Special Event - Path to Florida

Special Presentation at Kingsley Plantation - "The Path to Florida: Indian Slavery and the Fight for the Florida Borderlands"

Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

Kingsley Plantation will host a presentation on Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. by University of North Florida History Professor, Dr. Denise Bossy. This event is free and open to the public in honor of Native American Heritage Month.

Between 1670 and 1728 the Spanish, British, Creeks, and Yamasees waged bitter battles for control over the north Florida borderlands. Timucua, Apalachee, and Yamasee Indians living in this contested space were the major victims. While some were killed, Creeks warriors and British soldiers enslaved thousands more. This talk examines the pivotal role of Indian enslavement in the fight for the Florida borderlands from the beginning of English occupation in the colonial southeast through their destruction of the major Yamasee Indian communities.

According to Timucuan Preserve Superintendent Barbara Goodman, "Dr. Bossy's research illustrates another aspect of slavery that is part of our nation's past." The National Park Service is sponsoring this event to provide an opportunity for the community to recognize and discuss the effects of slavery on many cultures, Ms. Goodman added.

Dr. Bossy is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Florida, specializing in Florida, American Indian, and early American history. She received her Ph.D. in History from Yale University in 2007. Her research focuses on Indian slavery in the colonial southeast.

Directions to Kingsley Plantation.