From the St. Augustine River: British ruled city during 'Madness'; free program Jan. 25
St. Augustine’s role during the American Revolution was not, as is commonly believed, a backwater Tory town known only for accepting British loyalist refugees from northern states.
Newly uncovered research shows that it served as the center of the British Empire in the New World.
The “Madness of King George” presentation on Wednesday night — third of the five-part Discover First America! series — explains the city’s important role.
Roger Smith, a University of Florida historian specializing in Early American History and Atlantic World Studies, has just completed 6 1/2 years of academic research in the British National Archives and at P.K. Yonge National Library in Gainesville.
“I found brand new twists on the American Revolution,” he said. “We think of the 13 colonies as the center of the British Empire. But from the British perspective, the empire stretched from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Grenada in the Caribbean. St. Augustine was the epicenter of British interests.”
Smith said the British were deathly afraid of losing their Caribbean holdings, because that is where they manufactured sugar, the oil of the 1700s.
“Sixty percent of the British Army was stationed there,” he said. “St. Augustine became central to their efforts to reclaim the American South. The American Revolution did not move south. It had never left the south.”
Smith, assisted by Sam Turner and Gary Bruce, will be illustrating the story through use of a play, written and directed by Bruce but including local re-enactors as British citizens and Redcoats.
The program is hosted by First Light Maritime Society (St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum and the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program), with support from the Maritime Heritage Foundation.
Also, the persuasive and slightly shady British broker — some would say rogue — Jesse Fish, played by the Fountain of Youth’s John Stavely, will appear. Watch your wallet.
Smith said that when the war started to turn against Great Britain, loyalists streamed south to East Florida.
From December 1782 to March 1783, St. Augustine was home to 21,000 to 22,000 people.
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If You Go
Doors to the Flagler College Auditorium — across from City Hall on Granada Street — open at 6 p.m. for lobby displays, demonstrations and book signings.
The program begins at 7 p.m.
Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For information call 904.825.1053 or visit www.staugustine-450.com.
