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Articles and Products of History
18th Century Florida:
Seminole Indians
The Seminoles are a Native American Indian people who came from Florida.
It is said that they came from various Indian nations, one being the Creek.
The Creeks were pushed into Florida after being driven out of Alabama,
Mississippi and Georgia during the 18th century. Florida was under Spanish
rule through the middle of the 18th century, and it became a refuge to
the escaped slave and Indian who were uprooted from their own homeland.
It is believed that these escaped slaves and uprooted Indians intermingled
to make the Seminole people. Their language seemed to be rooted in Choctaw,
Chickasaw and Creek. They made their home in Florida.
In 1763 Spain made a deal with England and traded Florida for Cuba. It
seemed that most Spaniards began to leave Florida, and a flood of Creek
Indians came. During the American Revolution the Spanish returned and
claimed portions of western Florida. However, once the war was over, Spain
was out. England began to divide Florida into two territories, East and
West. They began attempts to attract settlers to this region by offering
free land.
The Seminole Indians were soon attached by settlers. They rose up and
started raiding white settlements. Florida became an organized territory
and the east and west parts of Florida were merged into one. Pressure
was placed on the government by the settlers to remove the Seminole.
Wars were waged against the Seminole. In 1832, the Treaty of Paynes Landing
was signed. The Seminole were promised land west of the Mississippi River
if they evacuated Florida. Some left, others refused. The United States
army went into Florida in 1835 on a mission to enforce the treaty. They
were determined to evacuate, or kill, any Seminole that were left. This
war raged on for many years. The Seminole were greatly outnumbered, but
they did leave their mark upon the United States Army. They werent leaving
without a fight.
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Further Reading
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