June 26, 2026 • 9 mins
Florida has been embracing the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, putting up statues of many of the Founding Fathers ahead of July 4th. But in 1776, those same Founders likely would have been hanged if they had shown up in Florida. St. Augustine hung several of them in effigy when word of the Declaration arrived. What is now the Sunshine State made up the British colonies of East and West Florida. But unlike the Original Thirteen, Florida stayed loyal to King George. Florida's British era is featured in an exhibit opening July 3rd and running into November at the Tampa Bay History Center. We speak with the center's Rodney Kite-Powell about "The 14th Colony" , when Florida was on the other side of the Patriot cause.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. As we approach
the nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, we see our
state paying a lot of attention to the Founding Fathers,
in some cases leadership even putting up statues in counties
named for the Founding Fathers. But what was Florida actually
doing at the time of the American Revolution. Truth is,
(00:22):
Florida was on the other side, but that doesn't mean
they didn't have a role in what was going on
in the other thirteen colonies. The Tampa Bay History Center
has an exhibit that opens July third, mapping the fourteenth Colony,
British Florida and the American Revolution. Rodney Kite Powell is
the director of the Touchtown Map Library at the Tampa
Bay History Center, and he speaks with us about that
(00:45):
upcoming exhibit and about Florida's loyalist history in the Revolution.
Welcome in, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you so much, it's so wonderful to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, let's talk about the background about this people. I
think people know that Florida was from the European perspective,
discovered by Spain. It belonged to Spain, and then it
belonged to the US, but they may not know about
the part that came in between when it was a
British colony, so kind of give us the background.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
On all that.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, yeah, that's exactly why we're doing this exhibit. It
ties obviously very well with America to fifty, but there
was twenty years from seventeen sixty three to seventeen eighty
three where we were we being Florida colony, actually two colonies,
the fourteenth and fifteenth we're fond of saying East Florida
was the peninsula of Florida and West Florida was the Panhandle,
(01:38):
and we were those colonies just like the other thirteen
with a bit of a twist, and that is that
we didn't we didn't go with that patriot cause we
stayed loyal to Great Britain.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And I think West Florida kind of went down the
coast as well into what is now southern Alabama and Mississippi.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Absolutely, West Florida extended all the way to the Mississippi River.
It didn't include New Orleans, but it did include, as
you say, what is now southern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So it was a pretty big colony.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And it was a colony for about twenty years that
dovetails with the American Revolution. So why did Florida skip
out on the revolution and stick with the crown and
King George. Was there any attempt to bring Florida in
on the side of the.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Rebels, Well, it's you know, certainly would have been advantageous
to do so, for Florida to join it's thirteen sister
colonies in revolt against against England, against Great Britain. But
we were such a new colony again taken in the
fold in seventeen sixty three following what was called in
this country the French and Indian War or the Seven
(02:50):
Years War. And most of the English people who were
living here at that time were of course new to
the colony, to the space, and they were paid to
be here. They were here kind of at the pleasure
of the king, and so they weren't in a real
revolutionary mood. And there were attempts to bring Florida in,
(03:15):
but it just there wasn't. People hadn't been here long
enough to build up any animosity against the Crown.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Now I do know, because I've known some people who
actually claimed some dissent from some of the original settlers
in Saint Augustine, and there were people who carried over
who were came in under the previous Spanish regime and
who stuck around, and they didn't seem to be I
(03:42):
guess they didn't really have any involvement in the disputes
between the king and the other colonies.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Either way, exactly most of the Spanish subjects who were
in Florida, including even some of the indigenous people, went
to Cuba following seven sixty three in the transfer of
Florida from Spain to England. But there were some in
Saint Augustine, as you mentioned, who did stay because they
had businesses, they had property, and they were allowed to stay.
(04:12):
But again they didn't really have a dog in the fight.
Although Spain did eventually come in on the side of
the Patriot cause, those individuals who remained in Saint Augustine
during the British period, you know, they didn't have you know,
as long as they're making money, they were probably fine
either way.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Now, the fact that, of course the Florida was not
part of the American Revolution, was it touched in any
way by the American Revolution? Were there things going on
in Florida that related to what was going on farther north. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Absolutely, you know, even though we weren't we didn't take
the patriots side the American Revolution definitely doesn't mean that
there weren't things going on that related to the revolution
here in Florida. So from thinking of it from the
loyalist side, Saint Augustine was an absolute loyalist stronghold because
we stayed loyal and so you saw not only loyalists
(05:05):
from the Georgia and South Carolina colonies coming into Florida
moving to Saint Augustine as a safe refuge. There were
the best way to call them as prisoners of war.
There were American patriots who were imprisoned in the fort
at Saint Augustine. And then you go later in the
war when Spain really did kind of cast its lot
in to the patriot cause there was a Spanish general
(05:27):
named Galvez, where the city Galveston, Texas comes from. He
actually captured British Mobile and then British Pensacola, which some
say kind of hastened the end of the war in
seventeen eighty one seventeen eighty two.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
And that's something that we don't get a lot of
attention paid to in fact that there was this thing
going on, and that of course led ultimately to the
return of all of Florida to Spanish control, at least
for a time. And it makes me wonder so many
loyalists left the United States and went north to what
eventually became Canada, and I'm thinking a lot of those
(06:04):
would have probably preferred the climate in Florida. So kind
of leads to the question why did the British end
up leaving Florida at the completion of the treaty that
ended the American Revolution.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Well, that's a great question, is why why does Spain
get Florida back instead of Great Britain keeping Florida. Obviously,
if we had gone in the side of the Patriot cause,
we would have been the fourteenth state or fourteen to
fifteen states. But I think part of it was the
new United States already knew that they were going to
(06:38):
have a border with the British colonies in the north,
and they did not want that same border on the
south because you'd be pinned in by your former owner, basically.
And the fact that Spain did come in on the
side of the winning side, and that they had just
lost Florida because they're on the losing side of a
(06:59):
war in seventeen sixty three, it made sense to basically
repay Spain for their effort and have Florida return to
them with the Treaty of Paris in seventeen eighty three.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So let's talk about the exhibit that you're going to
have at the Tampa Bay History Center. What are people
going to see there and how will this all tie
in to all these events.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Well, you know, we have a caotographic center here at
the History Center, the Touchdow Map Library, and so it's
a map based exhibit, and we have thousands of maps
in the collection and we have actually, you know, quite
a good collection from this from this time period, from
the late eighteenth century. So the exhibit really chronicles the
(07:40):
end of the First Spanish period. Of course, discussed a
bit kind of why or how Spain lost Florida to
Great Britain, and then we talk about that that early
colonial time, those fourteenth and fifteenth colonies, what was going on,
What did Great Britain really want out of the Floridas
and what do they see as the benefit of having
the these new colonies then of course we go into
(08:02):
the revolution itself, talking about some of the different kind
of skirmishes that took place Amelia Island, Northeast Florida, and
of course Pensacola and West Florida were the sites of
smaller battles. But then you know what else was going
on in Florida at that time, and then you know
at the conclusion of the Revolution, what happened to Florida,
(08:23):
of course going back to Spain. And then we the
last I think the last map actually is another very
short war called the Patriot War, and that is where
part of West Florida, that western side of the Panhandle
actually did end up becoming part of the United States
and forming the southern borders of what is now Mississippi
and Alabama.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Quite a bit to see there, and that exhibit opens
July third. What do people need to know if if
they're going to.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Attend, Well, so the best thing to know is that
the Pistory Center is located in the south end of
downtown Tampa and the Water Street neighborhood, and we are
open from ten to five every day of the year
except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and so we will be
happy to receive folks the fourth of July weekend and
going all the way through into early November for this exhibit.
And the exhibit itself is included in regular admission to
(09:14):
the History Center. And we'd just love to see everybody
come down and check us out.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Rodney Kite Powell, the director of the Touched and Map
Library at the Tampa Bay History Center, and that exhibit
going on starting July third and going through the summer,
and you'll find out why Florida was on the other
side of George Washington and all the founding fathers. Rodney
Kite Powell, thank you very much for joining us on
(09:39):
Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's my pleasure. Thank you so much.
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. As we approach
the nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, we see our
state paying a lot of attention to the Founding Fathers,
in some cases leadership even putting up statues in counties
named for the Founding Fathers. But what was Florida actually
doing at the time of the American Revolution. Truth is,
(00:22):
Florida was on the other side, but that doesn't mean
they didn't have a role in what was going on
in the other thirteen colonies. The Tampa Bay History Center
has an exhibit that opens July third, mapping the fourteenth Colony,
British Florida and the American Revolution. Rodney Kite Powell is
the director of the Touchtown Map Library at the Tampa
Bay History Center, and he speaks with us about that
(00:45):
upcoming exhibit and about Florida's loyalist history in the Revolution.
Welcome in, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you so much, it's so wonderful to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, let's talk about the background about this people. I
think people know that Florida was from the European perspective,
discovered by Spain. It belonged to Spain, and then it
belonged to the US, but they may not know about
the part that came in between when it was a
British colony, so kind of give us the background.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
On all that.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, yeah, that's exactly why we're doing this exhibit. It
ties obviously very well with America to fifty, but there
was twenty years from seventeen sixty three to seventeen eighty
three where we were we being Florida colony, actually two colonies,
the fourteenth and fifteenth we're fond of saying East Florida
was the peninsula of Florida and West Florida was the Panhandle,
(01:38):
and we were those colonies just like the other thirteen
with a bit of a twist, and that is that
we didn't we didn't go with that patriot cause we
stayed loyal to Great Britain.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And I think West Florida kind of went down the
coast as well into what is now southern Alabama and Mississippi.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Absolutely, West Florida extended all the way to the Mississippi River.
It didn't include New Orleans, but it did include, as
you say, what is now southern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So it was a pretty big colony.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And it was a colony for about twenty years that
dovetails with the American Revolution. So why did Florida skip
out on the revolution and stick with the crown and
King George. Was there any attempt to bring Florida in
on the side of the.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Rebels, Well, it's you know, certainly would have been advantageous
to do so, for Florida to join it's thirteen sister
colonies in revolt against against England, against Great Britain. But
we were such a new colony again taken in the
fold in seventeen sixty three following what was called in
this country the French and Indian War or the Seven
(02:50):
Years War. And most of the English people who were
living here at that time were of course new to
the colony, to the space, and they were paid to
be here. They were here kind of at the pleasure
of the king, and so they weren't in a real
revolutionary mood. And there were attempts to bring Florida in,
(03:15):
but it just there wasn't. People hadn't been here long
enough to build up any animosity against the Crown.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Now I do know, because I've known some people who
actually claimed some dissent from some of the original settlers
in Saint Augustine, and there were people who carried over
who were came in under the previous Spanish regime and
who stuck around, and they didn't seem to be I
(03:42):
guess they didn't really have any involvement in the disputes
between the king and the other colonies.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Either way, exactly most of the Spanish subjects who were
in Florida, including even some of the indigenous people, went
to Cuba following seven sixty three in the transfer of
Florida from Spain to England. But there were some in
Saint Augustine, as you mentioned, who did stay because they
had businesses, they had property, and they were allowed to stay.
(04:12):
But again they didn't really have a dog in the fight.
Although Spain did eventually come in on the side of
the Patriot cause, those individuals who remained in Saint Augustine
during the British period, you know, they didn't have you know,
as long as they're making money, they were probably fine
either way.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Now, the fact that, of course the Florida was not
part of the American Revolution, was it touched in any
way by the American Revolution? Were there things going on
in Florida that related to what was going on farther north. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Absolutely, you know, even though we weren't we didn't take
the patriots side the American Revolution definitely doesn't mean that
there weren't things going on that related to the revolution
here in Florida. So from thinking of it from the
loyalist side, Saint Augustine was an absolute loyalist stronghold because
we stayed loyal and so you saw not only loyalists
(05:05):
from the Georgia and South Carolina colonies coming into Florida
moving to Saint Augustine as a safe refuge. There were
the best way to call them as prisoners of war.
There were American patriots who were imprisoned in the fort
at Saint Augustine. And then you go later in the
war when Spain really did kind of cast its lot
in to the patriot cause there was a Spanish general
(05:27):
named Galvez, where the city Galveston, Texas comes from. He
actually captured British Mobile and then British Pensacola, which some
say kind of hastened the end of the war in
seventeen eighty one seventeen eighty two.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
And that's something that we don't get a lot of
attention paid to in fact that there was this thing
going on, and that of course led ultimately to the
return of all of Florida to Spanish control, at least
for a time. And it makes me wonder so many
loyalists left the United States and went north to what
eventually became Canada, and I'm thinking a lot of those
(06:04):
would have probably preferred the climate in Florida. So kind
of leads to the question why did the British end
up leaving Florida at the completion of the treaty that
ended the American Revolution.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Well, that's a great question, is why why does Spain
get Florida back instead of Great Britain keeping Florida. Obviously,
if we had gone in the side of the Patriot cause,
we would have been the fourteenth state or fourteen to
fifteen states. But I think part of it was the
new United States already knew that they were going to
(06:38):
have a border with the British colonies in the north,
and they did not want that same border on the
south because you'd be pinned in by your former owner, basically.
And the fact that Spain did come in on the
side of the winning side, and that they had just
lost Florida because they're on the losing side of a
(06:59):
war in seventeen sixty three, it made sense to basically
repay Spain for their effort and have Florida return to
them with the Treaty of Paris in seventeen eighty three.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So let's talk about the exhibit that you're going to
have at the Tampa Bay History Center. What are people
going to see there and how will this all tie
in to all these events.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Well, you know, we have a caotographic center here at
the History Center, the Touchdow Map Library, and so it's
a map based exhibit, and we have thousands of maps
in the collection and we have actually, you know, quite
a good collection from this from this time period, from
the late eighteenth century. So the exhibit really chronicles the
(07:40):
end of the First Spanish period. Of course, discussed a
bit kind of why or how Spain lost Florida to
Great Britain, and then we talk about that that early
colonial time, those fourteenth and fifteenth colonies, what was going on,
What did Great Britain really want out of the Floridas
and what do they see as the benefit of having
the these new colonies then of course we go into
(08:02):
the revolution itself, talking about some of the different kind
of skirmishes that took place Amelia Island, Northeast Florida, and
of course Pensacola and West Florida were the sites of
smaller battles. But then you know what else was going
on in Florida at that time, and then you know
at the conclusion of the Revolution, what happened to Florida,
(08:23):
of course going back to Spain. And then we the
last I think the last map actually is another very
short war called the Patriot War, and that is where
part of West Florida, that western side of the Panhandle
actually did end up becoming part of the United States
and forming the southern borders of what is now Mississippi
and Alabama.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Quite a bit to see there, and that exhibit opens
July third. What do people need to know if if
they're going to.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Attend, Well, so the best thing to know is that
the Pistory Center is located in the south end of
downtown Tampa and the Water Street neighborhood, and we are
open from ten to five every day of the year
except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and so we will be
happy to receive folks the fourth of July weekend and
going all the way through into early November for this exhibit.
And the exhibit itself is included in regular admission to
(09:14):
the History Center. And we'd just love to see everybody
come down and check us out.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Rodney Kite Powell, the director of the Touched and Map
Library at the Tampa Bay History Center, and that exhibit
going on starting July third and going through the summer,
and you'll find out why Florida was on the other
side of George Washington and all the founding fathers. Rodney
Kite Powell, thank you very much for joining us on
(09:39):
Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's my pleasure. Thank you so much.
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