<P> Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of La Florida, which was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery . 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 . While its boundaries were never clearly or formally defined, the territory was 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, South Carolina, and southeastern Louisiana . Spain's claim to this vast area was based on several wide - ranging expeditions mounted during the 16th century . A number of missions, settlements, and small forts existed in the 16th and to a lesser extent in the 17th century; eventually they were abandoned due to pressure from the expanding English and French colonial projects, the collapse of the native populations, and the general difficulty in becoming agriculturally or economically self - sufficient (which also affected some early English colonies). By the 18th century, Spain's control over La Florida did not extend much beyond its three forts, all located in present - day Florida: St. Augustine, St. Marks, and Pensacola . </P> <P> Florida was never more than a backwater region for Spain . In contrast with Mexico and Peru, there was no gold to be found . There was insufficient native population to set up the encomienda system of forced agricultural labor, and in any event Christian Spain was never much interested in agriculture or raising domestic animals . No Spaniards set up plantations in Florida . It provided ports where ships needing water or supplies could call, and it had strategic importance as a buffer between Mexico (New Spain), whose undefined northeastern border was somewhere near the Mississippi River, Spain's Caribbean colonies, and the expanding English colonies to the north . </P> <P> Spanish Florida was established in 1513, when Juan Ponce de León claimed peninsular Florida for Spain during the first official European expedition to North America . This claim was enlarged as several explorers (most notably Pánfilo Narváez and Hernando de Soto) landed near Tampa Bay in the mid-1500s and wandered as far north as the Appalachian Mountains and as far west as Texas in largely unsuccessful searches for gold and other riches . The presidio of St. Augustine was founded on Florida's Atlantic coast in 1565; a series of missions were established across the Florida panhandle, Georgia, and South Carolina during the 1600s; and Pensacola was founded on the western Florida panhandle in 1698, strengthening Spanish claims to that section of the territory . </P> <P> Spanish control of the Florida peninsula was much facilitated by the collapse of native cultures during the 17th century . Several Native American groups (including the Timucua, Calusa, Tequesta, Apalachee, Tocobaga, and the Ais people) had been long - established residents of Florida, and most resisted Spanish incursions onto their land . However, conflict with Spanish expeditions, raids by the English and their native allies, and (especially) diseases brought from Europe resulted in a drastic decline in the population of all the indigenous peoples of Florida, and large swaths of the peninsula were mostly uninhabited by the early 1700s . During the mid-1700s, small bands of Creek and other Native American refugees began moving south into Spanish Florida after having been forced off their lands by English settlements and raids . They were later joined by African - Americans fleeing slavery in nearby colonies . These newcomers--plus perhaps a few surviving descendants of indigenous Florida peoples--eventually coalesced into a new Seminole culture . </P>

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