In contrast with Mexico and Peru, there was no gold or silver to be found. Marks, and Pensacola, all within the boundaries of present-day Florida.įlorida was never more than a backwater region for Spain and served primarily as a strategic buffer between New Spain (whose undefined northeastern border was somewhere near the Mississippi River), Spain's Caribbean colonies, and the expanding English colonies to the north. By the 18th century, Spain's control over La Florida did not extend much beyond a handful of forts near St. A number of missions, settlements, and small forts existed in the 16th and to a lesser extent in the 17th century they were eventually abandoned due to pressure from the expanding English and French colonial settlements, the collapse of the native populations, and the general difficulty in becoming agriculturally or economically self-sufficient. Spain's claim to this vast area was based on several wide-ranging expeditions mounted during the 16th century. While its boundaries were never clearly or formally defined, the territory was initially much larger than the present-day state of Florida, extending over much of what is now the southeastern United States, including all of present-day Florida plus portions of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana. La Florida formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire during Spanish colonization of the Americas. Spanish Florida ( Spanish: La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery.
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