Pirates, Privateers, and the Fall of Spain’s Empire: How Spanish American Independence Brought Florida to the United States

Over two hundred years ago, in the summer of 1817, a group of pirates and privateers invaded Amelia Island, Florida, a Spanish colony, in hopes of striking a blow for the Spanish American Revolutions. This presentation tells the stories of these revolutionary rogues and their leaders, how they planned to free Florida from Spanish rule, and how the United States intervened to stop them.

David Head is an associate lecturer of history at the University of Central Florida. He has published four books, including Privateers of the Americas: Spanish American Privateering from the United States in the Early Republic , The Golden Age of Piracy: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Popularity of Pirates , and A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution, which was a finalist for the 2020 George Washington Book Prize.

Registration is suggested but not required. This Florida Talks program is a partnership between Florida Humanities and the Citrus County Historical Society. Funding for this program was provided by Florida Humanities and sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the aforementioned entities.