When Fourth Graders Discover Florida Was Traded Like a Pokémon Card
"Wait, WHAT? They just... gave away Florida? Like, the whole thing?"
This incredulous question came from Jordan as we examined the Treaty of Paris documents Thursday morning. My students had just finished their first intense day of the Frontier Struggles simulation on Tuesday, where they'd been assigned roles as Seminoles, Pioneers, and Soldiers. Now they were discovering that while they would be focusing on building homesteads and protecting territory, entire nations will be trading Florida back and forth like it was no big deal.
The cognitive dissonance was real—and exactly what I'd hoped for.
From Simulation to Primary Sources
Monday had been our triumphant conclusion to the Founding St. Augustine unit. Students felt deeply connected to their Spanish colonial experience and the community they'd built together.
Tuesday brought the jarring transition to Frontier Struggles. Suddenly, my united Spanish colonists were divided into three groups with completely different goals:
Seminoles (led by Emma) were trying to protect their hidden villages
Pioneers (five different groups) were competing to claim the best land
Soldiers (Marcus's group) were caught between helping pioneers and maintaining peace
The shift from cooperation to competition was immediate and intense.
The Power of Primary Source Timing
Thursday's "Florida Changes Hands" primary source activity couldn't have been better timed. Students had spent Tuesday experiencing what it felt like to fight over specific pieces of Florida territory. They'd surveyed land, placed homesteads, worried about ambushes, and competed for the best locations.
Then I handed them three treaty excerpts showing how European powers had casually traded the entire peninsula three times in 60 years.
Student Reactions: From Confusion to Outrage
The Timeline Activity hit them first. As they placed the 1763, 1783, and 1819 treaties on their timelines, the pattern became clear:
Riley looked up from her timeline: "So Florida keeps getting traded back and forth?"
"Three times in less than 60 years," I confirmed.
The Map Activity made it visual. Students colored four maps showing Florida under different flags.
Zoe was the first to make the connection: "So all this land we're fighting over in our game? It keeps getting traded to different countries?"
The Moment It Hit Home
But it was the actual treaty language that really got them. When we read the adapted excerpts aloud, you could see the wheels turning:
"The King of Spain gives Florida to the King of Britain..." "The King of Britain gives East and West Florida to the King of Spain..." "The King of Spain gives all of East and West Florida to the United States..."
Miguel, who's one of our Seminole strategists, was shaking his head: "But what about the people who actually LIVE here?"
Carlos raised his hand: "Wait, so when Spain gave Florida to Britain, what happened to all the Spanish families?"
That's when we read the part about British subjects having "eighteen months to take their belongings and leave" when Spain regained control.
Sarah, usually quiet, spoke up with unusual intensity: "That's not fair! You can't just trade away people's homes!"
The Simulation Connection Deepens
The primary source work wasn't happening in isolation—it was building on their initial experience from the simulation. Students weren't just reading about territorial changes; they were starting to process how these changes would have affected the characters they'd been introduced to.
Alex, from our Soldier group, made the connection: "So in our game, we're trying to keep peace between Seminoles and Pioneers. But the countries making these deals never even asked the people who were already living here?"
Emma, leading the Seminoles, was quiet for a long moment. Then: "No wonder they didn't trust anyone. Their land kept getting given away by people who never even lived here."
Historical Empathy in Action
Watching my students process these documents after experiencing the simulation was extraordinary. They weren't just memorizing that Florida changed hands three times—they were feeling the injustice of it.
Jordan asked: "Did anyone ask the Seminoles if it was okay to give their land to America?"
Marcus, ever the researcher, wanted to know: "What happened to the Spanish people at Fort Mose when Britain took over?"
Kai wondered: "If I was a Pioneer and worked really hard to build my homestead, and then the government traded Florida away, would I lose everything?"
The Questions That Matter
By the end of our primary source session, students weren't just understanding the chronology of territorial changes—they were asking the kinds of questions that historians ask:
Who benefits when land changes hands?
What happens to people who don't have political power?
How do ordinary families survive when governments make deals?
Why weren't Native peoples included in these negotiations?
These are fourth graders asking sophisticated questions about power, justice, and historical agency.
The Simulation Payoff
This is why I love combining simulation with primary sources. Students aren't coming to these documents cold. They have context from their roleplay experience—they understand what it feels like to compete for land, to protect territory, to try to build a home in an uncertain place.
When they read that Florida was traded three times, they're not just learning a fact. They're understanding how devastating that would be for the people they've been portraying in our simulation.
Looking Ahead
As we continue the Frontier Struggles unit, students now carry both perspectives: the ground-level experience of territorial conflict AND the big-picture understanding of how international politics shaped people's lives.
Next week, they'll dive deeper into their roles as we explore the First Seminole War. But now they understand that while Seminoles, Pioneers, and Soldiers were making daily survival decisions, their fates were also being determined in distant capitals by people who had never set foot in Florida.
That's the kind of historical thinking that will serve them far beyond fourth grade.
Ready to help your students experience the complexity of historical decision-making? The MindSpark Education Frontier Struggles simulation creates authentic understanding of territorial conflicts through roleplay and primary source analysis.
