1702 the city is under siege by James Moore the governor of South Carolina. His siege lasts 51 days and his troops pillage the city, but the fort holds and Moore is forced to leave. In 1713 the Government house is rebuilt with coquina and still stands to this day. The English again attack St. Augustine in 1728 but this time it is only a raid and not an invasion.
1738 was year that then Governor Manuel de Montiano freed any slaves in the militia. The slaves went just north of town and started Fort Mose. The fort stayed in their hands for two years until Governor Oglethorpe of Georgia invaded and lay siege to the town and conquered the small fort. After the failed siege, in 1740 the coquina fort at the Mantanzas inlet began construction. The second Fort Mose was finished in 1752. In 1755 the fort at Mantanzas was rebuilt to what stands today.
After the 7 years war the Spanish gave up Florida to regain Cuba. Almost all of the population left the town and went to Cuba, leaving the British with a ghost town. The British Governor James Grant arrived in 1764 establishing British rule over the area.
Minorcians arrived in St. Augustine in 1777 fleeing from an indigo plantation in New Smyrna. The Minorcians now made up the majority of the population. They brought with them the datil pepper with is used heavily in food in the area.
The British Period ended in 1783 when the Spanish took back over Florida. A Fleet arrives from Havana carrying Gov. Vizente Manuel de Zespedes in 1784. During the second Spanish rule over St. Augustine things had changed now there was diverse population from many different areas. Trade had grown with Caribbean and the United States and the city was prosperous. In 1786 the king ordered that the city build a new Cathedral during the construction William Bartram traveled through the area and wrote Travels about the biology of the area.
A new Governor, Colonel Don Enrique White arrives one year before the cathedral is finished. The end of the cathedrals construction makes the last event in the 1700's for the city and draws us in to the 1800's