Strawberry Girl

Indigenous American communities existed in what is now known as the state of Florida for over 10,000 years. However, the recorded history of Florida begins with the 16th-century conquest of the land by the Spanish. Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain in 1763 to regain Cuba and the Philippines, which Great Britain seized during the French and Indian War. After the American Revolutionary War, the Treaty of Paris returned Florida to Spain. Spain encouraged settlement by people from Spain, America, and Native tribes by offering land grants. The Spanish government granted land to Indigenous Americans as a buffer against the United States.

Florida is home to the first settlement by freed and escaped Black Americans. In 1693, Charles II of Spain issued a decree freeing all slaves who escaped from British North America to Florida and accepted Catholicism. Spanish authorities preferred to compensate enslavers when they petitioned for the return of slaves rather than compel the Black Floridians to return to enslavement. The Black and Native communities in Florida collaborated, but were mostly separate, though some intermarried. The Indigenous Americans were originally from several tribes, but referred to themselves collectively as “Seminole,” a Creek word that means “separatist.” Black Floridians became known as Black Seminoles due to their association with the Native Seminoles in Florida. Some historians report a condition of enslavement of the Black Seminoles to the Indigenous Americans, but others suggest this was vastly different from slavery in British North America and later the United States. The Black Seminoles paid tribute to Native communities giving them some of their harvest.

The First Seminole War (1817-1818) began before Florida was officially part of the United States. British authorities, who governed Florida at that time, stirred up the Seminoles against white enslavers who entered Florida to try to force Black people to return with them. General Andrew Jackson’s troops led these skirmishes. Seminole and Black Seminole tribes fought back. By 1821, Florida became an official territory of the United States. Many Black Seminoles fled to Cuba to avoid enslavement and penalization by the United States. The remaining Seminole tribe came into conflict with white settlers—not just over land but also over the Seminoles’ embracing of Black people who escaped enslavement.

In 1832, the Treaty of Payne’s Landing dictated that several Seminole communities would leave Florida and move to land near the Mississippi River. By 1835, the US Army was dispatched to Florida to forcibly remove the Seminoles. This sparked the Second Seminole War. The US government forcibly removed Seminoles still living in Florida by 1838. The Seminole Wars are an important contextual fact for the Slater family. Mr. Slater’s grandfather fought in the Second Seminole War and won his family’s land by driving out Indigenous Americans. Mr. Slater doesn’t consider his land stolen. Instead, a point of pride in Slater’s mythology of his family is that they have been rightful Floridians for generations.

In 1845, Florida became an official state of the United States. Plantations owned by white settlers and worked by enslaved Black people became the bedrock of many new Floridian communities. The Third Seminole War (1855-1858) removed the few remaining Seminoles from their land in Florida to make space for white settlers like the Boyer family to move into Florida and create new, white American communities. By the American Civil War, Florida was the least populated state in America. This is important to Strawberry Girl because Florida is a place with few people, highlighting the need for community and foreshadowing the changes Florida will go through as more settlers and farmers move in.

The novel depicts the socio-economic history of Florida’s agrarian past. Birdie proudly claims to be a “Cracker” like the other white kids. This term, which can be considered a slur today, refers to poor rural white people in the Southern states of America. In Florida particularly, the term Cracker is not a slur but is a neutral term that is often applied to the cowboy culture in Florida and the specific breed of horse, found only in Florida, that the cattlemen used. Floridians celebrated the term for its emphasis on the hard work required of rural people. When Birdie first moves to this part of Florida, the other kids call her “Yankee,” which is a pejorative term to label Birdie as Northern, rich, and with a superiority complex. This terminology highlights the socio-economic divisions in the state and the importance white farmers placed on creating their unique tribal narrative and identity.

Due to Florida’s history and the immense amount of land available to farm, the Boyers seize upon the opportunity to help build a new state. Being some of the first farmers in Florida gives the Boyers a head start in discovering how to farm the land and make their farm profitable.