Preface This work is a study of the governorship of Spanish Florida, 1700-1763. I have analyzed the governorship as a frontier institution and examined the administrative, judicial, economic, military, social, and religious problems which the governor had to deal. The period, 1700-1763, is an arbitrary one, but one that is both significant and convenient. It is significant as a time when the clashes and bitter intercolonial rivalries of the English, French, and Spanish were the sharpest; it was also a time when frontier institutions in Florida were most Cleary defined and most fully developed. The period is convenient because of the change in dynasties in Spain in 1700 and because of the loss of Florida to the English in 1763, which ended the so-called First Spanish Period (1513-1763). In addition, 63 years proved a long enough time in which to develop institutional patterns for this frontier province on the fringes of New Spain. My approach is topical rather than chronological, and I have discussed separately the relationship of the governor to various aspects of life in colonial Florida. I recognize the dangers in such a method. It means analyzing the same even or personality two, three, or more times in a different context and at times forsaking the friendly protection of chronology. I am convinced, however, that the topical approach is more valuable in order to secure a clearer understanding of institutions on the Spanish imperial frontier. I hope, too, that by using this method I have transcended the realm of local history. A work of this sort demands assistance of all kinds, and for this I am deeply grateful. A fellowship from the Institute of International Education and a Duke University Traveling Scholarship enabled me to carry on research in Spain and England in 1956-1957. In Seville I enjoyed the friendship and help of Don Jose de la Pena and his staff at the Archives of the Indies. They extended me every courtesy and special favors over and above those ordinarily expected. My friends and colleagues at the School of Hispanic American Studies in Seville offered encouragement and advice, especially in those early days when I was floundering in my research. In England the archivists in the Public Record Office in London assisted me in many ways. In this country I owe thanks to the staffs of the Saint Augustine Historical Society, the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, and the Rollins College Library. The Duke University Graduate Research Council generously awarded a publication subsidy for my study. I am also indebted to various individuals. I am most deeply grateful to Dr. John Tate Lanning, James B. Duke Professor of History at Duke University—for his unfailing support and timely encouragement, his infectious enthusiasm for things Hispanic, the introduction to the “bug bibliophile,” and for the high standards he sets for himself and his students. Professor Charles Arnade of the University of South Florida, Professor Donald Worchester of Texas Christian University, and Professors John S. Curtiss and Robert S. Smith of Duke University pointed out many foilables in the manuscript and aided immeasurably in other ways. Mr. Terry Campbell of Ohio State University labored over the maps, and Miss Jean E. McConnell and Mrs. Colette Armstrong of the same institution typed the manuscript. I am led finally to the indispensable statement that I alone am responsible for errors in fact and interpretation. John J. TePaske Ohio State University