7.3 Florida History: Native Peoples, Colonial Rule, Statehood & Development
Key Takeaways
- Prior to European arrival, diverse Indigenous societies flourished in Florida, including the agricultural Apalachee in the Panhandle, the Timucua chiefdoms of the north-central peninsula, the maritime Calusa shell-mound civilization of the southwest coast, and the coastal Tequesta of Biscayne Bay.
- Spain established St. Augustine in 1565 under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés as the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States, and later chartered Fort Mose in 1738 as the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what is now the United States.
- Florida transitioned from Spanish control to British rule (1763–1783, divided into East and West Florida), back to Spain, and was finally transferred to the United States under the Adams-Onís Treaty (1819/1821), leading to the Seminole Wars and the resilient heritage of the unconquered Seminole and Miccosukee peoples.
- Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845, as the 27th state (paired as a slave state with free Iowa) and during the Civil War became known as the 'Supplier of the Confederacy,' sending beef, salt, pork, and other food to Confederate armies.
- Gilded Age railway tycoons Henry Flagler (Florida East Coast Railway) and Henry Plant (west coast railroads and Tampa development) opened Florida to modern tourism, citrus agriculture, and urbanization, paving the way for the space program, Walt Disney World, and dynamic Latin American and Caribbean migrations.
Florida History: Native Peoples, Colonial Rule, Statehood & Development
Florida's history is a rich, multifaceted narrative shaped by vibrant Indigenous cultures, centuries of imperial European rivalry, sovereign struggles for freedom and self-determination, statehood, and rapid modern industrial and cultural growth. For elementary educators, mastering Florida history is essential for fostering state-specific historical inquiry, evaluating multicultural heritage, and connecting local developments to national and global historical eras.
Indigenous Peoples of Florida Prior to European Contact
Long before European explorers arrived on the peninsula, diverse, sophisticated Indigenous societies flourished across Florida, adapting their cultures, technologies, and economies to distinct regional environments:
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF FLORIDA
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. APALACHEE (Panhandle / Tallahassee Hills) │
│ • Intensive maize, bean, and squash agriculture. │
│ • Mississippian culture, monumental earthen temple mounds. │
│ • Highly organized, centralized chiefdoms; regional trade. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2. TIMUCUA (Northeast & North-Central Florida) │
│ • Mixed economy: hunting deer/game, river fishing, farming.│
│ • Circular palisaded villages; shared Timucuan language. │
│ • Documented by French artist Jacques Le Moyne (1564). │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3. CALUSA (Southwest Gulf Coast / Charlotte Harbor) │
│ • "The Shell Indians"; complex maritime hunter-gatherers. │
│ • Massive engineered shell mounds, canals, and waterways. │
│ • Centralized warrior monarchy; skilled ocean navigation. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4. TEQUESTA (Southeast Coast / Biscayne Bay & Miami River) │
│ • Marine foraging: sharks, manatees, sea turtles, conch. │
│ • Gathered coontie root for flour; Miami Circle site. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
1. The Apalachee
Inhabiting the fertile red-clay hills of the Florida Panhandle between the Aucilla and Ochlockonee Rivers (centered at their capital, Anhaica, near present-day Tallahassee), the Apalachee were part of the Southeastern Mississippian mound-building culture. They practiced intensive agriculture cultivating corn, beans, and squash, sustained large, dense populations, and constructed large earthen platform mounds for ceremonial and political centers. Renowned as formidable archers and warriors, they maintained extensive trade networks throughout the southeastern interior.
2. The Timucua
Occupying northeast and north-central Florida (from the Altamaha River in Georgia down to the Orlando area), the Timucua were not a single unified tribe, but rather a network of dozens of independent chiefdoms who spoke dialects of the common Timucuan language. They utilized a mixed subsistence strategy: cultivating crops in seasonal fields, hunting white-tailed deer and small game, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and wild plants. They constructed fortified circular villages enclosed by heavy timber palisades. Much of our visual and ethnographic knowledge of Timucua society comes from French expedition artist Jacques Le Moyne, who was at Fort Caroline in 1564, and from the engravings Theodor de Bry published from Le Moyne's work in 1591.
3. The Calusa
Dominating the southwest Gulf coast from Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys (with their political center at Mound Key in Estero Bay), the Calusa ("the Fierce People") developed a unique, highly complex society. Unlike most complex chiefdoms, the Calusa did not rely on agriculture. Instead, they built a powerful, densely populated maritime kingdom sustained by the rich estuarine bounty of fish, oysters, clams, and sea turtles. They were master engineers who constructed monumental shell mounds (accumulations of millions of discarded shells used for temple platforms, village foundations, and defensive ramparts) and dug extensive, miles-long canal systems through barrier islands to facilitate canoe navigation and water storage. Ruled by a centralized, absolute king and warrior nobility, the Calusa fiercely resisted early Spanish incursions.
4. The Tequesta
Residing along the southeastern Atlantic coast, encompassing Biscayne Bay, the Miami River, and the Florida Keys, the Tequesta were coastal foragers and fishermen. They harvested marine resources (sharks, manatees, porpoises, sea turtles, and conchs) and collected wild plants, notably digging and processing the toxic roots of the native coontie plant into an edible starch flour. Archaeological excavations revealed the Miami Circle at the mouth of the Miami River—a prehistoric circular arrangement of postholes carved into limestone bedrock believed to be the foundation of an ancient Tequesta ceremonial council structure.
Spanish Exploration and Colonial Rule
Spain was the first European power to explore and establish permanent imperial outposts in Florida:
- Juan Ponce de León (1513, 1521): Sailing from Puerto Rico, Ponce de León made European landfall on the northeast coast of the peninsula in April 1513 during the Easter season. Impressed by the verdant landscape and the holiday (Pascua Florida, the "Festival of Flowers"), he claimed the territory for the Spanish Crown and named it "La Florida." In 1521, he returned to the southwest coast with colonists, livestock, and seeds to establish a permanent colony, but was fatally wounded in a battle with the Calusa.
- Pánfilo de Narváez (1528) & Hernando de Soto (1539): Narváez led a disastrous overland expedition that landed near Tampa Bay, ending with the near-total destruction of his force (chronicled by survivor Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca). Hernando de Soto landed in Tampa Bay in 1539 with over 600 soldiers, horses, and war dogs, wintering in the Apalachee capital of Anhaica before marching northward through the American Southeast. These expeditions spread lethal virgin-soil epidemics that decimated Indigenous chiefdoms.
The Founding of St. Augustine (1565)
In 1564, French Protestant Huguenots established Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River (near modern Jacksonville), threatening Spanish treasure fleets sailing through the Florida Straits. In response, King Philip II dispatched Pedro Menéndez de Avilés with orders to remove the French and fortify the coastline. Menéndez landed on September 8, 1565, founding St. Augustine, which stands today as the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States. Menéndez captured Fort Caroline, establishing Spanish hegemony.
To defend against English naval raids (such as Sir Francis Drake's burning of the town in 1586) and pirate incursions, the Spanish constructed the massive stone fortress Castillo de San Marcos (1672–1695) in St. Augustine. Engineered with thick walls of coquina (a naturally occurring limestone composed of compressed broken seashells), the fortress proved virtually indestructible, absorbing English cannon fire without shattering during the sieges of 1702 and 1740.
Fort Mose: The First Free Black Settlement (1738)
In 1693, Spanish King Charles II issued a royal decree granting freedom to any enslaved person escaping British colonies (such as South Carolina) who reached Florida, provided they converted to Roman Catholicism and pledged military allegiance to the Spanish Crown. As dozens of self-emancipated freedom seekers arrived, Spanish colonial governor Manuel de Montiano officially established the fortified village of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (Fort Mose) in 1738, located two miles north of St. Augustine. Led by Captain Francisco Menéndez, a formerly enslaved African military officer, Fort Mose became the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what is now the United States, serving as a strategic northern defensive buffer for Spanish St. Augustine.
British Rule, the Second Spanish Period, and U.S. Acquisition
FLORIDA'S COLONIAL TIMELINE
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ First Spanish Period (1565–1763) │
│ • St. Augustine founded (1565); Castillo de San Marcos; │
│ • Mission chains across north Florida; Fort Mose (1738). │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ British Period (1763–1783) │
│ • Ceded to Britain in exchange for Havana, Cuba. │
│ • Divided into East Florida (St. Augustine) and │
│ West Florida (Pensacola); loyal during American Rev. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Second Spanish Period (1783–1821) │
│ • Returned to Spain in Treaty of Paris (1783). │
│ • Influx of American settlers, Seminoles, & runaways. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ U.S. Territory & Statehood (1821 / 1845) │
│ • Ceded under Adams-Onís Treaty (1819, ratified 1821). │
│ • Andrew Jackson military governor; admitted March 3, 1845.│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The British Period (1763–1783)
Under the Treaty of Paris (1763) concluding the Seven Years' War, Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain in exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba, which British forces had captured. The British Crown divided the territory along the Apalachicola River into two administrative colonies:
- East Florida: Capital at St. Augustine (governed by James Grant), focusing on plantation agriculture (indigo, citrus, lumber, and naval stores).
- West Florida: Capital at Pensacola (encompassing parts of modern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the Mississippi River).
Both East and West Florida remained staunchly loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution (serving as the 14th and 15th loyal British colonies). Following British defeat in the war, the Treaty of Paris (1783) retroceded Florida back to Spain.
The Second Spanish Period and the Adams-Onís Treaty
During the Second Spanish Period (1783–1821), Spain lacked the military resources and population to effectively govern Florida. The borderlands became a refuge for runaway enslaved people, American frontier squatters, and Indigenous bands. Tensions flared in 1816, when U.S. forces destroyed the so-called "Negro Fort," a fortified settlement of formerly enslaved people and Native allies on the Apalachicola River. During the First Seminole War (1817–1818), General Andrew Jackson invaded Spanish Florida, captured the Spanish posts at St. Marks and Pensacola, and executed two British subjects, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister, whom he accused of aiding the Seminoles.
Recognizing that it could not hold the territory, Spain negotiated the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 (ratified in 1821), also known as the Transcontinental Treaty. Negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish minister Luis de Onís, Spain formally ceded all of Florida to the United States, while the U.S. government agreed to assume $5 million in legal claims of American citizens against Spain and renounced claims to Texas. Andrew Jackson was appointed Florida's first territorial military governor in 1821.
The Seminole Wars and the Unconquered People
The Seminole people emerged during the eighteenth century as diverse Indigenous groups—predominantly Muscogee (Creek) bands, Mikasuki-speakers, Hitchiti, and Yamasee—migrated south into the depopulated Florida peninsula to escape warfare and colonial expansion in Georgia and Alabama. The name Seminole derives from the Muscogee word simanó-li, meaning "wild" or "runaway." They were joined by self-emancipated African Americans known as Black Seminoles, who lived in allied, autonomous communities, farmed, and served as vital interpreters, advisors, and warriors.
The Three Seminole Wars
- First Seminole War (1817–1818): Sparked by border clashes and U.S. slaveholder attempts to reclaim runaway slaves living among the Seminoles; General Jackson's invasion convinced Spain to cede the territory.
- Second Seminole War (1835–1842): The most protracted, intense, and costly Indian war fought by the United States government. Sparked by the federal Indian Removal Act (1830) and the disputed Treaty of Payne's Landing, Seminole leaders refused to abandon their Florida homeland for western reservations. Key warrior leader Osceola famously rejected removal, launching brilliant guerrilla warfare tactics in the swamps and hammock forests. Major engagements included the Dade Battle (1835) and the Battle of Lake Okeechobee (1837). In late 1837, Osceola was deceitfully captured by U.S. General Thomas Jesup under a white flag of truce and died imprisoned at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. Despite overwhelming federal troops, hundreds of Seminoles retreated deep into the Everglades.
- Third Seminole War (1855–1858): Renewed conflict erupted when federal surveyors encroached upon Seminole land in southwest Florida, led by war chief Billy Bowlegs. Following years of skirmishes, the federal government paid financial inducements to induce Bowlegs and several hundred followers to relocate to Indian Territory.
The "Unconquered People"
A resilient remnant of several hundred Seminole and Miccosukee individuals refused surrender, hiding and sustaining their traditional culture in the deep, inaccessible waterways of the Florida Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. They never signed a formal peace treaty with the United States government. Today, their descendants form the federally recognized Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, proudly celebrating their identity as "The Unconquered People."
Florida Statehood and the Civil War Era
- Florida Statehood (March 3, 1845): After decades as a federal territory, Florida was admitted to the Union by President John Tyler as the 27th state. Under the antebellum congressional policy of maintaining sectional balance between free and slave states, Florida was admitted as a slave state, paired with Iowa, which was admitted as a free state in 1846. William D. Moseley was inaugurated as Florida's first state governor.
- Secession and Civil War (1861–1865): On January 10, 1861, Florida became the third state to adopt an Ordinance of Secession and withdraw from the United States, joining the Confederate States of America. Although Florida was the least populated Confederate state and saw relatively few major military campaigns, it served an indispensable logistical role and became known as the "Supplier of the Confederacy." Florida supplied Confederate armies with tens of thousands of cattle driven northward by Confederate "cow cavalry", barrels of salt harvested from Gulf coast evaporation boilers, pork, and citrus.
- Battle of Olustee (February 20, 1864): Fought east of Lake City, Olustee was the largest and bloodiest Civil War battle on Florida soil. Confederate forces defeated a Union army advancing into the interior to cut Confederate supply lines (especially cattle shipments), recruit Black soldiers, and bring Florida back under Union control. The Union force included Black regiments such as the 54th Massachusetts and the 8th and 35th U.S. Colored Troops. Due to this victory and the later Battle of Natural Bridge (March 1865)—where Confederate home guards and teenage cadets from the West Florida Seminary repelled Union forces—Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi River not captured by Union troops during the war.
Post-Civil War Transformation: Railroad Tycoons and Economic Pillars
During the late nineteenth century (Gilded Age), visionary industrial entrepreneurs transformed Florida from a largely uninhabited, isolated wilderness into a booming agricultural powerhouse and premier national tourist destination:
Henry Flagler and the Florida East Coast Railway
Standard Oil co-founder Henry Morrison Flagler recognized Florida's vast potential as a winter resort for wealthy northerners. Flagler constructed the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway, steadily extending rail tracks southward along the Atlantic coast from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, Daytona, Palm Beach, and Miami (1896, incorporated after citrus pioneer Julia Tuttle sent Flagler fresh orange blossoms proving the area had escaped the catastrophic Great Freezes of 1894–1895). Flagler constructed grand luxury hotels, such as the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine and The Breakers in Palm Beach. In 1912, Flagler completed his engineering masterpiece, the "Overseas Railroad" connecting mainland Florida to Key West.
Henry Plant and Western Florida Development
On Florida's Gulf coast, railroad tycoon Henry Bradley Plant accomplished a parallel transformation. Plant acquired and developed the Plant System of railroads, linking Jacksonville and Sanford across Central Florida to Tampa. He built modern deep-water shipping terminals at Port Tampa and constructed the opulent, Moorish-style Tampa Bay Hotel (1891). Plant's railroad and port infrastructure transformed Tampa into an international commercial shipping center and served as the primary embarkation point for U.S. troops, including Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, during the Spanish-American War (1898).
Historic Florida Economic Pillars
- Citrus Industry: Commercial orange and grapefruit cultivation expanded rapidly in Central and South Florida, developing modern packing and refrigeration techniques after the Great Freezes.
- Phosphate Mining: River-pebble phosphate was found along the Peace River in 1881, and a mining boom followed in the late 1880s. Central Florida's "Bone Valley" region became one of the world's leading sources of phosphate, an essential ingredient in agricultural fertilizers.
- Cattle Ranching & "Florida Crackers": Raising cattle on open prairie ranges (such as the Kissimmee River basin) remained a central industry. Early Florida cattlemen became known as "Florida Crackers," a name popularly traced to the crack of the long braided whips they used to herd scrub cattle through palmetto country; historians still debate the term's origin.
- Cigar Industry: In 1886, Vicente Martinez Ybor relocated his cigar manufacturing operations from Key West to Tampa, founding Ybor City. Ybor City became the "Cigar Capital of the World," fueled by thousands of Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrant artisan cigar makers.
Modern Florida: Real Estate, Space, Tourism, and Multicultural Diversity
MODERN FLORIDA HISTORICAL ERAS
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1920s Land Boom & Bust │
│ • Speculative real estate boom; collapsed after 1926 Miami │
│ Hurricane & 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ World War II Mobilization │
│ • Year-round aviation/naval training bases; returning GIs │
│ fueled postwar suburban population explosion. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Space Coast & Aerospace (1960s) │
│ • NASA Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral; │
│ Apollo Moon missions (1969); engineering corridor. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Global Tourism Hub (1971) │
│ • Opening of Walt Disney World in Orlando; transformed │
│ Central Florida into premier family destination. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Modern Cultural Diversity │
│ • Post-1959 Cuban migrations; Caribbean diaspora (Haiti, │
│ Puerto Rico, Jamaica); dynamic multicultural hub. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- The 1920s Land Boom and Hurricanes: The post-WWI era saw explosive real estate speculation in Florida, driven by increased automobile ownership, disposable income, and widespread advertising. Investors bought land sight-unseen, fueling planned communities like Coral Gables. The speculative bubble burst in 1926, worsened by the devastating 1926 Miami Hurricane and the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane (which caused Lake Okeechobee to overflow, drowning more than 2,500 people, leading to the construction of the Herbert Hoover Dike).
- World War II Military Installations: Florida's year-round sunshine and coastal access made it an ideal training ground for the U.S. Armed Forces. Over 170 military installations, air bases, and naval stations (such as Pensacola Naval Air Station, MacDill Air Force Base, and Jacksonville Naval Air Station) were established. Thousands of service members stationed in Florida returned as permanent residents after 1945, igniting a modern demographic explosion.
- The Space Program (The Space Coast): In the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government selected Cape Canaveral in Brevard County as the nation's missile testing and space launch center, culminating in the establishment of the John F. Kennedy Space Center (1962). The Space Coast launched Project Mercury, Gemini, the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing (1969), the Space Shuttle program, and modern commercial aerospace ventures, establishing Florida as a global high-tech and aerospace hub.
- Tourism and Walt Disney World (1971): On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World opened near Orlando. Transforming Central Florida from rural citrus groves and cattle pasture into one of the most visited vacation destinations in the world, Disney attracted companion attractions (SeaWorld, Universal Studios) and established hospitality as Florida's primary economic engine.
- Multicultural Tapestry & Latin American/Caribbean Migrations: Modern Florida is defined by its vibrant cultural diversity. Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles settled in South Florida, establishing vibrant communities like "Little Havana" in Miami and reshaping the region's politics, business, and culture (augmented by the 1980 Mariel Boatlift). Subsequent migration waves from Puerto Rico (especially throughout the Interstate 4 corridor and Orlando), Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic have established Florida as an international gateway connecting North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Comparison Table: Florida Indigenous Cultures & Colonial Timeline
| Indigenous Culture / Colonial Period | Geographic Region & Era | Primary Subsistence / Economic Activity | Key Historical Figures | Lasting Significance & Heritage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apalachee | Florida Panhandle (Tallahassee area); prehistoric to 1700s. | Intensive corn, bean, and squash agriculture; platform mounds. | Chiefdom rulers at Anhaica; friars at Mission San Luis. | Premier agricultural society in pre-Columbian Florida; central mission province. |
| Calusa | Southwest Gulf Coast (Charlotte Harbor, Estero Bay); to 1700s. | Complex maritime harvesting; engineered shell mounds and canal networks. | King Carlos; warrior nobility. | Exemplified advanced political hierarchy and large population without reliance on agriculture. |
| First Spanish Period | Peninsular Florida; 1565–1763. | Military garrison; Franciscan mission networks; maritime protection. | Pedro Menéndez de Avilés; Francisco Menéndez (Fort Mose). | Founded St. Augustine (oldest European city in continental U.S.) and Fort Mose (first free Black settlement). |
| British Period | East & West Florida; 1763–1783. | Plantation cash crops (indigo, citrus, naval stores, timber). | James Grant (East FL); George Johnstone (West FL). | Divided into East and West Florida; remained loyal British colonies during the American Revolution. |
| Territorial & Statehood Era | Entire State; 1821 / March 3, 1845. | Cotton and tobacco plantations; cattle ranching; timber. | Andrew Jackson (military gov); William D. Moseley (1st state gov). | Admitted as the 27th state (paired as slave state with Iowa); fought three Seminole Wars. |
| Gilded Age & Development | East & West coasts; 1880s–1912. | Railroad expansion; luxury tourism; citrus; phosphate mining. | Henry Flagler (FEC Railway); Henry Plant (Tampa railroads). | Connected isolated frontiers to national markets, establishing foundations for modern urban Florida. |
Worked Historical Analysis: Sourcing Fort Mose (1738)
To guide elementary students in analyzing historical documents, teachers model how evaluating point of view and geopolitical rivalry illuminates colonial civil rights:
- Document: The 1738 Spanish Charter establishing the fortified town of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (Fort Mose).
- Sourcing & Point of View: Spanish Governor Manuel de Montiano granted freedom and chartered an autonomous town for formerly enslaved Africans not out of pure humanitarian altruism, but as a calculated military and geopolitical strategy. Spain sought to undermine the plantation economy of British South Carolina and create an armed, loyal borderland militia to defend St. Augustine against British invasions.
- Historical Agency: Freedom seekers demonstrated profound courage, intelligence, and agency by navigating hundreds of miles of hostile wilderness to claim liberty, negotiate terms with the Spanish Crown, and defend their community under Captain Francisco Menéndez.
Classroom Pedagogy Scenario
In a fourth-grade Florida history unit, a teacher organizes an interactive timeline inquiry where student groups are assigned different historical eras (Pre-Columbian Indigenous, Spanish Colonial, Territorial/Seminole Wars, Gilded Age Tycoons, and Modern Space/Tourism). Each group creates an illustrated timeline card featuring a key historical figure, an authentic artifact image, and an explanation of how that era contributed to Florida's modern cultural or economic identity. As groups hang their cards chronologically along the classroom wall, the teacher leads a discussion on continuity and change over time, illustrating how geography and human migration have continually shaped the Sunshine State.
A fourth-grade teacher asks students to compare the pre-Columbian subsistence strategies of the Apalachee of the Florida Panhandle with the Calusa of Southwest Florida. Which of the following statements accurately characterizes the fundamental difference between these two Indigenous civilizations?
Which of the following events represents the historical significance of Fort Mose (Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose), established near St. Augustine in 1738?
During the late nineteenth century, which two industrial entrepreneurs played the most decisive role in transforming Florida's economy by constructing extensive railroad networks, developing deep-water ports, and building luxury resort hotels?