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Growth
and Development
Florida
in a New Era
Florida
Secedes
The
Civil War
Battles
in Florida
Reconstruction
Radical
Reconstruction
A
Changing Economy
Growth
of Industry
The
Citrus Industry
Other
Industries Develop
Railroads
and Economic Growth
Communities
Develop and Grow
The
Spanish-American War
Florida
and World War I
Florida in a New Era
By 1860 Florida had a population of 140,000
and was growing, but only Delaware among the states
had a smaller population. Florida's largest county,
Leon, had only 12,343 people. The state's economy
was based on crops and cattle. Most Floridians worked
on farms. Half of those farms were small, with less
than 20 acres. Almost half of all Floridians, about
62,000, were enslaved people.
Florida cotton plantations were located mostly in
Middle Florida. The counties of Middle Florida-Jackson,
Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, and Madison-produced most
of the 65,000 cotton bales Florida produced in 1860.
Because of their economic power, the planters were
an important political force. The planters had the
most to lose if slavery were outlawed because most
of Florida's enslaved people worked on plantations
in this region. The planters led the opposition
in the state to the Republican Party and its antislavery
policies.
Florida Secedes
After Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was
elected president in 1860, Florida held a special
convention to decide whether or not to secede, or
withdraw, from the United States. On January 10,
1861, the delegates voted 62 to 7 to secede. Florida
was the third state to leave the Union. A few weeks
later, Florida joined the other Southern states
to form the Confederate States of America. In April
the Civil War began. Many Floridians enlisted to
fight. An estimated 15,000 Floridians fought on
the Confederate side, and about 2,500 men-both white
Floridians and freed slaves-enlisted on the Union
side.
Back to Top
The Civil War
When the Civil War began,
neither the Union leaders nor the Confederate leaders
regarded Florida as strategically important. Florida
had a small population, little industry, and was
isolated from the other states of the Confederacy.
As the war progressed, Florida became one of the
Confederacy's important suppliers. Florida supplied
cattle for beef to the Confederate army. The Confederate
Cow Cavalry drove perhaps as many as 15,000 head
of cattle from south Florida to help feed the Confederate
army. Florida's farms and plantations supplied cotton,
pork, and vegetables. Salt work plants at Apalachee
Bay and St. Andrews and at other sites along the
coast produced much-needed salt. Salt was important
because it was used to keep meat from spoiling in
the days before refrigeration.
The Union controlled Jacksonville throughout the
war and some coastal towns and several forts, including
Fort Taylor in Key West, Fort Pickens in Pensacola,
and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. The interior
of Florida, however, remained under Confederate
control. The capital, Tallahassee, was the only
Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River
that did not fall into Union hands during the Civil
War.
Back to Top
Battles in Florida
In 1864, 5,500 Union soldiers advanced toward
Tallahassee. Meanwhile, Confederate general Joseph
Finegan positioned his 5,200 troops at Olustee Station,
located about 13 miles east of Lake City. On February
20, the two armies fought a furious battle. Nearly
2,000 Union soldiers and 1,000 Confederate soldiers
were killed, wounded, or captured. The Battle of
Olustee, also known as Ocean Pond, stopped the Union
advance. The Union army was forced to retreat to
Jacksonville.
Confederate forces were also victorious at the Battle
of Natural Bridge. In March 1865, Union army and
naval forces landed near St. Mark's Lighthouse and
prepared to move inland to take St. Marks, and then
march on to Tallahassee. A messenger warned the
citizens of Tallahassee about the dangers, and townspeople
began constructing Fort Houston. Young and old men
volunteered to defend the capitol. Meeting at Natural
Bridge, the Confederate soldiers turned back the
veteran Union forces.
A few weeks later, General Robert E. Lee, commander
of the Confederate forces surrendered to General
Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
The Civil War was over.
Back to Top
Reconstruction
The war for Southern independence had failed,
and the cost had been great. Many people had died.
The nation faced the challenge of Reconstruction-the
reorganization and rebuilding of the Southern states.
President Lincoln's plans for Reconstruction called
for leniency toward the South and a quick reconciliation.
Radical Republicans in Congress, however, wanted
more influence in rebuilding the South.
For newly freed African Americans and refugees,
the Freedmen's Bureau offered federal assistance
to help them adjust to their new lives. After Lincoln's
assassination in April 1865, President Johnson introduced
a restoration plan similar to Lincoln's moderate
policy. Radical Republicans opposed the plan, however,
when former Confederate leaders were elected to
Congress. The new Southern legislatures also passed
laws known as black codes limiting the rights of
African Americans.
The codes of Florida limited many rights of African
Americans. The laws also enforced separation of
the races, or segregation. Penalties were set for
"any person of color . who shall intrude himself
into any religious or other public assembly of white
persons or into any railroad-car or other vehicle
set apart for the accommodation of white persons."
Florida also required that all citizens registering
to vote pay a poll tax of $3. Most poor African
Americans could not vote because they could not
afford to pay. A poll tax would remain part of Florida
law until 1937.
Back to Top
Radical Reconstruction
When Republicans gained control
of the U.S. Congress, they divided the former Confederacy
into military districts and broadened the rights
of freed people. The Radical Republicans also passed
laws to punish the former Confederates. They took
away their citizenship and did not allow them to
hold public office.
African Americans enjoyed a period when they were
allowed to vote and take part in the political process.
At the end of the Civil War, African Americans voted
in the local election in Fernandina. In the 1870s,
Josiah T. Walls was elected to Congress and Jonathan
C. Gibbs supervised Florida's public school system.
Legislators worked with Governor Ossian B. Hart
to protect civil rights, improve opportunities for
education, and reform state and local government.
Federal troops were still stationed in Florida in
1876. However, in 1877, Democrats struck a deal
with Republicans in Congress to pull federal troops
out of the South. The collapse of Reconstruction
left Florida's African Americans with little voice
in their government.
Back to Top
A Changing Economy
The period of Reconstruction was a difficult
time for the people of Florida. Plantation owners
who had depended for so long on the free labor of
enslaved people found themselves without workers.
The newly freed enslaved people did not own land
or have jobs. Many African Americans returned to
the plantations to work as sharecroppers. Many poor
white Floridians also worked as sharecroppers. Under
sharecropping, the workers rented land from the
plantation owner and gave the owner a share of the
crops.
Growth of Industry
Because Florida had not suffered widespread
damage, the state was able to ship supplies to other
states for rebuilding. The port cities of Jacksonville
and Pensacola prospered because of strong demand
for lumber and forest products. The sap from Florida's
abundant pine trees was used to make turpentine.
Wood from cedar trees was used to build furniture
and make pencils. The leading pencil manufacturer
was the Faber Pencil Company located on the Gulf
island of Cedar Key. The island supported thriving
lumber and seafood harvesting industries. The industries
declined when the cedar trees grew scarce and a
hurricane in 1896 destroyed businesses and homes.
Cattle ranching remained an important industry in
central Florida after the Civil War. Ranch hands
drove the cattle to ports. Today, Florida still
has many cattle ranches and there are nearly 2 million
beef and dairy cattle in the state. Osceola County
leads the state in beef production.
Back to Top
The Citrus Industry
Other industries flourished
as well in the 1800s. Early Spanish settlers had
planted the first orange trees around Saint Augustine.
Cultivation of the first orange groves began in
1821. A few years later, French settlers planted
the first grapefruit groves near Tampa. Florida's
sandy soil and subtropical climate provided fertile
ground for growing citrus.
Citrus production and sales grew tremendously. Annual
production grew from 1 million boxes in the late
1860s to more than 5 million boxes by 1893. Improved
transportation systems helped reach new markets
in the northeastern United States.
Citrus production suffered setbacks, however. The
Great Freeze of 1894-1895 ruined many of the groves
in north and central Florida. As a result, many
growers moved to locations farther south that were
unaffected by the freeze.
Back to Top
Other Industries Develop
Another important industry
was the harvesting of sponges growing in the waters
of the Gulf of Mexico. Sponge businesses grew in
Tarpon Springs. Soon, the sponge became the community's
most important industry. For many years, the harvesting
of sponges was one of Florida's most profitable
industries.
In 1885, Don Vincente Martinez Ybor brought cigar
making to Tampa. Cigar factories flourished in the
part of Tampa called Ybor City. The booming industry
attracted Cuban, Spanish, Italian, and German immigrants
to work in the area's thriving factories. In 1880
Tampa was a small village of 720 people. By 1900
the city had grown to 15,839. Nearly 4,000 Cubans
resided in Ybor City and the surrounding area, providing
the workforce and the skill to build the city's
cigar industry. The discovery of phosphate east
of Tampa in 1886 also helped the area grow. Phosphate
is an important ingredient in fertilizer, and was
transported throughout the United States and Europe.
Also fueling the economic growth was the construction
of new railroad lines.
Back to Top
Railroads and Economic Growth
Henry Plant created the first
major transportation system in the Southeast. Henry
Plant's rails pushed south from Jacksonville along
the St. Johns River to Sanford, then southwest through
Orlando to Tampa. He operated a chain of luxury
hotels that transformed the west coast of Florida
into a tourist center. The railways stimulated the
movement of business and tourists into the region.
The Jacksonville Times-Union noted in 1899
that
"The coming of Mr. Plant to the Southern states
marked the opening of Florida-as a tourist resort."
Florida's Panhandle relied on river transportation,
which only flowed south. To help its lumber and
farming industries transport supplies to other areas,
the Panhandle needed a railway system that ran east
to west. In 1874, William Chipley received a charter
to build the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad across
west Florida to Apalachicola. By 1881 workers were
extending the railroad farther east. Service from
Pensacola to Jacksonville began in the spring of
1883.
New York-born Henry Flagler had gained great wealth
through his partnership with John D. Rockefeller
in Standard Oil. Beginning in St. Augustine, Flagler
built new hotels and railroads and purchased and
upgraded existing ones. Every few years, Flagler
extended his railroad farther south to Rockledge
in 1893 and to Fort Pierce, Palm Beach, and West
Palm Beach a year later.
Back to Top
Communities Develop and Grow
Farther south along the east
coast, small communities were growing along Biscayne
Bay. Julia Tuttle moved to the area in 1892 from
Cleveland, Ohio, and purchased land along the Miami
River near a settlement called Coconut Grove. She
was certain that this settlement would someday become
a great city. She urged Flagler to extend his railroad
south to the region. At first, Flagler was not interested.
Then an act of nature changed his mind.
During the winter of 1894-1895, a series of terrible
freezes wiped out Florida's citrus crops in north
and central Florida. The freezes did not strike
the area around Coconut Grove. Flagler decided to
extend the railroad there. Flagler's railway to
the settlement, now called Miami, opened in 1896,
and the city was incorporated that same year. Many
citrus growers from northern Florida moved to the
area and began planting small orange groves.
The railroads helped the citrus industry grow. It
was now possible to pick oranges in south Florida,
ship them on a railway heading north, and place
them in groceries in Northern cities in less than
a week. By 1915, citrus production reached 10 million
boxes.
Then in 1905, Flagler proposed to build a railroad
150 miles from Miami to Key West-much of it over
open water. The line would allow tourists to travel
to Key West and to Cuba quickly and easily. Flagler
believed that Key West would become the nation's
main port along the Atlantic seaboard. Florida's
governor, Albert Gilchrist, said that
"The building of this great oversea railroad
is of nationwide importance, second in importance
only to the construction of the Panama Canal."
The project was hazardous. Hurricanes struck the
area three times during construction. The worst
hurricane struck the area in October 1906 and killed
125 workers.
The extension of the Florida East Coast Railway
from Miami to Key West was completed in 1912. The
new line opened up a new region, which by 1925,
had become one of the chief citrus-growing areas
of Florida.
Back to Top
The Spanish-American War
Cuba was one of Spain's oldest colonies in the
Americas. Its sugarcane plantations generated great
wealth for Spain. Spanish rule in Cuba had become
increasingly harsh, and the Cuban people tried to
win their independence many times. Cuban rebel leader
Jose Martí launched a new rebellion in 1895. Martí
and many Cuban leaders traveled to Florida to gain
support for their cause. They visited Cuban communities
in Florida. Many Americans openly supported the
rebels. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, who later served
as governor of Florida, made many trips to Cuba
on his ship to carry supplies to Cuban forces. Some
U.S. citizens compared the Cubans' struggle to the
American Revolution.
Then on February 15, 1898, the USS Maine,
anchored in Havana harbor, exploded, killing 266
sailors. Many Americans blamed the explosion on
Spain. Within a matter of weeks, Spain and the United
States were at war.
When the war broke out, Florida became the center
of military activity. The cities of Tampa, Jacksonville,
Fernandina, Lakeland, Pensacola, Key West, and Miami
were used as military training camps. Tampa served
as the main port for American forces on their way
to Cuba. By the war's end, more than 65,000 troops
had passed through Tampa's ports. More than 12,000
railroad freight cars entered Tampa to deliver food,
medical supplies, and ammunition for the expedition
to Cuba.
William D. Bloxham was the governor of Florida during
the war. He worked with military officials to organize
transportation and help set up the camps.
Florida and World War I
The United States reluctantly
entered World War I in 1917 after German submarines
violated American neutrality. The war helped the
state's economy. Florida farmers provided food to
feed the nation. Jacksonville and Tampa were important
shipbuilding centers. Florida provided training
grounds for soldiers and sailors, and Florida's
ports served as naval bases. Back to Top |
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