ABSTRACT
The first human societies to develop using the environmental resources of Florida were the American Indians immigrating before the end of the last ice age, more than 12,000 years ago. This chapter explains the environmental basis of the early society and how it was replaced. Information about the early Indian system of Florida comes mainly from archaeological studies. The chapter summarizes the sequence of societies inhabiting Florida. It shows the simple relationship of the pre-colonial Indians to their environment. Following the Spanish colonization in the 1500s, there was a competitive struggle for the resources of the landscape. The American Indian system lost out to Spanish conquistadors and later colonists because of their futile war against guns, disease, slavery, and better organization and because the wildlife system was depleted by, and lands replaced with, colonial agriculture. The new growth economy of Florida was exploitive, not concerned with keeping resources sustainable.
