Our story needs to be told accurately, because as residents we have an opportunity to enlighten the world with our version of the truth with reference to our American history, i.e., Spanish influence during the Age of Discovery of the New World. Ironically, African-African and Spanish History mirror each others in the New World, but some where we went astray. And, an edict of 1600, issued by King Charles I of Spain, granted freedom to any Africans who made their way to Spanish Florida.
Issued under the fear that Spain was losing the battle for the contested land, this edict began to erode the labor force of British American colonies. King Charles II followed up with an edict in 1693, which officially stated “that any slave on an English plantation who could escape and make it to Spanish Florida would be granted freedom provided that person become Catholic and join the militia.” Thus began a mass exodus of the Gullah-Geechee from the Carolinas and Georgia to form the original Underground Railroad, which led south, prior to heading north.
Introducing the original Underground Railroad - which lead south, not north.