Slaves were introduced into Florida when the area was claimed
by Spain as part of her vast colonial empire in America. As early as
1580, colonial officials had requested permission to import Negro
slaves to be used as a work force in the area of St. Augustine. Sev-
eral years later a small group was brought in to help reinforce the
fort there and to clear the woods for planting. This importation of
Negro slaves into Spanish Florida did not increase in any significant
way, due to the rigid restrictions of the Spanish Crown pro-
hibiting the use of slave labor in Florida on a scale comparable to
that of the labor forces used to develop the sugar plantations of
the Spanish West Indies. Thus, a labor shortage prevailed in Florida
during the period of Spanish control, between 1565 and 1763. This
greatly hampered the development of crop production and the
colony was never self-sustaining, having to rely upon staples im-
ported from Havana, Cuba, and abroad.

With the cession of Florida to Great Britain in 1763, at the close
of the Seven Years' War, the Spanish population withdrew. Even
before this war ended, wealthy planters and merchants of South
Carolina had become interested in East Florida along the St. Johns
River for cultivating rice and indigo. Some of them moved to the
area, imported Negro slaves, and developed large plantations with
the use of this labor force. During the American Revolution, many
Tories from Georgia and South Carolina fled to Florida, taking
their Negro slaves with them. Approximately five thousand whites

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