Florida Colonial history

Florida's colonial history begins with Native American tribes before European contact. In 1513, the Spanish claimed the land, establishing St. Augustine in 1565, the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in North America. Spain controlled Florida for much of the 16th and 17th centuries, then ceded it to Britain in 1763, before returning it to Spain in 1783. The U.S. acquired Florida from Spain in 1819, with formal transfer in 1821, leading to American settlement and statehood in 1845. These colonial shifts shaped Florida's diverse cultural and historical landscape.