Networks and empires in the maritime borderlands: East Florida, 1763 to 1811.

摘要

In the late eighteenth century, possession of the maritime province of East Florida passed from the Spanish to the British and back to the Spanish empire. Inter-imperial war and rivalries produced political, demographic, social, and economic transitions that challenged imperial, individual, and community commitments to East Florida frontier development. Empires and inhabitants shared interests in reaping the benefits of natural resources and lucrative regional and Atlantic trade. From 1763 to 1811, the British and Spanish subsidized administrative and military expenses, and the commercial and agricultural advancement of the colony. Inhabitants of European, African, and Native American backgrounds integrated into mutually beneficial networks of exchange understood their relationship to empire as reciprocal. When authorities upheld commitments to protect lives, property, and community pursuits, inhabitants supported government policies and joined in defensive measures.;Inter-imperial and international hostilities impacted the province. Invaders crossed the surrounding waters to threaten East Florida residents. The American, French, and Haitian revolutions disrupted imperial objectives in the Americas and revealed imperial weaknesses. In the absence of governmental protections and subsidies, disgruntled inhabitants withdrew support to prioritize individual and community interests. As empires and nations attempted to control the transnational and transatlantic flow of people, goods, and ideas across and beyond the political boundaries of colonial East Florida, inhabitants and communities relied on multiethnic regional networks and resources to negotiate, alter, and even defy imperial prerogatives.