Fort Mose

Theillustrated story of the history and groundbreaking discovery of an importanthistorical site, fully updated on the 30th anniversary of its first publication

Awardsand praise for the first edition:

FloridaHistorical Society Charlton Tebeau Book Award

AmericanAssociation for State and Local History Award of Merit

?Tellsthe story of Fort Mose . . . as well as the story of the Black experience inthe American Spanish colonies.??Washington Post

?Avery important chapter of the U.S. national story.??Colonial LatinAmerican Historical Review

?Anexcellently researched and presented book. . . . Deagan and MacMahon have donea splendid job of bringing a little known story of African American struggle,courage and success to the public.??Public Archaeology Review

Morethan 300 years ago, enslaved people of African descent risked their lives toescape from slavery on English plantations in South Carolina. Hearing thatSpaniards in Florida promised religious sanctuary, they made their way south toSt. Augustine, Florida. The Spanish established the fort and town of GraciaReal de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first legally sanctioned free Black communityin what is now the United States. This book tells the story of Fort Mose andthe people who lived there.

Fort Mose traces the roots of this eighteenth-century freeBlack town from Africa through Iberia and Hispanic America to the colonialsoutheastern United States. It also tells how archaeologists, historians, localresidents, teachers, and politicians worked together in the late twentiethcentury to bring the rich but neglected history of free Black people in theSpanish colonies to the public. The site of Fort Mose is now a major point onthe Florida Black Heritage Trail and has been designated a National HistoricLandmark and a UNESCO Site of Memory. Research continues at the location to thepresent day.

This second edition is updated with new informationuncovered about Fort Mose, its inhabitants, and its historical significance. Itreflects recent developments in community involvement and preservation at thesite. And as the first edition did, it challenges the idea that the American Blackcolonial experience was only that of slavery, offering a story of a courageousgroup of people of African descent who realized their vision ofself-determination before the American Revolution.