Editing Manatee County, Florida (section)

=== American Civil War ===  
Following the Seminole Wars, Manatee County continued to grow both in population and in economic output. Hogs and some sheep were raised, but the land was primarily used for cattle raising.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Otto |first1=John Solomon |title=Open-Range Cattle Herding in Antebellum South Florida |journal=Southeastern Geographer |date=May 1986 |volume=26 |issue=1 |page=56 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44370789?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> Processed sugar and molasses was produced and exported. This agricultural economy, like much of the south, was increasingly becoming reliant on slave labor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Janet |title=Edge of Wilderness |date=1983 |publisher=Caprine Press |location=Tulsa, OK |isbn=0914381008 |page=249}}</ref> A federal census in 1860 showed that the county had a population of 601 white people and 214 enslaved black people.<ref>{{cite web |title=1860 8th Federal Census |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/population/1860a-09.pdf |access-date=April 11, 2022}}</ref> After the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], Manatee County provided supplies to the Confederate army. Aside from the [[Union blockade]], the Federal army dispatched raiding parties throughout Florida to further limit the Confederate supply chain. For example, in August 1864, the Union schooner [[USS Stonewall (1863)|USS Stonewall]] came up the Manatee river on a raid. According to the Florida State Archives, Dr. Braden's sugar works was destroyed during the raid.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr. Joseph Addison Braden's sugar mill - Bradenton, Florida |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/25724 |publisher=State Archives of Florida |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref> However, another source states that Braden's property was left untouched.{{sfn|Camp|1979|page=3}}

According to a partial list of soldiers of the Confederate States of America, the county also sent at least 100 of its citizens to fight.{{sfn|Matthews|1983|page=254}} Some of the men from Manatee would be recruited to the [[7th Florida Infantry Regiment]], which fought as part of the [[Army of Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle Unit Details: 7th Regiment, Florida Infantry |url=https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=CFL0007RI |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref>

Within Manatee County is the [[Gamble Plantation Historic State Park|Gamble Plantation]], a sugar plantation and home of Major Robert Gamble.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manatee Genealogical Society - Manatee County|url=https://mgsfl.org/cpage.php?pt=12|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=mgsfl.org}}</ref> According to some, following the Civil War, the Confederate Secretary of State, [[Judah P. Benjamin]], took refuge at the mansion before escaping to England.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Bob |title=Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation - Ellenton, Florida |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/35760 |website=Florida Memory |publisher=Florida Department of State |access-date=April 4, 2022}}</ref>

{{Further|Sarasota Assassination Society}}