HISPANIC INFLUENCE ON FLORIDA: ESSAY WINNERS (2024)

GILLIAN FOLKES13, eighth grade

Ben Hill Junior High School

Daughter of Edward and Gilda Folkes

"I've been in Florida all my life and when you go out you just see a lot of Spanish influence. There are great examples of Hispanic influence in Florida, including the food, architecture, clothing and celebrations. Since the theme (of the essay) was Spanish influence, I chose to talk about Ponce de Leon because he was the one who started it all when he came to Florida."

Juan Ponce de Leon would have never suspected the intensity of the effect he has on the state of Florida. By claiming Florida for Spain in early April of 1513, he greatly influenced Florida culture, including food, architecture, music, art, clothing, celebrations, and language.

Our food here in Florida has always been dominated by the Spanish. In Florida, there are many authentic Spanish restaurants where you may order anything from chicken and yellow rice to guava pastries. The Hispanic influence on food also shows through in the grocery store. You can easily go to any Florida supermarket and purchase such things like plantains and yucca. One of the most well-known places for great Spanish food is the Columbia Restaurant. The restaurants even have a contest for the best Cuban sandwich.

As you travel throughout Florida, you may quickly notice there is a trend for how the buildings and homes are built and look. A myriad of buildings have tiled roofs and stucco finishes on their outside walls. Courtyards and arches are also prevalent. A wonderful example of the Hispanic architecture is in Ybor City.

In the music and art sections of our culture here in Florida, the Hispanic influence is seen by the large number of Spanish radio stations in the area. There is also the Spanish Lyric Opera, which is in Tampa. Flamenco dancers may entertain diners in restaurants, and have been featured on national TV.

Clothing in Florida is a wonderful illustration of Hispanic influence. Many of the men wear guayabera or the heavily embroidered, loose shirts for coolness and comfort. The Latin Fiesta Queen and her court wear the tall, lace headdresses called mantillas.

Some of the Hispanic holidays celebrated in Florida are the DeSoto Festival and Gasparilla. The DeSoto Festival celebrates Hernando de Soto landing at Florida in 1539 while searching for gold. Jose Gaspar is a fictional pirate from Spain who invaded Tampa. Every year in February is Gasparilla, a holiday to showcase the great ease in which he took over the city of Tampa.

More than anything else, Hispanic influences show in the language of Florida. Many cities, counties, and bodies of water have Hispanic names. Almost everywhere you go, you hear someone speaking Spanish. There are also many public advertisem*nts and billboards with both Spanish and English words. Even though English is the official language of Florida, Spanish is often used, too, because of the large number of bilingual people.

So whether you see, hear, taste, feel, smell, or just plain experience a bit of Hispanic influence in Florida, don't think of it as foreign because in Florida, the Hispanic culture is part of everyone's culture.

DEANNA C. HALL

14, ninth grade

Greco Junior High School

Daughter of Dr. Roderick and Ruth Hall

"I entered the contest because I like to research on different cultures other than mine because I like to understand others that aren't like me."

Florida's growth and development reflect the infusion of the Hispanic culture that began more than 400 years ago. The discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon in the Spring of 1513 began as a quest for wealth and adventure in a land that was believed to be the limits of human endurance. Ponce de Leon and his followers _ including De Soto De Luna and others _ hoped to be as successful as Cortes and Pizarro were in Mexico and Peru in their search for gold and silver. Realizing there were no riches to be found, the Spanish conquerors soon lost interest in Florida. It was only after the French government tried to establish a colony in Florida that the Spanish emperor Phillip II ordered Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Captain General of the Spanish Treasure Fleets, to capture the French and establish a settlement in Florida.

San Augustin lasted for two hundred years as the main Spanish holding. Once established, San Augustin became the site of the first mission field. The Spanish culture spread from Florida to Cuba, South Carolina and Georgia. Although Florida lacked gold and silver, Spain realized that Florida was in a strategic location. Spanish Florida and Cuba jointly ruled import sea routes from the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, by commanding the sea routes, the Spanish conquerors were able to protect Mexico from the growing rival European colonies.

Florida proved itself valuable as it became a major agricultural and trade center. Through its years of growth and development, Florida was the battleground for the French, British and Indian wars. Each group battled for control of important seaports, homelands and the successful agricultural enterprises. Spain realized that having Florida as a part of its empire to help establish a stronghold in the New World made this important discovery something more valuable than gold and silver.

The Hispanics became key developers in the writing of Florida's history. After Spain's cession of

Florida to the United States in 1821, the Hispanic population was drastically reduced. As the 19th century progressed, the Hispanic population increased, mainly because of Florida's closeness to Latin American countries, including Cuba. The daily artifacts of the Hispanic culture were embedded into the grassroots communities. The language, food, values, customs, and religion of the Hispanic culture were now a part of mainstream America.

Most of Florida's Hispanic population dwelled in cities. Key West became the state's first Hispanic community in the early 19th century. Following the Civil War, Cuban cigar manufacturers moved to Key West causing the Hispanic population to expand. In 1884, the first cigar manufacturer began in Tampa. Workers following Vincente Ybor to Tampa were recruited from Cuba into Ybor City, Tampa's largest Latin section. Similarly, Miami's Hispanic community began in the 20th century. Since the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Miami became the home of hundreds of thousands of Cubans.

The richness of the Hispanic heritage in Florida during the 20th century has had profound implications in the political arena. Beginning with the state's top official, the governor, to the city's top official, the mayor, Tampa and Florida have had Hispanic leaders. Gov. Bob Martinez, who served as both mayor of Tampa and governor of Florida, has an Hispanic heritage. Lawyers, doctors, educators, and other professionals work in central and south Florida. Hispanic Americans also work to support Florida's agriculture. In Tampa, many small restaurants and other small businesses are owned and operated by Hispanic Americans.

Tampa's famous Ybor City has been reclaimed as an historical site, rich in Spanish heritage. A drive down Seventh Avenue in Ybor City is an experience in Latin culture. Everything from the famous sandwich shops to the elegant restaurants, the distinctive architecture and the cigar factories, are reminiscent of Florida's Hispanic heritage.

From Ponce de Leon to Ybor City, Florida remains rich in the cultural traditions of an Hispanic heritage that has shaped the political, economic and social frontiers of Florida's history.

HUMBERTO SALOMON

17, 12th grade

Jefferson High School

Son of Mydia Lydick

"I'm proud of my heritage and I wanted write about how people of my race influenced the state of Florida. I also really wanted to know more about how things got started."

The history of Florida began much earlier than that of the rest of the United States of America, and the Hispanics have had the most influence in the history and development of the state of Florida.

The cities of Tampa and Miami have been most affected by people of Latin origin. We must also look not only at the language, but at how the culture has affected the Florida Latin population. The Cuban community is very important in the study of Florida and is imperative in an analysis of Latin culture and language.

Our studies begin with Juan Ponce de Leon who was born in Tierra de Campos Palencia in the 15th century. Simply because he was the first to set foot in the state, he could be considered the most important Hispanic in the history of Florida. He began his career in 1493 when he accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. Nine years later, he accompanied Nicolas de Ovando, governor of the grand island of Hispaniola. Nicolas de Ovando had given Ponce de Leon the responsibility of exploring and planning settlement of the island of Puerto Rico. The grand ambition of Ponce de Leon was to find the famous and legendary Fountain of Youth. In his hurried and hopeless search, he discovered the state of Florida. There were many shortcomings in his actions, the most violent was the massacre of thousands of native Indians. Because of his savagery, he was assassinated by the same Indians he ambushed. And, although this ended the days of a great explorer, it was the beginning of Hispanicism in Florida.

One of the projects of Juan Ponce de Leon during his life was to establish the colony of St. Augustine in 1574. His was not only the first city founded by the Spanish, but the first attempt by Europeans to colonize the New World. The Spaniards were not able to control St. Augustine for long. For ten years, the city was conquered and controlled by the French until General Pedro Menendez de Aviles led Spain to victory and reconquered the city. It remained in Spanish control until Florida became the property of the United States.

The emphasis from here on was affected by conflicts associated with the island of Cuba. Cuba's role in Florida history began with the arrival of the entrepreneur Vincente Ybor, a specialist in the production of cigars. Ybor founded his first factory in Miami, the first in the United States, but it was destroyed by a hurricane. This caused him to look for another location and Tampa seemed ideal. Here, Ybor built his factory and thousands of Cubans were informed of the job opportunities that existed in Tampa and other areas in Florida.

The second action in Cuba which affected the history of Florida was the Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th century. This war had two important effects. The first brought the Cuban hero, Jose Marti, to the area. He brought attention not only to the cause for Cuban Independence but to the large community of Cubans in Florida. The second effect of great importance of the Spanish-American War was not expected. The American soldiers who left from Tampa to Cuba became enchanted with the area and settled in Tampa. Their descendants still populate the area. As this essay indicates, no other ethnic group has affected the history of Florida as much as the Hispanics, the first Europeans to populate it. Juan Ponce de Leon wrote the first page in the history of Florida; but it is us, the Hispanics of today, and the future generation of Latins, that will continue writing more pages in the history book of the state of Florida.

(Editor's note: This essay originally was written in Spanish and was translated to English.)