Spanish Florida - Missions and Conflicts

Missions and Conflicts

In 1549 Father Luis de Cancer and three other Dominicans attempted the first solely missionary expedition in la Florida. The effort was abandoned after only 6 weeks with de Cancer's brutal martyrdom by Tocobaga natives, which sent shock waves through the Dominican missionary community in New Spain for many years.

In 1566, the Spanish established the colony of Santa Elena on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina. Juan Pardo led two expeditions (1566-7 and 1567-8) from Santa Elena as far as eastern Tennessee, establishing six temporary forts in interior. The Spanish abandoned Santa Elena and the surrounding area in 1587.

In 1586, English sea captain Sir Francis Drake plundered and burned St. Augustine, including a fortification that was under construction, while returning from raiding Santo Domingo and Cartagena in the Caribbean. His raids exposed Spain's inability to properly defend her settlements.

The Jesuits had begun establishing missions to the Native Americans in Florida in 1567, but withdrew in 1572 after hostile encounters with the natives. In 1573 Franciscans assumed responsibility for missions to the Native Americans, eventually operating dozens of missions to the Guale, Timucua and Apalachee tribes. The missions were not without conflict and the Guale first rebelled on October 4, 1597 in what is now present-day coastal Georgia.

The extension of the mission system also provided a military strategic advantage from British troops arriving from the North. During the hundred-plus year span of missionary expansion, disease from the Europeans had a significant impact on the natives, along with the rising power of the French and British. During the Queen Anne's War, the British dismantled much of the missions. By 1706, the missionaries retracted from their mission outposts and returned to St. Augustine.