Angola, Florida

Angola was a prosperous community[1]: 232  of up to 750 maroons (escaped slaves)[2]: 71  that existed in Florida from 1812[2]: 72  until Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, at which point it was destroyed. The location was along the Manatee River in Bradenton, Florida, near Manatee Mineral Springs Park.[3] The exact location is expansive, ranging from where the Braden River meets the Manatee River down to Sarasota Bay; archaeological research focuses on the Manatee Mineral Spring—a source of fresh water and later the location of the Village of Manatee two decades after the destruction of the maroon community.[4][5][additional citation(s) needed] Archaeological evidence has been found[2] and the archaeology report by Uzi Baram is on file with the Florida Division of Historical Resources of the Florida Department of State. In 2019, the National Park Service added the excavated location at Manatee Mineral Springs Park to the Network to Freedom [1].

At the State Library and Archives of Florida, the Spanish Land Grant applications for both Jose Maria Caldez and Joaquin Caldez, each list Angola as on the north side of the Oyster River, respectively eight and nine miles from Tampa Bay. [2] The location of Angola on the Oyster River as described by local history author Janet Snyder Matthews, was in "southern Sarasota Bay, eight miles from Tampa Bay."[6] 71 In the footnotes to Edge of Wilderness, Matthews speculated that the "Oyster River of Caldes which may have been present-day Whitaker Bayou or Hudson Bayou."[6]395

In his book on The Territory of Florida, John Lee Williams, described "a stream that enters the bay joining the entrance of Oyster River, on the S.W."[7] and his accompanying map published in 1837 shows an area between a stream he called the "Oyster River" not to be confused with the Manatee River labeled elsewhere on the map; and another stream entering lower Sarasota Bay as "Old Spanish Fields."[7]

  1. ^ Millett, Nathaniel (2013). The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World. University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813044545.
  2. ^ a b c Eger, Isaac (July 2018). "Angola's Ashes: A newly excavated settlement highlights Florida's history as a haven for escaped slaves". Sarasota Magazine. Vol. 40, no. 11. pp. 70–73.
  3. ^ Young, Mark (March 24, 2018). "Slaves had key stop to freedom in Bradenton. It's drawing international attention". The Bradenton Herald. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Vickie Oldham, Uzi Baram (May 12, 2011). "Escaped Slave Community of Angola". C-SPAN Cities Tour. C-SPAN3. American History TV. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  5. ^ Baram, Uzi (June 2008). "A Haven from Slavery on Florida's Gulf Coast: Looking for Evidence of Angola on the Manatee River" (PDF). African Diaspora Archaeology Network Newsletter. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Matthews, Janet Snyder (1984). Edge of Wilderness, A Settlement History of Manatee River and Sarasota Bay 1528-1885 (2nd ed.). Sarasota, Florida: Coastal Press. ISBN 0-914381-00-8.
  7. ^ a b Williams, John Lee (1837). The Territory of Florida, Or, Sketches of Topography, Civil and Natural History, of the Country, the Climate and the Indian Tribes, from the First Discovery to the Present Time, With a Map, Views, &C. A.T. Goodrich. p. 300.