Intro to a history of Fort Mose

In which year did Columbus begin colonization of the Americas?

• 1607

• 766

• 1492

• 1776

Answer explanation

On October 12, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus made landfall in what is now the Bahamas. Columbus and his ships landed on an island that the native Lucayan people called Guanahani.

Who was the Spanish priest who condemned the use of indigenous Americans as slaves but recommended the use of Africans?

• Bartolomé de las Casas

• Ponce de León

• Jorge Mario Bergoglio

• Pedro Sánchez

Answer explanation

Bartolomé de las Casas, OP was a 16th-century Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as a historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar and priest.

In which years did the Spanish/English first arrive to what is now the United States?

• 1512/1700

• 1636/1607

• 1565/1607

• 1607/1565

Answer explanation

Pedro Menéndez Áviles founds St. Augustine. Free and enslaved Africans are part of his colonial expedition and become a constant part of St. Augustine's society.

True of False: Spain abolished the slave trade before Britain.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

In 1807, Britain passes Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, outlawing British Atlantic slave trade. Spain abolishes slavery in 1811 including in its colonies, though Cuba rejects ban and continues to deal in slaves.

Which two American states border Florida to the north and east?

• Georgia and Mississippi

• Georgia and Alabama

• Georgia and South Carolina

• Georgia and Tennessee

Answer explanation

Competition between Spain and Britain made Florida a haven for colonial Georgia and South Carolina’s fugitive slaves in the 18th century. To destabilize British colonization in the north, Spain encouraged British slaves to escape to Florida, where they could convert to Catholicism and become Spanish citizens. In the 1730s, a black Spanish community formed in St. Augustine, the capital of Spanish Florida, and founded a town called Fort Mose.

In which year did England formally enter the slave trade?

• 1650

• 1607

• 1512

• 1560

This Englishman founded the British colony of Georgia. What was his name?

• General James Stewart

• General James Corden

• General James Cromwell

• General James Oglethorpe

Answer explanation

In 1740, colonial governor James Oglethorpe of Georgia invaded Florida and burned Spanish outposts along the St. Johns River, as he led his force of British colonists and American Indian allies south to St. Augustine.

What is the name of the American most closely associated with the Underground Railroad?

(a)  

Answer explanation

Frederick Douglass was a freedman, an orator,and abolitionist. Harriet Tubman was enslaved, escaped, and helped others to their freedom via the Underground Railroad.

Which of the following is NOT a reason it was called the Underground Railroad?

• For its secret nature

• Rail was an emerging form of transportation

• Because there were stops along the way

• For the underground rail system developed by escaped slaves and abolitionists

Answer explanation

Despite the historic accuracy in much of Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad (in which a physical underground rail system existed), in truth there was no train. Boats, yes. Trains, no.

The Underground Railroad exclusively ran directionally south to north.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

While the Underground Railroad mostly helped people to escape to northern states and Canada, there are some examples of enslaved people escaping to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Spanish Florida.