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AFRICAN AMERICANS, OFTEN RUNAWAY SLAVES, WHO LIVED AMONG THE SEMINOLE INDIANS AND WERE REGARDED AS MEMBERS OF THE TRIBE. THEY PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE SEMINOLE WAR, WHICH WAS DESCRIBED BY THE U.S. GENERAL THOMAS JESSUP AS BEING A NEGRO, NOT AN INDIAN WAR. FURTHER PROOF OF THIS HEAVY BLACK INVOLVEMENT IS INDICATED BY THE FACT THAT, WHEN GEN. JESSUP'S TROOPS STORMED AN INDIAN CAMP IN 1837, TAKING 55 MEMBERS OF CHIEF OSCEOLA'S PERSONAL BODYGUARD PRISONER, 52 WERE BLACK. IN FACT, HISTORIAN KENNETH PORTER DESCRIBED THE FINAL SEMINOLE WAR AS A NEGRO INSURRECTION WITH INDIAN SUPPORT. CONFLICT BETWEEN THE SEMINOLE INDIANS, WHO LIVED IN SPANISH-OWNED FLORIDA AND THE UNITED STATES STEMMED LARGELY FROM THE FACT THAT THE SEMINOLES PROVIDED SHELTER AND PROTECTION TO RUNAWAY SLAVES WHO OFTEN RETURNED TO RAID PLANTATIONS IN GEORGIA. HUNDREDS OF THESE RUNAWAYS SETTLED IN A 50-MILE STRIP OF LAND ALONG THE APALACHICOLA RIVER. THEIR VERY PRESENCE SERVED AS AN ENTICEMENT TO THOSE STILL IN BONDAGE, AND I 1816, SLAVE-OWNER COMPLAINTS LED GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON TO ORDER MILITARY INTERVENTION. UNITED STATES TROOPS ATTACKED AND DESTROYED FORT NEGRO, AN ABANDONED BRITISH POST IN FLORIDA THAT HAD BEEN TAKEN OVER BY ABOUT 300 BLACKS AND 30 SEMINOLE INDIANS AFTER THE BRITISH DEFEAT IN WAR OF 1812. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMINOLE WARS, WHICH WERE TO STRETCH OVER 40 YEARS AND COST THE UNITED STATES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. AMONG THE LEADING BLACK SEMINOLES INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT WERE ABRAHAM, JOHN HORSE, AND JOHN CAESAR. ALONG WITH THEIR INDIAN ALLIES, THE BLACK SEMINOLES WERE EVENTUALLY FORCED TO MOVE WEST TO OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS. SOME ALSO SETTLED IN MEXICO. IN AN IRONIC TWIST OF FATE, THE U.S. ARMY HIRED MANY BLACK SEMINOLES AS SCOUTS FOLLOWING THE CIVIL WAR, AND SEVERAL OF THEM WON THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR.
Posted By: barbara robinson
Saturday, June 16th 2012 at 7:27PM
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