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ISBN 13 : 9781331173021
Total Pages : 24 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (73 download)
Book Synopsis Letters on Florida, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint) by :
Download or read book Letters on Florida, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint) written by and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-11 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Letters on Florida, Vol. 1 The old inhabitants retired to other countries more consonant to their habits, their religion and their language, depopulating those cities, which on the other hand offered no inducement to our enterprising citizens, by reason of the very sterile back country in the neighborhood of both. In the meantime, the general government was taking its measures for the administration and settlement of this new acquisition. A seat of government was selected by commissioners - the present Tallahassee. The territorial government was soon established in its present form. Commissioners were appointed, and laws passed, to look into and regulate the pending land claims. Attention was turned to Pensacola from its situation in the Gulph, and its very convenient waters as a naval arsenal. Another station was contemplated about the desolate Tortugas, or the now well settled Key West. These dispositions tended to introduce settlers of various descriptions; while the owners of lands were strenuous on their side, not only to improve their own possessions, but to make sales to others. Other laws were framed for the more speedy settlement of pending land claims; and lastly, a general land office was opened for the disposal of those of the public property. From these causes, the spirit of enterprise was gradually awakened, and the population increased, insomuch, that by a census taken in the beginning of 1831, I find the whole number was 34,725, viz: whites, 18,385;free colored, 840;slaves, 15,500, a vast increase in ten years. And speedier far might have been its progress but for some circumstances, which it is now painful for me to recur to, and more painful still to have witnessed, although I now hope they have ceased for ever to exert their deadly influence near us. First, no men of solid capital had yet appeared amongst us, and there was no money of a circulating medium to meet the wants of the country. - There existed an unconquerable zeal in the raising the sugar cane, while no effort could stamp it as staple commodity. Lastly, land speculators, who had obtained the first purchases at very low prices, were vaunting an article which was found not to correspond with their representations, and being so discovered, was depreciated to the opposite extreme, while the peaceful, industrious cultivator was deterred from purchasing, by the portions of land which were hung up in litigation in the courts prevented him from making his selections. Such was Florida. I shall have occasion to amplify the subject of which the above may be considered by you as the text, but before we part, let me say a few words, to give you an idea the same as it is. First, some powerful emigrations have taken place. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
