The Spanish destroyed the original Fort Caroline and built their own fort in its place after seizing the colony. It was later burned by the French, rebuilt again, and permanently abandoned within a year. Today, the precise location of the original fort is unknown.

René de Goulaine de Laudonnière

Colonial conflict with Britain In the middle of the 18th century, a series of colonial conflicts began between France and Britain, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of most of the first French colonial empire and the near-complete expulsion of France from the Americas.

In April 1568, Dominique de Gourgues led a French force which attacked, captured and burned the fort. He then slaughtered the Spanish prisoners in revenge for the 1565 massacre. The Spanish rebuilt, but permanently abandoned the fort the following year. The exact location of the fort is not known.

They were in the final stage of a culture whose way of life had remained essentially unchanged for more than 1,000 years. The French expedition, organized by Protestant leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, landed at the site briefly in 1562 and Jean Ribault and his men erected a monument at the river.

Fort Caroline, San Mateo

Spanish minister Do Luis de Onis and U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sign the Florida Purchase Treaty, in which Spain agrees to cede the remainder of its old province of Florida to the United States.

Texas

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state to join the United States. People first reached Florida at least 12,000 years ago. Because the sea level was much lower then, Florida was nearly twice the size it is today.

Florida Territory

(None of the short-lived Republic lay within the borders of the modern U.S. state of Florida; it comprised the Florida parishes of today’s Louisiana.) Within months it was annexed by the United States, which claimed the region as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803….