In return for Spain's military support during the American Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States of America returned the peninsula of Florida to Spanish control. Because they were allies with the United States (which relied upon chattel slavery for its economy) Florida's Spanish government did not offer sanctuary to enslaved people escaping from the Carolinas. Thus, the southern route of the Underground railroad was cut off.

The Treaty of Paris trades Havana for St. Augustine, marking the start of the British Period of St. Augustine's history.

"Great Britain claim Florida through the treaty that ends the French & Indian War. Nearly all of St. Augustine's residents, including the Fort Mose community, relocate to Cuba. Fort Mose is abandoned permanently." - National Park Service

British forces capture Havana, a major port of the Spanish Empire that was considered far more important than St. Augustine.

Twelve years after the original settlment was destroyed, Fort Mose is rebuilt near the site of the original community. Many African-descended residents are ordered to move out of the city and into the frontier. 

"67 residents in 22 houses." -National Park Service

After evacuating the residents of the Fort Mose to the Castillo de San Marcos, Captain Francisco Menendez and his militia fight the army of General James Oglethorpe. Now known as the Battle of Bloody Mose, this battle was a part of a full-scale invasion which is now called the War of Jenkins Ear. During the brutal skirmish, the fort and community at Fort Mose were destroyed. However, the militia successfully warded off the British with their fierce battle tactics.

Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose was the first legally sanctioned free Black community in the United States. It became the northernmost point of Defense for the San Agustín, the Spanish capitol of Florida.

King Charles II decrees that enslaved people under British control who seek sanctuary in Spanish territories will be given liberty, as long as they convert to Catholicism and swear allegiance to Spain. This was a measure that both harmed the British economy and gained more converts for the Catholic Church. 

Fifty more enslaved African people were purchased to take the place of paid and enslaved Indigenous workers at the Castillo de San Marcos.

An epidemic kills many of the paid Indigenous workers constructing the Castillo de San Marcos. Thirty enslaved African people were purchased from Havana, Cuba.