Virtual Speaker Series - Pirates, Privateers, and the Fall of Spain’s Empire: How Spanish American Independence Brought Florida to the United States

Pirates, Privateers, and the Fall of Spain’s Empire:

How Spanish American Independence Brought Florida

to the United States

David Head

April 20, 2023 at 7 pm

In the summer of 1817, a group of pirates and privateers invaded Amelia Island,

Florida, a Spanish colony, in hopes of striking a blow for the Spanish American

Revolution. This presentation tells the stories of these revolutionary rogues and

their leaders, how they planned to free Florida from Spanish rule, and how the

United States intervened to stop them.

This program is a partnership between the  Florida Humanities and Friends of Wakulla Springs State Park. Funding for this program was provided by Florida  Humanities and sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Florida Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.