{"product_id":"dawn-of-an-empire-st-augustine-and-the-spanish-founding-of-america-hardcover","title":"Dawn of an Empire: St. Augustine and the Spanish Founding of America - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eIrene Loftin\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBefore Jamestown.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBefore Plymouth.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThere was St. Augustine.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1565-fifty-five years before the Pilgrims set foot at Plymouth Rock-Spanish ships slipped along the Florida coast and anchored in a shallow inlet guarded by marsh and sand. What they built there would become the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city in the continental United States. Yet its story has been pushed to the margins of the American narrative.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDawn of an Empire restores St. Augustine to its rightful place at the center of the nation's origins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere is the clash of empires-Spain, France, and England-fighting not only for land, but for souls, treasure routes, and control of the Gulf and Atlantic sea lanes. Here are the Timucua and Calusa peoples, whose alliances and resistance shaped the fate of the colony as surely as any royal decree. Here are missionaries and soldiers, enslaved Africans who found freedom under the Spanish flag, pirates on the horizon, and hurricanes that nearly erased the fragile settlement from the map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFar from a footnote, Spanish Florida was a proving ground. It forged the first multicultural frontier in what would become the United States. It established the first parish, the first fortifications, the first legally sanctioned free Black community in North America. It endured siege, starvation, rebellion, and revolution-yet survived.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not simply the story of a city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is the story of an empire's northern edge-and the forgotten beginning of America itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 270\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.88 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 28, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53329608409395,"sku":"9781971207223","price":56.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/booPJrG1wd9781971207223.webp?v=1778171389","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/dawn-of-an-empire-st-augustine-and-the-spanish-founding-of-america-hardcover","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}