Florida The More South You Are Analysis

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwZcrcUhLTUNb28ycmc2UnpfbDA/view

Even today, Florida is a fragmented block of land, not by water or mountains as some states, instead by values and history. The old saying of “the more South you go in Florida the more North you are” has never been more true than in today’s world. But, it was not always like this, during Florida's early years and beginner start of statehood the concentration of its people was far more North. The central areas were nothing but country, and the south was untamed swamp and marsh. The old North versus South was actually East versus West; the conflicts were also far different than the normally politically charged rhetoric of today as well. Instead, what characterized the East and
The loss of the Louisiana meant the remaining Spanish territories in Central America were now cut off from Florida. Couple this with the various social unrush at the state’s borders and the lack of support from Europe shows why the Spanish hold over the soon to become state began to falter. Throughout Cusick’s article the idea of borders as a “status quo” (Cusick, 4) was hammered in. The borders of Florida were that of a frigren entity to those of the the fledgling Americans, as such, pushing them back from the Louisiana side and other Western areas showed that Spain was truly too weak to hold its claim. The nature of these new settlers was that of a tough, strong person, someone who would defend their land to the death. As a result, every bit of land Florida lost to the U.S. became contested and furthered the problems the Spanish crown had on controlling the
Small communities of full blooded Spanish settlers that could easily withhold attack by retreating to nearby forts. Sadly, the borders and the nature of the people great affected the overall outcome of the area. While forts along the Eastern seaboard remained fairly strong, they also prompted the nearby towns to grow slowly. Unlike Westerners who fought tooth and nail, the Easterns relied more heavily on fortification, meaning they expanded slower and ultimately would retreat. As stated in Halbirt’s work, St. Augustine was a “protective garrison on the frontier, especially in conjunction with ports and trade routes" (Halbirt, 4) this shows that the Spain’s invest on the mainland of Florida was purely for security rather than full colonization. The focus on Martin Boarders as far as the East was considered was very important, as Spain has such a large investment into the area. The West on the other hand, proved more complicated as the Louisiana territory opened up treaties were developed to ensure “port cities” that allows for trade. The border was loosened to allow for this, which of course contributed to the Spanish influence declining in the 1800s as America moved onto the world