LAST OUTPOST OF EMPIRE: The Plight of the Menorcans

On Saturday, February 23, 2019, Volunteers and  Park Rangers, will present LAST OUTPOST OF EMPIRE: The Plight of the Menorcans, a new heritage Event, from 9:00AM to 4:00PM, recreating colonial life in British East Florida and discussing the role of St. Augustine’s Menorcans in 18^th-century Florida.

For twenty years, from 1763 to 1783, British East Florida was the United Kingdom’s “14^th Colony” in America and part of the British Empire.  The colony of British East Florida consisted of peninsular Florida, with its western boundary at the Apalachicola River and its capital at the old Spanish city of St. Augustine, founded in 1565. 

One of the largest plantations in British East Florida was New Smyrna, a 101,400 acre grant settled in 1768.  It was farmed by over 1,400 indentured laborers brought from Spain, Italy, and Greece, with the majority coming from the Spanish island of Menorca.  In 1777, the plantation collapsed due to tropical diseases, Native American raids, and mismanagement.  Abandoned in the Florida wilderness, the surviving Menorcan workers – about 600 in number – sent a delegation on foot over 60 miles north to St. Augustine to ask for help and asylum.  The new English Governor, Gen. Patrick Tonyn, granted all the Menorcan refugees sanctuary in St. Augustine, where their descendants live to this day.

 Loyalist and British soldiers/sailors, garrisoning Fort Matanzas, will demonstrate the military skills needed to fight for King George on America’s Southern frontier.  Newcomers to St. Augustine, Menorcans will talk about life in colonial Florida under British rule.  Demonstrations of British  musket drills will take place throughout the day.

Fees

This event is free to attend.

Schedule

Event Type

• Living History