an important element in structuring the Indies and other colonies such as La Florida.3 In exchange for allegiance and tribute obligations, chiefs received special privileges, immunities, honorific titles, and material gifts that reinforced their status. However, the recognition of native nobility and indigenous political structures never precluded the fact that Spaniards always constituted the superior order or republic, and they alone controlled the rules by which their settlements were governed

Forum : Vol. 24, No. 03 (Winter : 2001)

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/forum_magazine/1032/thumbnail.jp

Forum : Vol. 24, No. 03 (Winter : 2001)

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/forum_magazine/1032/thumbnail.jp