One of things we (Americans) don't spend much time studying in American History is the role that weather played in shaping our nation. I was a combat weatherman in USAF, so I have a fascination with this. Had it not been for tropical wx, we'd have a different country.
If you have spent any time in the Florida Keys, you've probably heard about the Spanish Treasure Fleets lost in hurricanes. People still search and find gold from the lost ships today. The Spanish and French were in present day Florida, long before the Mayflower even set sail.
European settlement didn't start at Plymouth with the Pilgrims, as you likely learned. It started in Florida near Jacksonville and St. Augustine. In fact, St. Augustine is our oldest continuously lived in city by European descendants in the USA. But weather almost changed that.
In the 1560s, the French had a settlement near JAX and the Spanish had settled near St. Augustine. The Spanish were Catholic who hated the French (Lutherans), who came to N. America to escape religious prosecution, much like the pilgrims did. Both arrived at nearly the same time.
Obviously the French and Spanish wouldn't coexist and neither had the intention of helping each other. They were set for dominance of the new world in their own interests. The French commander created a plan of attack to send his ships south and attack the Spanish from the sea.
The Spanish commander created a plan of attack to march his men up the coast through the alligator, mosquito and snake dominated swamps and attack the French by land. Now, if you just looked at these battle plans on paper, it's obvious the French had a better plan.
The French would have their heavy artillery using their ships to bombard the Spanish. While the Spanish would have to deal with heavy swamps and muck, carrying only the weapons the could haul on their backs. But, weather was in favor of the Spanish as hurricane conditions set in.
The storm destroyed the French flotilla and hundreds of men died. Those who were able to swim to the beach had no weapons and were defenseless, worn and hungry. The Spanish destroyed the French settlement since their fighters had left and only the women and children were spared.
On the way back to St. Augustine, the Spanish commander was tipped off by tribesmen that some French sailors were stranded on a beach and they were slaughtered. Because of that storm, Spain had established dominance in Florida. And did so until 1821 when Spain sold FL to USA.
Another event happened in 1814 when the British destroyed American forces and captured DC. That night a tornado killed many British soldiers and caused England's retreat. Weather played an important role in our history, especially on the battlefields that shaped our nation.
Of course, it was English descendants that wrote our history books. My history book lightly touched on Ponce De Leon and De Soto, but failed to even come close to the real story of American settlement and made no mention of the role of weather shaping our nation.
