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The 14th Colony: The American Revolution’s Best Kept Secret
Newly recovered military and economic information concerning British intentions during the American Revolution reveal that the South was crucial to the needs of the empire from 1775 on, with East and West Florida playing critical roles in these designs. Find out what you have never been told in history class.
Hope of Freedom: Southern Blacks and the American Revolution
This particular talk by Dr. Smith is what inspired him to write his book, Hope of Freedom. More than any other talk that he gives, this one begs the question, “Why aren’t we taught this valuable lesson on southern Revolutionary War history in the classroom?” The answer will surprise you (hint: don’t blame the schools!).
Women of the American Revolution: Lost Voices of America’s First Generation
It was a time when women had few rights and no say in political decisions or other matters of importance. It was a time when it was believed that women didn’t have the emotional or mental capacities for higher learning and insightful thinking (and yet this era was known as the Age of Enlightenment!). This talk is about some of the most amazing, yet little-known, participants in the American Revolution, gathered from various collections of reports about women from each colony, of all races, free and enslaved. These women dared to resist the “norms” of 18th-century western culture in order to stand for their beliefs and their rights. These are stories of courage and hope from the nation’s first generation that would inspire women throughout the course of American history.
Spies!: The Shadier Side of the American Revolution
Nathan Hale, Benedict Arnold, Major John André, the Culper Ring; these are the most famous of spies (and traitors) known from the American Revolution. But they weren’t alone. In an era when military intelligence was spotty and frequently unreliable, gathered at great personal risk, and often traveled no more quickly than the pace of a fast horse, accurate information collected by spies was typically the difference between victory and defeat. Out of these dreams of triumph came devious schemes for land and power, from greedy individuals in the colonies up to the imperial powers of Europe. Come take a unique look at some rather odd Revolutionary War history…in places you wouldn’t think to look!
The Last Union Jack: What Really Happened during the Final Evacuation of Loyalists?
At the conclusion of the American Revolution, East Florida remained the only colony in North America located south of the Canadian border that never lowered the Union Jack. In this discussion you can almost feel the devastation experienced by these devoted Loyalists, as well as their Native American allies, when East Florida was simply handed back to Spain. Things would become even worse when the Spanish re-occupied the colony sixteen months before the last British evacuation ship could depart on November 13, 1785. As a result, there were two imperial governors from opposing sides in the American Revolution occupying the same colony. The same colonial capital. The same city block. And they both believed that they were in charge. Nowhere else in our nation’s history do we find the absurdity of events such as those created by these bizarre circumstances.
The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park: Where Legend Meets History
The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park has been a favorite site for tourists in St. Augustine,Florida, since April 1868 – the earliest-known documented dating of a patron visiting the park for a sip of water from the famous fountain. But it is also arguably the most historic 15 acres in the nation’s oldest city. It is the archaeologically-proven location where Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles founded St. Augustine in 1565; the location of one of the oldest Native American villages in northeast Florida; the location of the first Spanish Catholic mission in the United States (1587); the cornerstone mission-site for the Spanish chain of missions that dwarf in number the missions of California and the Southwest. And yes, arguments continue to support the presence of Ponce de Leon in 1513. But this is only the beginning! The history of this property since these ancient times is as rich and deep as any other in the United States. This may well be the most under-appreciated historical site in the world.
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