1.
History of Tampa, Florida
–
Tampa /ˈtæmpə/, a United States city in Hillsborough County on the west coast of the state of Florida. Human habitation in the Tampa Bay area can be traced thousands of years. The Manasota culture is the earliest documented group, spanning from about 500 BCE until about 700 CE, the Tocobaga and the Pohoy were of this culture, and these were the dominant tribes living along the northern shore of Tampa Bay when Spanish explorers arrived in the early 1500s. Though Spain claimed all of Florida as its possession, it could not successfully establish a settlement on the west coast, however, European contact with native peoples spread diseases which devastated local populations. By the mid-1600s, indigenous social structures had collapsed, and the Tampa Bay area was largely uninhabited. The outpost brought a population of civilians to the area. The United States Civil War and Reconstruction were especially tough times, Tampas fortunes shifted dramatically beginning in the 1880s with the construction of the first railroad links to the town and the development of thriving cigar and phosphate industries. Growth continued through the 20th century as Tampa emerged as a financial, trade. The number of residents exceeded 100,000 during the 1930s,250,000 during the 1950s and this rapid growth did not come without problems. Later, the city suffered through a period of racial unrest in the wake of desegregation, by the turn of the 21st century, ethics reforms and a diversifying economy brought the city a period of more stable growth. Civic emphasis has been on redeveloping run-down areas of the core, particularly portions of Ybor City. There is some dispute as to the origin and meaning of the name Tampa and it is believed to mean sticks of fire in the language of the Calusa, a Native American tribe that once lived south of the area. This may relate to the concentration of lightning strikes that west central Florida receives every year during the summer months. Other historians claim the name refers to the place to gather sticks, toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being itimpi, meaning simply near it. The name first appears in the memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda from 1575 and he calls it Tanpa and describes it as an important Calusa town. While Tanpa may be the basis for the modern name Tampa, archeological evidence indicates that the shores of Tampa Bay have been inhabited for thousands of years. Artifacts suggest that early inhabitants of the region relied on the sea for most of their resources, and a vast majority of inhabited sites have been found on or near the shoreline. At the time of European contact in the 16th century, the Safety Harbor culture dominated the area, the Tocobagas principal town was located at the northern end of Old Tampa Bay near todays Safety Harbor in Pinellas County
2.
Hillsborough River (Florida)
–
The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, the name Hillsborough River first appeared on a British map in 1769. Geological data suggests that the Hillsborough River has been flowing for about 27,000 years, humans first made their way to this area 12,000 -15,000 years ago. In the late 18th century the watershed of the Hillsborough River was a covered by a rich. Majestic bald cypress, longleaf pine, and sand live oak were hundreds of years old, in the mid to late 19th century to about 1913 the watershed of this old growth forest began to be logged. As a result of this activity, most of the trees within the Hillsborough River basin are now less than one hundred years in age. The harvesting of the old growth trees altered the ecosystems they dominated, trees such as water ash and water locust were able to quickly grow in the sun-lit spaces created when bigger trees were removed. The riverine swamp forest as it today has a much different ecology than the ecosystem that had existed along the Hillsborough for the previous ten to fifteen thousand years. Pánfilo de Narváez, a Spanish explorer, lands near Tampa Bay and he and the four hundred men with him find the Tocobaga culture established in the area. Hernando de Soto, another Spaniard, comes to Tampa Bay, by the early 18th century the Tocobaga people, through disease and slavery, are nearly exterminated. A survey of the Hillsborough River is done by Don Francisco Maria Celi and he ventures up to the Temple Terrace area in search of longleaf pine to use as masts for his ships. He names the pine forest of the area El Pinal de la Cruz de Santa Teresa or The Pines of the Cross of Saint Teresa, there is a plaque commemorating his exploration at Riverhills Park in Temple Terrace. A map drawn and sent to the Earl of Hillsborough, English Governor of West Florida, during the mid and late 18th century, Native Americans from the north, mostly Creek, begin to migrate to Florida. These immigrants become known as Seminoles, Florida becomes a United States territory. Construction of Fort Brooke begins at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, the Fort King Military Road is built to connect Fort King in Ocala with Fort Brooke in what was then the settlement of Tampa. A bridge is built to cross the Hillsborough, congress passes the Indian Removal Act. The American government begins efforts to remove the Seminole from Tampa Bay, tensions between Seminole and Americans continue. Seminoles burn the bridge at the Fort King Road’s river crossing, Fort Foster is established at the Hillsborough River crossing to protect this strategically advantageous position
3.
Seminole Wars
–
Taken together, the Seminole Wars were the longest and most expensive Indian Wars in United States history. The First Seminole War began with General Andrew Jacksons excursions into West Florida, the governments of Britain and Spain both expressed outrage over the invasion. However, Spain was unable to defend its territory, and the Spanish Crown agreed to cede Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. According to the Treaty of Moultrie Creek of 1823, the Seminoles were required to leave northern Florida and were confined to a reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula. The U. S. government enforced the treaty by building a series of forts and trading posts in the territory, mainly along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The war resulted in most of the Seminole population in Florida being killed in battle, ravaged by starvation and disease, a few hundred Seminoles were allowed to remain in an unofficial reservation in southwest Florida. An estimated 100 Seminoles still refused to leave and retreated deep into the Everglades to live on land that was unwanted by white settlers, raids from the newly- established English Province of Carolina beginning in the mid-1600s began another steep decline in the indigenous population. In the first decade of the 18th century,10,000 –12,000 Indians were taken as slaves according to the governor of La Florida and by 1710, observers noted that north Florida was virtually depopulated. The few remaining natives fled west to Pensacola and beyond or east to the vicinity of St. Augustine. When Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain as part of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, during the mid-1700s, small bands from various Native American tribes from the southeastern United States began moving into the unoccupied lands of Florida. In 1715, the Yamasee moved into Florida as allies of the Spanish, Creek people, at first primarily the Lower Creek but later including Upper Creek, also started moving into Florida from the area of Georgia. The Mikasuki, Hitchiti-speakers, settled around what is now Lake Miccosukee near Tallahassee, another group of Hitchiti speakers, led by Cowkeeper, settled in what is now Alachua County, an area where the Spanish had maintained cattle ranches in the 17th century. One of the best-known ranches was Rancho de la Chua, the region became known as the Alachua Prairie. The Spanish in Saint Augustine began calling the Alachua Creek Cimarrones and this was the probable origin of the term Seminole. This name was applied to the other groups in Florida. Escaped African and African-American slaves who could reach the fort were essentially free, many were from Pensacola, some were free citizens though others had escaped from United States territory. The Spanish offered the freedom and land in Florida, they recruited former slaves as militia to help defend Pensacola. Other escaped slaves joined various Seminole bands as free members of the tribe, while most of the former slaves at Fort Mose went to Cuba with the Spanish when they left Florida in 1763, others lived with or near various bands of Indians
4.
American Civil War
–
The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
5.
Downtown Tampa
–
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area. It is second only to Westshore regarding employment in the area, companies with a major presence downtown include Bank of America, BB&T, Marshall & Ilsley, PNC Financial Services, SunTrust, Sykes Enterprises, TECO Energy, and Verizon. The Tampa Convention Center is located on the river, Downtown Tampa is bounded by the Hillsborough River to the west, Channelside to the east, Interstate 275 to the north, Davis Islands and Harbour Island to the south. The total area for the area is 521 acres, historical Fort Brooke was located at the southern end of downtown Tampa, near the mouth of the Hillsborough River. The TECO Streetcar takes passengers from downtown to other areas of Tampa. Tampa City Hall Tampa Police Department The Florida Aquarium is a scale,250, 000-square-foot aquarium and is accredited by the Association of Zoos. The facility is home to more than 20,000 aquatic plants and animals from Florida, the facility is located in the Channel District near the SS American Victory and the Port of Tampas cruise terminals. The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts occupies the 2nd and 3rd floors of the architecturally significant Cube an adjacent to Rivergate Tower, fMoPA is part of the Waterfront Arts District, along with the Tampa Museum of Art and Glazer Childrens Museum, all located alongside the Tampa Riverwalk. The Glazer Children’s Museum is located in downtown, next door to the Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Park. It is part of the Waterfront Arts District, based in a 53,000 square foot facility in downtown Tampa, Florida, the Museum has 170 hands-on exhibits in multiple themed areas. Exhibits are designed to engage children in the process through play. Plant Museum is located in the wing of Plant Hall on the University of Tampa’s campus. The SS American Victory a Victory ship built during World War II and is located in the Channel District near the Florida Aquarium, American Victory was preserved in 1998 to serve as a museum ship. She is the feature of the American Victory Ship & Museum. The Tampa Bay History Center is history museum located in the part of downtown near the Channel District. The Tampa Museum of Art is located in downtown, next door to the Glazer Children’s Museum and Curtis Hixon Park. The museum was founded in 1979 and debuted a new building in 2010 on the banks of Hillsborough River just north of its original site. Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, the Straz Center is located in northern downtown on a 9-acre site along the east bank of the Hillsborough River
6.
Tampa Bay History Center
–
Tampa Bay History Center is a history museum in Tampa, Florida. The museum is on the waterfront at 801 Old Water Street in Tampa’s Channelside District and it opened on January 17,2009. The History Center building is60,000 square feet with 25,000 square feet of exhibit space. The Tampa Bay History Center includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition space covering 12,000 years of Florida history, with a focus on Tampa Bay. The History Center has a store, classrooms, the Witt Research Center, a map gallery, an event hall. The History Center is one of the largest on the west coast of Florida and includes hands-on, kid-friendly activities, as well as cutting edge interactive exhibits and theaters. The Tampa Bay History Center is open daily from 10,00 a. m. until 5,00 p. m. Regular admission is $12.95 for adults, $10.95 for students, seniors, Hillsborough County was 14 times its present size when it was established by the Florida Territorial Legislature in 1834. Its boundaries included all or part of 24 present-day counties, stretching from Ocala to Lake Okeechobee, in the early 1880s, Tampa residents expressed concern that there was no organized effort to preserve and display local artifacts. In the January 19,1882, issue of The Sunland Tribune, no time should be lost in snatching the historical artifacts from the waste and death of oblivion. Fast forward 100 years,1986, The Hillsborough County Commission assembles a taskforce to explore the feasibility of creating a history museum. 1989, The History Museum of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc. a 5013 not-for-profit, is established by a group of citizens led by Tampa businessman J. Thomas Touchton. Mr. Touchton serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees until 2000,1993, A small museum space opens in the Shoppes of Harbour Island, showcasing objects from the museum’s collection and from other local and statewide institutions. 1993, The History Museum of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc. officially changes its name to the Tampa Bay History Center,1995, The Hillsborough County Commission charges TBHC with the care, in perpetuity, of the County collection. 1998, The Hillsborough County Commission commits $17 million in Community Investment Tax funds toward the planning, february 2006, To complete the process of building the new museum, The Campaign to Create the Tampa Bay History Center Experience is authorized by the Board of Trustees. October 2007, Construction begins on the museums new 60, 000-square-foot home — Hillsborough Countys first publicly owned LEED Certified Green Building, march 2008, TBHC closes its museum space on Franklin Street to begin staging for the move into the new building. June 2008, The History Center receives word that it has awarded a $1-million challenge grant from the prestigious Kresge Foundation to help build the museum. To receive the grant, the History Center must complete its fundraising campaign by April 1,2009
7.
Amalie Arena
–
Amalie Arena is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, the building was originally known as the Ice Palace. In September 2014, the arena was renamed Amalie Arena when the rights were transferred to Amalie Oil Company. The city of Tampa paid $86 million and the Tampa Bay Lightning paid $53 million for the venues construction and it opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus, the first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won 5–2. The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning, the two existing arenas in the region, Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg and the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds were too small for an NHL team. The Thunderdome, now Tropicana Field, is home to Major League Baseballs Tampa Bay Rays. The arena is owned by the Tampa Sports Authority, a partnership of the city of Tampa, the authority leases the arena back to the Lightning, who operate it. The current lease agreement ties the arena to the Lightning ownership, naming rights to the arena were sold to the then St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout the Tampa Bay Area. A $35 million renovation was scheduled to be completed before the 2012 Republican National Convention, also in 2012, the Tampa Bay Times Forum installed a new video display board. The board is billed as the largest of its kind in North America and its two larger faces measure 28 ×50 feet, while its two smaller faces are 28 ×20 feet. In comparison, the old display board measured 16 ×28 feet on all sides. On September 3,2014, Lightning owner Jeff Vinik announced the renaming of the Forum to Amalie Arena after coming to an agreement with Amalie Oil Company, an oil company based in Tampa. The building played host to the 1999 NHL All-Star Game, the arena hosted four of the seven games during the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, during which the Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames four games to three to win their first Stanley Cup. The Lightning also hosted games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Arena also hosted ArenaBowl XII and ArenaBowl XVII, as well as the 2007 ACC Mens Basketball Tournament, the Arena hosted the 2008 NCAA Womens Division I Final Four Basketball Tournament on April 6–8. In 2009, the Arena hosted the Southeastern Conference Mens Basketball Tournament and they also hosted the 2015 NCAA Womens Division I Final Four, plus 2019. In 2009, Britney Spears performed at the Arena to a crowd during The Circus Starring Britney Spears
8.
United States Army
–
The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
9.
Tampa Bay
–
Much greater care has been taken in recent decades to mitigate the effects of human habitation on Tampa Bay, and water quality has slowly improved over time. The term Tampa Bay is sometimes used as shorthand to refer to all or parts of the Tampa Bay area, local marketing and branding efforts commonly use the moniker Tampa Bay, furthering the misconception that it is the name of a particular municipality when this is not the case. Approximately 6,000 years ago, Tampa Bay formed as a drowned river valley type estuary with a wide mouth connecting it to the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to that time, it was a fresh water lake. Tampa Bay is Floridas largest open-water estuary, extending over 400 square miles and forming coastlines of Hillsborough, Manatee, the freshwater sources of the bay are distributed among over a hundred small tributaries, rather than a single river. The Hillsborough River is the largest such source, with the Alafia, Manatee. Because of these many flows into the bay, its watershed covers portions of five Florida counties. The bay bottom is silty and sandy, with a water depth of only about 12 feet. Tampa Bays shallow waters, sea grass beds, mud flats, the cooler months are also when warm-water outfalls from power plants bordering the bay draw one out of every six West Indian manatees, an endangered species, to the area. Tampa Bay has been designated an Estuary of National Significance by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, two National Wildlife Refuges are located in Tampa Bay, Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge and the refuge on Egmont Key. Most of the islands and sandbars are off-limits to the public, due to their fragile ecology, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program keeps watch over the Bays health. Humans have lived in Florida for millennia, at least 14,000 years, due to worldwide glaciation, sea levels were much lower at the time, and Floridas peninsula extended almost 60 miles west of todays coastline. Paleo-Indian sites have been found near rivers and lakes in northern Florida, evidence of human habitation from this early period has been found at the Harney Flats site, which is approximately 10 miles east of the current location of Tampas downtown waterfront. This culture, which relied almost exclusively on the bay for food, the Safety Harbor culture was dominant in the area at the time of first contact with Europeans in the mid-1500s. However, there were many other coastal villages organized into small chiefdoms all around the bay. Not finding gold or silver in the vicinity and unable to covert the native inhabitants to Christianity, however, diseases they introduced decimated the native population over the ensuing decades, leading to the near-total collapse of every established culture across peninsular Florida. Between this depopulation and the indifference of its owners, the Tampa Bay region would be virtually uninhabited for almost 200 years. Tampa Bay was given different names by early mapmakers, Spanish maps dated from 1584 identifies Tampa Bay as Baya de Spirito Santo
10.
Seminole
–
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida. The word Seminole is a corruption of cimarrón, a Spanish term for runaway or wild one, Seminole culture is largely derived from that of the Creek, the most important ceremony is the Green Corn Dance, other notable traditions include use of the black drink and ritual tobacco. As the Seminole adapted to Florida environs, they developed local traditions, such as the construction of open-air, historically the Seminole spoke Mikasuki and Creek, both Muskogean languages. The Seminole became increasingly independent of other Creek groups and established their own identity and they developed a thriving trade network during the British and second Spanish periods. The tribe expanded considerably during this time, and was supplemented from the late 18th century by free blacks and escaped slaves who settled near. The latter became known as Black Seminoles, although they kept their own Gullah culture, after the United States achieved independence, its settlers increased pressure on Seminole lands, leading to the Seminole Wars. The Seminole were first confined to a large inland reservation by the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, by 1842, most Seminoles and Black Seminoles had been removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Today residents of the reservation are enrolled in the federally recognized Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, perhaps fewer than 200 Seminoles remained in Florida after the Third Seminole War, but they fostered a resurgence in traditional customs and a culture of staunch independence. In the late 19th century, the Florida Seminole re-established limited relations with the U. S. government, few Seminole moved to reservations until the 1940s, they reorganized their government and received federal recognition in 1957 as the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The more traditional people near the Tamiami Trail received federal recognition as the Miccosukee Tribe in 1962, old crafts and traditions were revived in the mid 20th century as Seminoles began seeking tourism dollars when Americans began to travel more on the countrys growing highway system. The word Seminole is derived from cimarrón, a Spanish term for runaway or wild one, the people who constituted the nucleus of this Florida group either chose to leave their tribe or were banished. At one time the terms renegade and outcast were used to describe this status and they never signed a peace treaty with the United States. Native American refugees from northern wars, such as the Yuchi and Yamasee after the Yamasee War in South Carolina and they spoke primarily Hitchiti, of which Mikasuki is a dialect, which is the primary traditional language spoken today by Miccosukee in Florida. In Cuba the Florida tribes suffered high mortality due to disease, in Florida, the Creeks had earlier intermingled with the Choctaw and other few remaining indigenous people. The Seminole were a tribe made up of mostly Lower Creeks from Georgia. At that time, numerous refugees of the Red Sticks migrated south and they were Creek-speaking Muscogee, and were the ancestors of most of the later Creek-speaking Seminole. In addition, a few hundred escaped African-American slaves had settled near the Seminole towns and, to an extent, Native Americans from other tribes. The unified Seminole spoke two languages, Creek and Mikasuki, two among the Muskogean languages family, Creek became the dominant language for political and social discourse, so Mikasuki speakers learned it if participating in high-level negotiations
