American Minute from William J. Federer
The first settlement in North America was Fort Caroline at St. John's River in Florida, founded by French Christians known as Huguenots.
On JUNE 30, 1564, they set a day of Thanksgiving and offered the first Protestant prayer in North America: "We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us."
Rep. Charles E. Bennett sponsored a bill, September 21, 1950, establishing the Fort Caroline National Memorial.
In 1989, Rep. Bennett recited the history: "The 425th anniversary of the beginning settlements by Europeans...renamed from Fort Caroline to San Mateo, to San Nicolas, to Cowford and finally to Jacksonville in 1822...Three small ships carrying 300 Frenchmen led by Rene de Laudonniere anchored in the river known today as the St. Johns."
Charles Bennett continued: "On June 30, 1564, construction of a triangular-shaped fort...was begun with the help of a local tribe of Timucuan Indians...Home for this hardy group of Huguenots...their strong religious...motivations inspired them."
Rep. Bennett related the colony's end: "Fort Caroline existed but for a short time...Spain...captured...the fort and...slaughtered most of its inhabitants in September of 1565."
Monday, June 30, 2008
First Settlement in North America
William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.
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3 comments:
Very interesting. How long did the settlement last? Did they live, die, go back to France?
Oops. Read the end of the post. Those Spaniards just didn't seem to like anyone.
I had often wondered about the first European settlement myself, Todd. You hear often about the first PERMANENT English settlement at Jamestown, but I'd wondered where the first one was that was actually settled (by any European nation) with the intent of being permanent, but for some reason did not remain permanent.
And now we know...
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