My Research over Seminole Wars
The Seminole Wars was one of many wars fought during our nation’s history. Some wars in our history were fought over Indian Removal. According to Ron Soodalter, “The Second Seminole War erupted over broken treaties that repeatedly changed the boundaries of the Seminole reservation and finally sought to push the Seminoles out of Florida altogether”.
That sounds a little harsh to try and control the land of the Indian tribes. However that is just the way things were back then. Back then the Indians were considered one of the United States biggest enemies. “The U. S Army and the Seminoles fought three wars between 1816 and 1858. ” One of these wars that were fought was the Second Seminole War. The war was fought for seven years. But the Second Seminole War, fought from 1835-1842 cost upward of 530 million-more than the annual federal budget at the time-and resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,500 soldiers (mostly from disease), the forced removal from Florida of between 3,000 and 4,000 Seminoles, and the deaths of countless others. ” Some wonder why all these deaths happened and it all comes down to the military strategy and stopping the spread of disease. There were people who opposed the relocation of the Seminole Indians. Two important people that opposed the relocation were two Seminole chiefs named Osceola and Micanopy.
They both planned the effort against relocation but were defeated by a U. S commander by the name of Thomas Sidney Jesup. Jesup’s tactics wore down the Seminoles and in the end helped the United States drive the Seminoles out of Florida. The people who didn’t oppose the removal of Indians included President Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Thomas Jesup, Duncan Clinch, and most of the United States. The war was started due to a “conflict that was the direct result of the nation’s unbridled desire for territorial expansion, and of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy. According to the constitution of the United States all men are created equal. So shouldn’t that include Indians? Seeing as how we are treating them as the enemy, I don’t think that the Indians were included as part of the all men are created equal line of the constitution. However, some people would say that the Indians are the enemy and should be treated horribly. “Jackson believed Indians posed a threat to the peace and tranquility of the American nation and should be relocated or eliminated.
He formalized his policy in 1830, selling his concept to Congress, which passed the Indian Removal Act by the narrowest of margins. Over the next few years Jackson continued his campaign to remove the “Five Civilized Tribes”- the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole- and drive them west of the Mississippi. ” The Indians were divided in what to do. Some chose to use non-violence while others decided to go to the Supreme Courts and let the Courts decide what to do. The courts ruled in favor of the Indians and that caused a problem for Georgia.
Georgia went to Jackson and Jackson told Georgia to ignore the ruling. Georgia and Jackson decided to ignore the court’s ruling. Because of this the Cherokee Indians were removed in an event called the Trail of Tears. In 1834 Jackson had his sights set on Florida and the Seminoles. “Eleven years earlier the Treaty of Moultrie Creek had directed the Seminoles to surrender all land claims in the territory and move to a 4-million-acre reservation in central Florida. It also bound them to remain peaceful and to apprehend all runaway black slaves and other fugitives for the government.
For its part the government would provide cattle and hogs, an animal annuity of $5,000, an interpreter, a blacksmith, and an Indian agent, and keep all whites from encroaching on Indian Land- the latter an unenforceable provision. The agreement came with a 20-year shelf life. ” Unfortunately Jackson broke the agreement and signed another agreement that would force the Seminoles to move to the Arkansas territory within a three-year period and surrender all black runaway slaves. I feel like this is violating laws. It is violating treaty laws but making a previous treaty not being upheld.
On the other hand it makes the United States gain more land. I don’t agree with President Jackson’s way of removing Indians and taking all the slaves back but to be fair “Jackson harbored a personal resentment towards the Seminoles for their practice of sheltering and adopting runaway slaves into the tribe. ” However his resentment is violating a person’s right to having the freedom to make their own decisions. “According to several Army officers present at the treaty negotiations, the Indians had been “wheedled and bullied into signing””. The government tried to justify why they did what they did to the Indians ut the truth is they violated civil freedoms. A turning point in the war happened in late 1835 when “the hawkish Seminoles judged one chief who had agreed to relocate one traitor to the tribe, and Osceola killed him. It soon became clear war would come-and soon. ” Unfortunately Osceola killed the Indian agent on December 28 and anyone in the cabin. He then took treasure from the agent’s cabin. To me this looks like Osceola is out for blood but he isn’t. He is trying to protect his tribe from suffering having to move away from their homes. The agent’s death was avenged by Jesup.
Osceola died from Malaria in prison. The war went on in a bloody fashion until it was finally ended by all the Seminoles going to Arkansas and Florida being given to the United States. Jackson’s prejudice towards the Indians didn’t help. “In the midst of the War of 1812, Jackson, then in charge of the Tennessee militia, was sent into southern Alabama, where he ruthlessly put down an uprising of Creek Indians. The Creeks soon ceded two-thirds of their land to the United States. Jackson later routed bands of Seminoles from their sanctuaries in Spanish owned Florida.
Bibliography
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 62-69. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013). “Outline of the United States History”.
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 63. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 64. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 64. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 64. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 64. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 65.
- Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 65. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 65. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- Soodalter, Ron. “ON REMOVING SEMINOLES. ” Military History 29, no. 2 (July 2012): 66. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2, 2013).
- “Outline of the United States History” (Unknown dates and author)
