Distant Storm: Florida's Role in the Civil War

A Sesquicentennial Exhibit

Civil War

In commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, the Department of State’s State Library and Archives of Florida presents “Distant Storm: Florida’s Role in the Civil War, an Online Sesquicentennial Exhibit.”

Beginning with a background to secession, this exhibit explores Florida’s Civil War history through an online narrative and descriptive presentation of original documents and manuscripts from the collections of the Department of State’s State Library and Archives of Florida.

Subsequent sections will cover events and topics relevant to Florida for each year of the war, 1861-1865.

Prologue
Prologue:
From the Yearbook Pages of a College Freshman

John D. Pittman’s first year of college was unusually dramatic. Abraham Lincoln was elected President and on December 20, South Carolina seceded.

Before 1861
Before 1861:
Florida’s Journey into Civil War

This section focuses on the history of slavery in Florida, the development of tensions between North and South, and Florida’s withdrawal from the Union.

1861-1862
1861-1862:
The Confederacy in 1861-1862

Florida entered the Civil War as one of the original seceding states. Despite Union incursions and an ever tightening naval blockade, Florida ended 1862 as an increasingly brittle but intact member of the Confederacy.

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