In the 18th century Florida was useful to Spain almost solely as a military outpost. The province protected the Bahama Channel on the route of homeward-bound Spanish fleets, and with Cuba and the eastern coast of New Spain, constituted a link in the chain of outposts that kept the Gulf of Mexico a Spanish lake. [Note 1: French settlements on the Gulf Coast prevented the Spanish from maintaining complete control of the Gulf of Mexico. Practically, however, Spain dominated the Gulf.] As the sole Spanish foothold in the Southeast, Florida served as a bastion against the English in Georgia and South Carolina and against the late-arriving French in Mississippi and Alabama. For the king its military value was worth the heavy drain on the royal treasury, and strategically, Florida held an important place in the Spanish Empire in America. (Tepaske GSF)