Living history volunteers portraying French soldiers at Fort Caroline

In Florida, both Spain and France hoped to claim their piece of the "new world." By the time the French planted their settlement at La Caroline, Spain was entrenched in South and Central America and its sea routes through the Caribbean were well established. Spanish ships bearing gold and silver from the mines of Mexico and Peru stopped at Havana before sailing for Spain. They rode the Gulf Stream through what is now the Straits of Florida and up the southeastern coast of North America. The Spanish were uneasy about a French settlement because their treasure ships, while they followed the Florida coast, could be easy prey for suspected French raiders in their nearby haven at La Caroline.

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