<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 made possible 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> <P> The extent of Spanish Florida began to shrink in the 1600s, and the mission system was gradually abandoned due to native depopulation . Between disease, poor management, and ill - timed hurricanes, several Spanish attempts to establish new settlements in La Florida ended in failure . With no gold or silver in the region, Spain regarded Florida (and particularly the heavily fortified town of St. Augustine) primarily as a buffer between its more prosperous colonies to the south and west and several newly established rival European colonies to the north . The establishment of the Province of Carolina by the English in 1639, New Orleans by the French in 1718, and of the Province of Georgia by Great Britain in 1732 limited the boundaries of Florida over Spanish objections . The War of Jenkins' Ear (1739 - 1748) included a British attack on St. Augustine and a Spanish invasion of Georgia, both of which were repulsed . At the conclusion of the war, the northern boundary of Spanish Florida was set near the current northern border of modern - day Florida . </P> <P> Great Britain temporarily gained control of Florida beginning in 1763 as a result of the Anglo - Spanish War, but while Britain occupied the territory, it did not develop it further . Sparsely populated British Florida stayed loyal to Crown during the American Revolutionary War, and by the terms of the Treaty of Paris which ended the war, the territory was returned to Spain in 1783 . After a brief diplomatic border dispute with the fledgling United States, the countries set a territorial border and allowed Americans free navigation of the Mississippi River by the terms of Pinckney's Treaty in 1795 . </P>

In florida which european country was attacking settlements in georgia