History of Florida United States of America.

Florida is the result of a volcanic chain which eroded over time and the water was washed over. Slowly the land rose again, and after the last ice age the first nomadic peoples settled in this part of the continent. These nomadic peoples developed early on a complex religious and social population structure and practiced it until the Spaniards conquered this part of America.

In the year 1513 the Spanish navigator Juan Ponce de Leon discovered on his quest for gold a new country which he named after the Spanish Flower Festival (Easter) "Pascua Florida". During the following 250 years Florida remained a Spanish colony. This colony was important for the protection of the treasure fleet which sailed permanently to Spain in Europe.

With the Spaniards horses and cattle came to the new continent Americas. Christianity which reached the new world with the Spaniards influenced the existing religious structures and pushed them back. Besides the European progress the Spaniards brought also diseases to Florida which greatly depleted the natives.

In 1763 England gets interested in Florida and there were clashes between England and Spain. When the information about the wealth of skins and furs became known this attracted many young adventurers from the States of North America to Florida. In the years 1763 to 1781 there was constant disputes between England, Spain and America and the Spaniards were usually at the side of the Americans because of their own interests.

The relationship between Spain and America deteriorated when the Spaniards supported escaped slaves, gave them shelter and granted them in their wish for freedom. The slaves allied themselves with the Seminole the natives of Florida and together they fought against the Americans.

In 1821 the state Florida was affiliated with the young union of the United States. The plantation culture spread to Florida. To get sufficient space and good land for their plantations the new plantation own began to drive of the Seminole who were living there. This started the Seminole Wars. The first Seminole War was led in 1821 by Andrew Jackson. He was the 1^st Governor of Florida and became later president of the United States.

During the civil war in 1860 Florida was allied to the northern states. Florida had at that time the task to provide food, mainly meat and salt, to the Northern Union States. Fortunately there were only a few battles in Florida so that Florida was only marginal affected of the fighting in the civil war.

After the end of the civil war in 1865 the state of Florida was broke. Entrepreneurs such as the Flagler, the Railway Mogul, recognized their opportunity in this state. Flagler built the first railroad line on the east coast to Florida and opened up the state. Then he started to develop the today’s No. 1 economic factor: the tourism.

At the time the first large luxury hotels were built at the railway tracks. Some of these hotels still exist and have an excellent reputation. These luxury hotels have been the foundation for the advancement of Florida. The state evolved into a popular food and holiday destination for Americans as well as for tourists from Europe and all over the world.

The people flowed to Florida for living and working. This rapid development of the state led to a land boom which continued until the mid-'20s of the last century. In 1926 the property prices declined and came to a subsequent depression. The government tried to prevent the consequences of this depression in funding government programs for work.

For the African Americans brought this new development in Florida no change in their life circumstances. They participated less of this boom, had no voting rights and racial segregation was the norm. This problem was only solved through the civil rights movement in the 60s of the 20th Century.

The great economic boom for Florida came after the World War II, when the state space exploration discovered Florida for their business. The space agency NASA was established on the east coast near Titusville and built up the Space Center, Cape Canaveral (later Cape Kennedy or Kennedy Space Center).

In the 60s there was new boom in the tourism industry: a development push in the parks. The beginning was made in the 60s when the Space Center was built. It was developed to an adventure land for Space interested people. In the early 70s the Walt Disney Group discovered Florida as a location for its parks. The company built its first park the Magic Kingdom in Orlando and placed the foundations stone for this entertainment capital.