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( Spanish Florida)
Spanish Florida (Florida Española) refers to the Spanish colony of Florida. The Spanish first landed on the peninsula in 1513, and laid claim to the land from 1565 to 1763 and again from 1784 to 1821. Several tribes of Native Americans were living in Florida when Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León arrived in 1513, reportedly searching for the Fountain of Youth. He sighted Florida for the first time, mistaking it for an island, on March 27, 1513, and subsequently landed on the east coast of the newly discovered land on April 2, 1513. He named the land La Pascua Florida, having landed there during the Spanish Easter feast, Pascua Florida. Ponce de León returned with equipment and settlers to start a colony in 1521, but they were driven off by repeated attacks from the native population. The earliest records of inland Florida are those of conquest survivors. Pánfilo de Narváez explored Florida's West Coast in 1528, but was lost at sea upon his attempted seaward escape to Mexico. One of his expedition's officers, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, survived nine years trudging between Florida and Mexico, returned to Spain and published his observations. He inspired Hernando de Soto's invasion of Florida in 1539. Members of his expedition later published details of Florida's natives, their lifestyles and behavior. In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a brief settlement in Pensacola; it was abandoned in 1561. The French began taking an interest in the area, as well, leading the Spanish to accelerate their colonization plans. Jean Ribault led an expedition to Florida in 1562, and René Goulaine de Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, in 1564, as a haven for Huguenot settlers. In response, Spain destroyed the settlement and founded San Agustín (St. Augustine in English) in 1565. Settled by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it was the first permanent European settlement in the current territory of the United States. From this base of operations, the Spanish began building Roman Catholic missions throughout what is today the southeastern United States.
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