19th Century American Map of Florida.

Historical records indicate that Paleo-Indians entered Florida at least 14,000 years ago, by the 16th century, the primary Native American tribes included the Apalachee of the Florida Panhandle, the Timucua of northern and central Florida, the Ais of the central Atlantic coast, and the Calusa of southwest Florida, with many smaller groups throughout what is now Florida. Florida was the first region of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans. The earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León who spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2, 1513 and named it La Florida in recognition of the verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida. At various points in its colonial history, Florida was administered by Spain and Great Britain and on March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th state of the Union. The principal location of the Seminole Wars (the longest and most extensive of Indian Wars in United States history fought between 1816 and 1858), Florida declared its secession from the Union on January 10, 1861, and was one of the seven original Confederate States. After the Civil War, Florida was restored to the Union on June 25, 1868.