Print detail event | The 14th Colony: The American Revolution's Best Kept Secret

Join us at Mission San Luis when Dr. Roger Smith explains why General George Washington was so determined to drive the British from our shores and why the British were just as resolute to keep the colony loyal.

On December 18, 1775, Washington wrote the first of 81 letters citing St. Augustine, East Florida, as either a military target or a military concern. Washington would ask for, and receive, authorization to launch five invasions into East Florida - all prior to 1780, when we’re told that the southern colonies were of no matter in the war.These were not simply border skirmishes, but would pit Continental Army regulars from several southern colonies against British regulars in each effort. This is perhaps our state’s most unique and overlooked story in its 500-year history.
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FREE WINE & CHEESE RECEPTION at 6:00 pm. Come meet Dr Smith at the reception preceding the 6:30 presentation. The event is free and open to the public. Please share with your friends!

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Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. in Early American History and Atlantic World Studies from the University of Florida in 2011. His work on the American Revolution in the South has received the Aschoff Fellowship Dissertation Award and the Jack and Celia Proctor Award in Southern History.Dr. Smith now represents Colonial Research Associates and speaks nationally on his Revolutionary War research. He has provided consultation for the AMC television series Turn, and worked on projects with the Florida Humanities Council, the University of West Florida, the University of Florida, the City of St. Augustine, and was just recently named to sit on the national board of the Education Committee for the Sons of the American Revolution.

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This program is the last of the six-lecture series at Mission San Luis entitled, "Florida Histories: Past to Present" that began in fall 2016. Funding was provided through grants from Visit Florida and the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.