While America declared independence, Miami was mostly wilderness under British rule

While the signing of the Declaration of Independence transformed the future of the American colonies on July 4, 1776, what is now South Florida was a remote British frontier where historians say few people, if any, even knew the historic document had been signed.

At the time of the American Revolution, all of Florida remained under British control. The territory was divided into the separate colonies of East Florida and West Florida, with present-day Miami located in British East Florida.

"1776 in Southeast Florida was a remarkable time period because it was a time period with the lowest number of humans living in Southeast Florida," archaeologist Bob Carr said.

Carr, who has spent decades documenting South Florida's Indigenous history, said the region's Native population had been devastated long before the American Revolution.

"The indigenous people had been decimated by disease. Others immigrated to Cuba," Carr said. He added that many others had been enslaved by colonial farmers and plantation owners from Georgia and the Carolinas.

Miami historian Paul George said there may have been a handful of Bahamian farming families living in the area when the Declaration of Independence was signed, but South Florida remained largely undeveloped wilderness.

The British established control of Florida after the French and Indian War but left little lasting footprint in what is now Miami beyond surveying the region and developing plans for future settlement.

Archaeological discoveries, however, have revealed evidence of their presence.

"We found a campsite on Brickell Avenue," Carr said. "We had black glass bottles and one British button, so we can say that was from the Revolution."

Carr said the black glass bottles are consistent with artifacts from the Revolutionary War era.

Because of South Florida's isolation, Carr doubts news of the Declaration of Independence reached the area's small population.

"I would doubt that anyone in South Florida would be aware of the signing of the Declaration of Independence," he said.

How South Florida became part of the United States

Britain retained Florida throughout the Revolutionary War but ceded the territory back to Spain in 1783 following the conflict. Spain controlled Florida until 1821, when it transferred the peninsula to the expanding United States.

American influence in South Florida gradually followed.

"So they started building lighthouses right at the onset of the American ownership," George said.

One of the earliest examples was the Cape Florida Lighthouse on what is now Key Biscayne. First placed into operation in 1825, the lighthouse helped protect ships navigating the dangerous reefs off the Florida coast as commerce expanded in the young nation.

Florida officially became a U.S. territory in 1822 and was admitted as the nation's 27th state in 1845.

The beginnings of modern Miami

Early American settlers attempted to establish plantations along the Miami River, though many failed to prosper.

Remnants of that era remain today in Downtown Miami's Lummus Park Historic District, where former plantation slave quarters later served as U.S. Army barracks during the Seminole Wars.

Over time, settlers established vegetable and fruit farms that became the foundation of South Florida's early economy. Communities such as Coconut Grove and Lemon City emerged, eventually paving the way for the growth of the City of Miami.

Although the Declaration of Independence marked the birth of the United States in 1776, historians say its effects took decades to reach the sparsely populated frontier that would one day become South Florida, as American settlement slowly expanded into the region after the nation secured its independence.