Image courtesy of Nuestro Stories.
Did you know that Fort Mosé was the first legally sanctioned freed slave community in what is now the United States?
To find out how this happened, we must travel back to the 18th century.
When Spain saw the threat of the British in their colonies, they decided to help enslaved Africans escape to Florida. There they would be converted to Catholicism and recognized as Spanish citizens.
This community of Spanish Blacks would settle in what is now Fort Mosé in 1730. After the governor of Florida, Manuel de Montiano, granted a parcel of land about two miles north of St. Augustine, where they were able to build their own settlement and citadel.
Although there are no remnants of the wooden structures, the citadel is often described as an earthen-walled fort with Indian-type thatched huts.
For Spain, the motives behind the foundation of Fort Mosé, or “Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé,” were religious and humanitarian. However, its position was perfect for defending St. Augustine from British attacks. Unfourtanley, in 1740 the British took Fort Mose under General James Oglethorpe.
Francisco Menéndez, the leader of the Ft. Mosé community, led his forces in a surprise attack and a valiant recapture of the fort a few weeks after the British invasion.
The Afro-Spaniards continued to live there until 1763 after Spain ceded Florida to the British by treaty. The Afro-Spaniards and the rest of the St. Augustine population moved to Cuba.
With little interest in Afro-Hispanic history in the United States, Fort Mosé eventually disappeared. Until, In the middle of the 20th century, the history of the citadel, which was already buried under the swamp, began to be uncovered. Thanks to excavations, the history and contribution of the citadel to St. Augustine became known.
Things to know before you go:
Fort Mose was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1994, and in 2009 the National Park Service designated Fort Mose as a precursor site for the National Underground Railroad Network.
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
Address: 15 Fort Mose Trail, St. Augustine, FL 32084, United States
Visit Fort Mosé here.
