Research Symposium

BIO

Gustavo Medici is a first-year Honors student seeking a Bachelor of the Arts in History and a Museum Studies minor. He was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and moved to Florida in 2015. Due to his heritage and experience as an immigrant, he became interested in Latin American history and the relationship between the United States and other countries in the Americas.

“The Pipe of Friendship” British, Spanish, and Native Relations in Colonial Florida (1783-1784)

Abstract

From 1763 to 1783, the British controlled West and East Florida as two provinces, taking over from the Spanish. During the American Revolution, East Florida could be thought of as a Loyalist fourteenth British colony. Florida during the Revolutionary War was what some might consider a “lawless” land, where the authority of colonial institutions did not extend throughout the territory. Making Florida unique were intricate Native American alliances and treaties formed between the Muscogee, Seminole, British, and Spanish. Utilizing two letters from British and Spanish colonial governors transcribed with the aid of Google Gemini, we analyzed Native and European interactions occurring during the critical transition from Florida as a British to Florida as a Spanish colony. We contextualized the letters using secondary sources. To ensure the survival of the colony, alliances with Native groups kept the Florida provinces in a state of relative peace. There seems to have been a recognition of periods when Native ethics and customs affected how European law was enforced. How did the Spanish and British approach interactions and negotiations with Native groups?

Keywords: History, Florida, Native American, British, Spanish