Long shrouded in legend and misconception, the early history of Florida is often cast as Spanish conquistadors coming to a miserable place and embarking on quixotic quests in search of magical fountains and cities of gold, only to find death, poverty, and despair. Yet this familiar narrative obscures a more complex history.
Historian J. Michael Francis explores the earliest decades of Florida’s colonial past, including the 1565 founding of St. Augustine—the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in what is now the United States. Drawing on his public history initiative, the Lost Voices project, Francis illuminates the lives of the many peoples who shaped St. Augustine. Through the intersecting stories of European settlers, Native Americans, and Africans, a dynamic, interconnected world is revealed, offering a more nuanced understanding of Florida’s colonial beginnings.
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