St. Augustine

About the Author:
Shane Mountjoy is associate professor of history at York College in York, Nebraska

The oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles. The Spanish named the colony in honor of one of the leading figures of the early Christian Church, St. Augustine of Hippo, after they spotted land on Augustine's feast day, August 28. Spain had been prompted to establish a presence in this part of present-day northeastern Florida due to a new threat in the region: France. In 1564, a group of Huguenots (French Protestants) had built Fort Caroline, a colony where they could freely practice their religion. However, King Philip II of Spain believed the French settlement challenged his nation's sovereignty in the New World and ordered Menendez to destroy Fort Caroline. Over the majority of the next 256 years, Spain maintained its colonial holdings in Florida thanks largely to St. Augustine, the principal northern outpost for Spain's colonial empire until it ceded Florida to the United States in 1821.

About the Author:
Shane Mountjoy is associate professor of history at York College in York, Nebraska

Children's Literature

This history of the settlement of St. Augustine begins by describing the 1565 massacre of 200 French Lutheran soldiers in Florida by a smaller Spanish Catholic force led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. In the second chapter, the text moves back to Spain's colonial empire and to the invasions of the Iberian Peninsula by Arab Muslims from North Africa beginning in the early 700s. The Moors ruled much of the peninsula for 400 years, but as their centralized government weakened, the remaining Christian kingdoms grew strong enough to expel the Moors completely by 1492 and wealthy enough for the Castilian monarchy to send out expeditions to enlarge their influence in the world. Once Christopher Columbus had landed in the West Indies, Spain sent out other explorers, but no Spaniard landed in Florida before Juan Ponce de Leon spent two months there in 1513. He returned in 1521, but was wounded by Native Americans during the landing and died soon after in Havana. Other explorers from Spain were unable to establish Florida colonies, and in 1561 Philip II ended the Spanish attempts. However, in 1565, because French Protestants had set up Florida colonies, he named Menendez governor of Florida and sent him, with 11 ships and 2,600 men, to build settlements. He landed at the spot he named St. Augustine, had it consecrated by a priest and claimed it in the name of Spain. Local Native Americans gave him a chief's house, which he fortified against the French with earthen walls, ditches and cannons. The French had established Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville, and through a combination of strength and trickery, Menendez destroyed the French fort and its soldiers. Menendez did establish very goodrelations with the Native Americans, though these relationships deteriorated once he returned to Spain. St. Augustine itself remained under Spanish control until the British captured it in 1763, holding it until the United States returned it to Spain in 1783. In 1821, Spain turned Florida over to the United States. The text is nicely illustrated and contains a number of sidebars offering information on such topics as the Gulf Stream, attempts to convert Florida Native Americans to Catholicism, and Castillo de San Marcos, but there is only one map. A chronology, a timeline, chapter notes, a bibliography, books and websites for further reading, picture credits and an index follow the text. The book is part of the "Colonial Settlements in America" series. Reviewer: Judy DaPolito