Editing History of Pensacola
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[[Image:Downtownpcola.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Pensacola was the first European-inhabited settlement in what would later become the United States of America.]] | [[Image:Downtownpcola.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Pensacola was the first European-inhabited settlement in what would later become the United States of America.]] | ||
− | The first | + | The first European settlement in the continental United States was Pensacola, which was established on [[Santa Rosa Island]] by conquistador Don [[Tristán de Luna y Arellano]] in 1559. Two years later, in 1561, the settlement and its fleet were destroyed by a hurricane and the site was abandoned. Two survivors managed to walk the arduous journey to Mexico City. Pensacola was permanently reestablished by the Spanish in 1698 and became the largest city in Florida and the capital of the colony of West Florida. Another important Spanish settlement was established at Saint Marks in Wakulla county (San Marcos de Apalache). The Spanish settlers established a unique [[Louisiana Creole people|Creole]] culture in the region and brought in the first African slaves to the area and introduced the Roman Catholic Church. |
Pensacola was the first settlement of Europeans in what is now the United States. The area was first sighted by a European in 1513 by Spanish explorer [[Juan Ponce de León]]. Three years later, [[Don Diego Miruelo]] became the first European to sail into [[Pensacola Bay]]. | Pensacola was the first settlement of Europeans in what is now the United States. The area was first sighted by a European in 1513 by Spanish explorer [[Juan Ponce de León]]. Three years later, [[Don Diego Miruelo]] became the first European to sail into [[Pensacola Bay]]. | ||
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[[Image:Wmdudleychipleyobelisk.jpg|left|thumb|200px|General [[William Dudley Chipley]] helped rebuild Pensacola after the Civil War. An obelisk was erected in his honor at the Plaza Ferdinand VII.]] | [[Image:Wmdudleychipleyobelisk.jpg|left|thumb|200px|General [[William Dudley Chipley]] helped rebuild Pensacola after the Civil War. An obelisk was erected in his honor at the Plaza Ferdinand VII.]] | ||
− | The ravages of Reconstruction greatly damaged the region's economy | + | The ravages of Reconstruction greatly damaged the region's economy. Florida was readmitted to the Union on June 25, 1868. |
− | + | Cotton, worked largely by the sharecropper descendants of freed slaves, remained crucial to the economy but slowly economic diversification and urbanization reached the region. Vast pine forests, their wood used to produce paper, became an economic basis. A brickmaking industry thrived at the turn of the twentieth century. Shipping declined in importance, but the military and manufacturing became prominent. Harvesting of fish and other seafood are also vital. Aside from cotton and pine trees, major crops include peanuts, soybeans, and corn. The [[Historic Pensacola]] [[Museum of Industry]] gives a detailed account of these turn-of-the-century foundations of the local economy. | |
Having cultural ties to the old South, racism was very evident in the culture of the city in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1972, newly desegregated [[Escambia High School]] endured a bloody race riot after black students fought the school's band and other white students when the band played the school song, "Dixie," at a football game. The school's mascot, a rebel, was subsequently changed to a gator. | Having cultural ties to the old South, racism was very evident in the culture of the city in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1972, newly desegregated [[Escambia High School]] endured a bloody race riot after black students fought the school's band and other white students when the band played the school song, "Dixie," at a football game. The school's mascot, a rebel, was subsequently changed to a gator. | ||
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[[Category:History]] | [[Category:History]] | ||
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