The First Seminole War - 1587 Words

The First Seminole War was the first of three conflicts in the early 19th century that involved the United States Army and the Seminole population in Florida. At the time, Florida was still under the control of Spain. Most of its population consisted of the Seminole Native Americans and African Americans. The dates of the First Seminole War are debated but most believe that it occurred between 1816 and 1818. This war took place after the War of 1812 and tensions were still high between the United States, Spain, and Great Britain. Spain still had control of Florida, but they didn’t do a good job of enforcing the borders (Mahon, 1998). In 1812, a fort was built near the Apalachicola River in Florida. This was used as a strategic point during the conflict and tried to recruit Seminoles into the American army. After the War of 1812 was over, the fort built near the Apalachicola River was taken over by African Americans and was then deemed the â€Å"Negro fort.† The people in neighboring states were outraged by this and couldn’t believe it really existed. General Andrew Jackson wanted this fort to be gone and threatened Spain about it. Soon after, Fort Scott was built right above the Florida border in response to the â€Å"Negro fort.† It was put there so the American troops could watch over what was happening in Florida. The indigenous people, the Seminoles, still very much inhabited the area and didn’t like this. In 1816, a supply ship that was transferring equipment to Fort Scott wasShow MoreRelatedAmerican Actions During The First Seminole War842 Words   |  4 Pagesstates and have fought against empires. However, based on specific definitions of imperialism, U.S. leaders have been guilty of fighting multiple wars to build their empire, even if their explicit reasons for doing so suggest otherwise. Examples of these imperialistic trends include American actions during the First Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the annexation of the Philippines. According to historian Tony Smith, imperialism is defined as â€Å"the effective domination by a relatively strongRead MoreAndrew Jackson Racist Ideology Essay1339 Words   |  6 Pagesgenocide of the Seminole peoples during the First Seminole War. Jackson’s racist perception of the Seminole Indians was the result of his experiences fighting Indians during the Creek War, which resulted in his larger national mandate to remove the Seminole from their land for European settlers to inhabit. The First Seminole war defined the overarching genocide against the Seminole peoples through Jackson’s leadership of the United States Army, which took lands and relocated the Seminole to the interiorRead MoreUS Presidents: Andrew Jackson Essay1694 Words   |  7 Pagesin the Seminole Wars is particularly disturbing since he not only authorized but actively encouraged the use of force against the women and children of the Seminole tribe. While Jackson was by no means the first leade r to target civilian populations as a means to winning wars, the Seminole Wars are a particularly brutal example of this approach. The Seminole Wars exemplify the trend prevalent in American military history of using force against civilian populations as a tool for winning wars. TheRead MoreEssay about The Plight of the Black Seminoles1493 Words   |  6 PagesThe Plight of the Black Seminoles Scattered throughout the Southwest and into Northern Mexico, descendants of the Black Seminoles and Maroons are living in this modern world today. Over one hundred years ago, the U.S. government seemed determined to systematically eliminate the Native Americans and manipulate the descendants of the Black slaves. That imperialistic attitude allowed the policies of the U.S. government to treat groups of people with less respect and concern than they treated theirRead MoreSignificance Of The Second Seminole War1337 Words   |  6 Pagesorder to understand the significance of the Second Seminole War, one must first examine the First Seminole War. Frustrated with Seminole protection of runaway slaves, Andrew Jackson and more than three thousand men entered northern Florida in 1816 and began to decimate Seminole populations. Despite most of these campaigns being unsanctioned by the United States government and protested by the British and the Spanish, Jackson was received as a war hero th roughout the nation. The Adam-Onis Treaty ofRead MoreThe Trail Of Tears : American History1631 Words   |  7 Pages There were countless tribes affected, emigrated, and annihilated by white settlers such as the Seminoles, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Cherokees; it was the final chapter for natives in the east. It can be said that the ruin of the Native Americans started as far back as when the first settlers landed in North America. The main progression of their forced emigration, however, was due to the War of 1812. A professor of history, David Koch states, â€Å"There is no question, the alliance with theRead MoreThe Rule Of The United States790 Words   |  4 Pagesmaintain an action in the courts of the United States. Marshall attempted to strike a balance between the powers of the federal government, its relationship with Indian nations, and carefully measuring the sovereignty of the Native Americans. But the Seminoles, like all other Indian nations remained landlocked and unable to negotiate with foreign powers, but they could exercise their own constitutional powers that conflicted with the United States Constitution. Furthermore, in the Supreme Court case ofRead MoreAndrew Jackson : Conqueror Of Florida1489 Words   |  6 Pagescountry that has been built through conquests and wars due to its rich geography and lands which attracted many powerful nations like Britain and Spain. One of these conquests took place in the nineteenth century where an American general took siege of Florida, a Spanish territory by then. Andrew Jackson was the man whose mission was to seize Florida in the year 1818 after agitations from the various attacks that were carried out by the Seminoles to the American people, the latest being the FortRead MoreJohn O Sulliv Manifest Destiny1164 Words   |  5 PagesJefferson, Madison and Monroe, all collectively believed in the Jeffersonian’s mindset, these presidents encouraged such movement; they actively thought that it was best for the United States to expand coast to coast. This expansion created a cultural war. Manifest destiny affected the United States’ r elationship with others such as Mexico and the Amerindian Indians because of the way they treated these individuals to gain land from them. Even though the United States made a lot of mistakes due to theirRead MoreThe Florida Indians1456 Words   |  6 Pagesas interpreters. There were yet no Seminoles in Florida, just their antecedents that at the time were recognized as Tallasees, Mikasukis, Tohopekaligas, among others, who lived throughout the peninsula. This included other tribes who were later then identified as separate tribes and eventually grouped as Creeks: the Apalachicolas, Cauetas, Yamasees, and Talapuses. While some Oconees in Florida identified themselves as â€Å"Simallone† (as a corruption of Seminole – missing â€Å"r† in Hitchiti tongue was