The Differences Between a Criminal Case and a Civil Case. The American legal system is comprised of two very different types of cases, civil and criminal. Crimes are generally offenses against the state, and are accordingly prosecuted by the state.
Researchers at the University of West Florida say theyâve proved Spanish Explorer, Tristan de Luna established his Spanish colony of Pensacola in August of 1559. Thatâs six years before St. Augustine, which claims itâs the oldest because itâs been continuously occupied.
For over two hundred years, however, the English claimed that the whole east coast of America as far south as Cape Florida had been discovered in 1497-1498 by John Cabot and his son Sebastian, from Bristol, England.