Florida

History
C. W. Tebeau states in his book A History of Florida that in 1513, Ponce de León, seeking the mythical “Fountain of Youth,” discovered and named Florida, claiming it for Spain. Later,Florida would be held at different times by Spain and England until Spain finally sold it to the United States in 1819. (Incidentally, France established a colony named Fort Caroline in 1564 in the statethat was to become Florida.)
Early Spanish and French Exploration
Although the Florida peninsula was probably sighted by earlier navigators, the Spanish explorer Juan Poncede León is credited as the first European to visit the area. Seeking the fabled Fountain of Youth, Ponce de León landed near the site of Saint Augustine in 1513. He claimed the area, which he thoughtwas an island, for Spain and named it Florida, probably because it was then the Easter season (Pascua Florida). Other Spanish adventurers, notably Pánfilo de Narvaez and Hernando De Soto, laterexplored the region and established the fact that Florida was not an island. The vast region that comprises most of the SE United States was claimed for Spain, the whole being known as Florida.
In May,1562, Jean Ribaut had discovered the St. Johns River, and two years later René de Laudonnière built Fort Caroline at its mouth. Alarmed at this encroachment by the French, Philip II of Spaincommissioned Pedro Menéndez de Aviles to drive the French out of the area; this he did ruthlessly. Spanish colonization began when Menéndez founded St. Augustine in 1565. Florida had no precious metals to spurconquest (as in Mexico and Peru), its soil seemed infertile (Spanish Florida was never self-sufficient agriculturally), and the Native Americans resented their encroachment. However, the Spanish werecompelled to hold Florida because of its strategic location along the Straits of Florida, through which rich treasure ships from the south sailed for Spain.

English Colonization
In the 1600s the...