Spanish Florida

Spanish Florida (La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery.

Spanish Florida was established in 1513 when Juan Ponce de León claimed peninsular Florida for Spain during the first official European expedition to North America.

La Florida formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The territory was initially much larger than the present-day state of Florida, extending over much of what is now the southeastern United States, including all of present-day Florida plus portions of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana.

Florida’s Spanish colonial heritage began nearly 100 years before Jamestown and ended when Florida became a territory of the United States in 1821.