<P> Slavery in Florida began under Spanish rule and continued under American and later Confederate rule . It was theoretically abolished by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, but this had little effect in Florida . Slavery continued until the end of the Civil War and collapse of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865, followed by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865 . Some of the characteristics of slavery--inability to leave a disagreeable situation--continued under sharecropping, convict leasing, vagrancy laws . In the 20th and 21st centuries, conditions approximating slavery are found among marginal immigrant populations, especially migrant farm workers and involuntary sex workers . </P> <P> The peninsula of modern - day Florida was under the control of Spain until the mid-1700s when it was briefly owned by the British, only to be returned to Spain a few years later . Prior to the colony being turned over to the British, there was a period in the early 1700s during which Spanish Florida was a hotbed for the raiding natives from the northern Carolina and Georgia areas . Though they were left alone for the most part by one of the original raiding groups, the Westos, Spanish Florida was heavily targeted by the later raiding groups the Yamasee and Creek . These raids, in which villages were destroyed and natives were either captured or killed, drove the natives to the hands of the Spanish, who attempted to protect them as best they could from the invaders . However, the strength of the Spanish dwindled and as the raids continued the Spanish and natives were forced to retreat farther and farther back into the peninsula . The raids were so frequent that there were few natives left to capture, and so the Yamasee and the Creek began bringing fewer and fewer slaves to the Carolina colonies and were unable to effectively continue the trade . The retreat of the Spanish was only ended when the Yamasee and Creek entered what would later be known as the Yamasee War with the Carolina colony . </P>

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