Fort Mose: And the Story of the Man Who Built the First Free Black Settlement in Colonial America

Discover the story of Fort Mose in the only book for children about the first free Black community in America

In 1724, Francisco Menendez escaped from a plantation in the colony of South Carolina and, with a small group of men, headed south to Florida, at the time a Spanish colony, to the town of St. Augustine. There he was granted his freedom. He soon became a member of the Black militia and helped defend the area from English invaders. In 1738, Menendez helped found the first legally sanctioned free Black community in America. It was called Fort Mose, and it lay just north of St. Augustine.

There were thirty-eight households of men, women, and children living together at Fort Mose, creating a frontier community that drew on a range of African backgrounds and blended them with the local Spanish, Native American, and English peoples and cultures. Fort Mose became a southern destination for travelers of the Underground Railroad many years before the birth of its legendary "conductor," Harriet Tubman.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Published: 09/01/2010
ISBN: 9780810940567
Pages: 48
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 10.30h x 10.04w x 0.41d
Award: Golden Kite - Honor Book

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2010
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2010
School Library Journal 10/01/2010 pg. 134
Booklist 10/15/2010 pg. 50
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2011 pg. 11
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2011 pg. 198

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 140394 / Fort Mose: And the Story of the Man Who Built the First Free Black Settlement in Colonial America
Reading Level: 8.4 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 2