The timeline includes the following introductory text:
"The plantation era began in Florida in 1763 after Britain took control from Spain. Soon after, the first planter was given land here and brought his slaves and household.
Britain established a plantation economy and encouraged its growth by awarding land grants. As the struggle for Florida continued and Spain regained control in 1783, plantations remained the way of life. For 100 years Fort George Island was run as a plantation by a succession of owners. The one constant was slavery."
Eleven periods during the 1765-1865 plantation era are presented on the timeline:
1765: Richard Hazard, British Florida, Indigo
1770: Patrick Tonyn, British Florida, Crop unknown
1791: John McQueen, Spanish Florida, Sea island cotton
1804: John McIntosh, Spanish Florida, Sea island cotton
1814: Zephaniah Kingsley, Spanish Florida, Sea island cotton
1821: Florida becomes United States territory
1839: Kingsley Beatty Gibbs, United States territory, Sea island cotton
1853: John Lewis, State of Florida, Sea island cotton
1854: Charles Thomson, State of Florida, Sea island cotton
1860: Charles Barnwell, State of Florida, Sea island cotton
1865: Plantation era ends
ABOUT THE KINGSLEY PLANTATION WHERE THE TIMELINE IS LOCATED:
"Kingsley Plantation (also known as the Zephaniah Kingsley Plantation Home and Buildings) is the site of a former estate in Jacksonville, Florida, that was named for an early owner, Zephaniah Kingsley, who spent 25 years there. It is located at the northern tip of Fort George Island at Fort George Inlet, and is part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve managed by the U.S. National Park Service.
The plantation was originally 1,000 acres (4.0 km2), most of which has been taken over by forest; the structures and grounds of the park now comprise approximately 60 acres (242,811.385 m2). Evidence of Pre-Columbian Timucua life is on the island, as are the remains of a Spanish mission named San Juan del Puerto. Under British rule in 1765, a plantation was established that cycled through several owners while Florida was transferred back to Spain and then the United States. The longest span of ownership was under Kingsley and his family, a polygamous and multiracial household controlled by and resistant to the issues of race and slavery.
Free blacks and several private owners lived at the plantation until it was transferred to the State of Florida in 1955. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1991. The most prominent features of Kingsley Plantation are the owner's house—a structure of architectural significance built probably between 1797 and 1798 that is cited as being the oldest surviving plantation house in the state—and an attached kitchen house, barn, and remains of 25 anthropologically valuable slave cabins that endured beyond the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). The foundations of the house, kitchen, barn and the slave quarters were constructed of cement tabby, making them notably durable. Archaeological evidence found in and around the slave cabins has given researchers insight into African traditions among slaves who had recently arrived in North America.
Zephaniah Kingsley wrote a defense of slavery and the three-tier social system that acknowledged the rights of free people of color that existed in Florida under Spanish rule. Kingsley briefly served on the Florida Territorial Council, planning the transition when Florida was annexed by the United States. During his time on the council, he attempted to influence Florida lawmakers to recognize free people of color and allow mixed-race children to inherit property. In addition to the architectural qualities, the site is significant as his home and that of his unique family."
--Wikipedia (
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