Keywords

Florida, antebellum, slavery, politics, secession

Abstract

The political history of antebellum Florida has long been overlooked in southern historiography. Florida was a state for just sixteen years before secession set it apart from the rest of the Union, but Florida’s road to secession was as unique as any of its southern counterparts. From the territorial days in the early nineteenth century, Florida’s political culture centered on the development and protection of slavery throughout the state. The bank wars in the pre-statehood and early statehood periods reflected differing views on how best to support the spread of the plantation economy, and the sectional strife of the 1850s instigated Floridians to find the best way to protect it. By the end of the antebellum period amidst increasing sectional strife and a sense that secession and disunion were acceptable courses of action, Florida’s population pulled together under the banner of protecting slavery – and by extension, their way of life – by whatever means necessary. Northern infringement into slavery affected not just the planters, but every free man who called Florida his home.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Sacher, John

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

History

Degree Program

History

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004410

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004410

Language

English

Release Date

August 2012

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Arts and Humanities -- Dissertations, Academic,Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Humanities

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Included in

History Commons

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