Why can we characterize Florida as a multicultural frontier? It’s hard not to think of Florida in a multicultural sense either today or in colonial frontier time, due to the ever changing political powers, the influx of slaves, and settlers. As we learned with the readings there are lots of cases of slaves and settlers being brought in whether from Spanish, British, Greek, German, Irish, or African descent. This doesn’t even include the multiple indigenous Indian tribes. Each of these sets with their own religious views, values, and customs. Even during the Spanish period we see how diverse the culture is with the social classes of mixed heritage, which ranges from African, Spanish, and Indian. There is also due to the change from Spanish to British ownership an influx of people from other European descents as indentured servants and just settlers. All these factors bring out a rise in the multicultural Florida frontier. This trend is still visible today too as seen with all the immigrants located here in Florida.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Why can we Characterize Florida as a multicultural frontier?
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Florida's complex cultural past makes it an important counterpoint to the broad story of U.S. development. What does Florida experience tell us about the broader U.S. experience that can help us understand North America better?
Florida is characterized as a multicultural frontier for several reasons. A major contributor would be the need for slaves that could stand the hostile environment of florida. Greek and African slaves were both used to this hot environment, and therefore were brought to florida. This, along with the heavy Seminole population, was the start of multicultural affairs in florida. Also, due to its sparse population and lack of government, certain things were more acceptable in Florida, for instance you could marry a black woman, and have whole towns of free blacks (such as Fort Mose) Florida's intermingling population is early evidence of what america would eventually become, which is a country known for being diverse.
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