In December of 2006, Hard Rock Inc, a massive
international chain of restaurants, hotels and casinos, was bought out for $965 million. The buyers? The Seminole tribe of Florida. At a press conference, tribal representative
Max Osceola Jr remarked on the purchase pithily: “Our ancestors sold Manhattan for trinkets. Today, we begin to buy it back, one hamburger
at a time.” This development represented a big stride
for Native American visibility and autonomy in the modern world. But in truth, the boldness of the Seminoles
is nothing new, and goes back centuries. In this video, we will tell the story of a
brave people, who for decades fought against the American advance, becoming the only native
tribe to have never surrendered to the United States government. This video was sponsored by World of Tanks
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and 100% crew, Tiger 131 and Sherman VC Firefly tanks for rent for 10 battles each! See you on the battlefield! To discover the origins of the Seminoles,
we must begin in the territory that is now the states of Georgia and Alabama. In the 18th century, this region was home
to a loose confederacy of indigenous communities known today as the Muskogee-speaking Creek
peoples, who at the time, were a people in transition. As a result of contact with white settlers,
Chieftains had begun convincing their people to abandon their old way of life, and adopt
the European ways. A handful of Creek elites managed to acquire
some African slaves, and worked them on Indian-owned cotton plantations. While slavery was not a new concept in many
Native American communities, permanent chattel slavery, based upon skin colour and race,
was definitely something adopted from European practices. Disturbed by what they saw as a total uprooting
of their culture and traditions, many Creeks migrated southwards to Florida, aiming to
create a new home for themselves away from the perceived corruption of the white man. They were joined by members of other tribes
suffering similar social turmoil, as well as a large number of African slaves, escaping
from both Indian and White servitude. Once home to many powerful indigenous chiefdoms,
Florida now stood almost entirely depopulated, following a devastating bout of old world
diseases brought upon by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. As a result, the Creek refugees and their
allies settled the territory with ease. By 1775, this motley band had developed a
new identity of their own. The Spanish, who loosely controlled Florida
at the time, called these newcomers cimarrón, meaning “wild ones” or “runaways”. Over time, this word became corrupted into
“Seminole”. As can be expected, Seminole culture was very
similar to the society of their parent tribe, the Muscogee Creeks. Like the Creeks, the Seminoles lived in small,
sedentary villages. Their men were primarily hunters, while their
women were farmers, cultivating corn, beans and squash. Despite these similarities, the Seminole lifestyle
evolved in unique ways to suit Florida climate. Rather than the wattle-and-daub houses of
their Creek ancestors, the Seminoles lived mainly in open-air stilt homes called “Chickee”,
built to be suspended over the unstable wetlands upon which their villages lay. Additionally, while their hunters’ quarry
included more traditional game like deer and turkey, they also chased more exotic creatures,
like alligators. Like most southeastern Native Americans, Seminoles
were the descendants of the old Mississipian peoples, a once great culture that had flourished
in large cities like Cahokia centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. Disease brought upon by Europeans had brought
an end to this classical American civilization, but its ancient cults lived on through its
descendants. Suffice to say, it is impossible to cover
over a thousand years of complex religion, so we will summarize by saying that Seminole
spirituality centered around the bravery of warriors, the veneration of supernatural beings
that inhabited the cosmos, and the celebration of the annual corn harvest. Despite being initially apprehensive towards
European ways, the Seminoles were very eager to do business with European merchants. From British, Spanish and French traders,
they acquired iron tools, cloth, and most importantly, muskets, a weapon that quickly
replaced bows and spears. Eventually, they also began ranching European
cattle and farming European crops. However, Europeans were not the only source
of the cultural influence on the Seminoles. The Seminole lands were a haven for black
freedom in a continent otherwise insistent on keeping African peoples under the master’s
whip. Slaves that escaped into Seminole lands were
accepted by the local Chiefs, who allowed them to form their own autonomous villages,
amass wealth in livestock and crops, and bear arms to protect themselves. In exchange, these freedmen would pay an annual
tribute to the Seminole chieftains, and fight alongside them in war. This resulted in a fascinating and vibrant
Afro-Seminole people, who dressed and ate much like the native Seminoles did, but whose
culture was a dynamic blending of African, Native American, and syncretic Christian traditions. Now that we have painted a summary picture
of the Seminole world, let us talk about the wars for which they are best known. Wars that would, in time, become the longest
and most costly conflict fought by the United States against any Native American people
throughout the nation’s entire history. We begin back in Creek territory, Alabama,
where in 1811, the Shawnee war-leader Tecumseh had galvanized a faction of Creeks to rise
up against their Europeanized Chieftains and American overlords. This faction, known as the Red Sticks, waged
a bloody anti-colonial revolt until 1814, when they were crushed by a US army led by
Major-General Andrew Jackson. As punishment for the insurrection, Jackson
forced Creek nation to give over 21 million acres of their land to the US. Many surviving Red Stick fled south, seeking
refuge among the Seminoles, who welcomed them with open arms. The act of harbouring Red Sticks and the fact
that the Seminoles had supported the British during the war of 1812 by raiding American
settlements, and consistently fought off any attempts made by colonial and Creek militias
to recapture escaped slaves, ired the US government. In 1815, a community of former slaves had
occupied an abandoned British fort on Prospect Bluffs under the suzerainty of Seminole Chieftains. This so-called Negro Fort quickly became a
militant sanctuary for escaped slaves across the south, and it proved to be the last straw
for the United States. The First Seminole War began in the summer
of 1816, when Brigadier General Edmund P. Gaines launched an expedition into Seminole
territory at the head of about 100 US regulars and 150 allied Creek warriors, with their
initial goal being the conquest of Negro Fort. The Black warriors rose bravely up to the
challenge, flying a red flag above their walls- indicating that they would give no quarter. Despite their brave struggle, a US Gunboat
positioned on the nearby Apalachicola river struck the fort’s main gunpowder magazine,
triggering a massive explosion that killed almost all 330 of the defenders. Utterly enraged African and Amerindian Seminoles
retaliated with aggressive raids on American border towns in Georgia. Meanwhile, Gaines’ expedition continued
westwards, attacking and destroying a Seminole settlement known as Fowltown in November of
1817. Retaliating in force, Seminole warriors under
one Chief Homathlimico ambushed a US navy boat on the Apalachicola river. 40 American citizens, including women and
children, were gruesomely tortured and executed. This massacre sparked outrage in Washington,
and as a result, Andrew Jackson was sent to quell the growing “Indian problem”. At the head of 500 US army regulars, 1,000
dixieland militiamen, and 2,000 Creek warriors, Jackson launched a renewed punitive strike
into Seminole lands. His first move was to build a new outpost,
Fort Gadsden . He then proceeded deep into native territory, leaving a path of fire in
his wake. The Seminoles offered fierce resistance, but
were simply outnumbered and outgunned. After a brief detour to seize the Spanish
held Fort San Marcos as a base of operations, Jackson managed to lure two Seminole chieftains
onto a ship flying fake British colours. They were executed without trial, along with
two British traders who had been selling them weapons. After this, Jackson proceeded down the Suwannee
River, burning every major settlement along its shores. All organized resistance was soon stamped
out and the Seminoles were forced to abandon Northern Florida, dispersing into the central
and southern swamplands. Jackson declared victory, and sent most of
his army back to their homes, ending the first Seminole war. Jackson’s escapades had angered Britain,
whose citizens he’d executed, and Spain, who still technically owned Florida, but neither
country could really do anything about it. In 1819, Spain gloomily accepted the inevitable,
and just sold Florida to Washington for five million dollars. The Americans were now free to ramp up their
war effort against the Seminoles. Recognizing this, most Seminole Chieftains
sued for peace in 1823, signing the treaty of Moultrie Creek, which shrunk their territory
down to a reservation in the inland swamps of central Florida. However, as Seminoles continued to treat white
settlers with bitterness, and continued to harbour escaped slaves, tensions grew once
more. In 1830, Andrew Jackson was elected President
of the United States. One of his first initiatives was to get congress
to pass the Indian Removal Act, a piece of legislation that mandated the expulsion of
all Native Americans in the Eastern United States to a designated “Indian territory”
west of the Mississippi, a policy that would lead to the infamous trail of tears. The plan was the move the Seminoles out to
Arkansas territory, where they would be settled in the same reservation as the Creeks, since
the US government did not see a difference between the two tribes. Naturally, the overwhelming majority of Seminoles’
were deeply opposed to not only having to leave their homes, but having to live with
their ancestral Creek enemies. When seven Seminole chieftains were invited
out to Arkansas to survey their prospective new lands in 1832, the majority of them declared
they would keep their people in Florida. However, two chieftains did submit and signed
the Treaty of Fort Payne. Operating in utter bad faith, US officials
claimed that per this treaty, all Seminoles were now bound to move west, despite the majority
of them having never agreed to do so. The Senate ratified the document in 1834,
giving the Seminoles an ultimatum: to vacate Florida within the year, or be removed by
force. One Seminole leader particularly enraged by
this was a Chieftain named Osceola, who quickly began rallying other Chieftains in preparation
for the battles to come. Osceola was a fascinating man, he had actually
formed a dysfunctional friendship with one Wiley Thompson, the US federal agent who had
been put in charge of deporting Osceola’s people. At one point, Thompson had even given Osceola
a rifle as a sign of respect, even though it was against US policy to arm Indians. This was a fatal misjudge of character, for
on December 28th 1835, the Seminole chieftain assassinated Thompson outside Fort King using
that very same gun. Later that night, a column of 110 US Soldiers
led by Major Francis L. Dade was ambushed by a Seminole raiding party led by chiefs
Micanopy and Jumper. All but two of them were massacred. The Second Seminole war had begun. It would take seven years and many campaigns
for the United States to end the war. Entrenched deep in thick inaccessible swamps
in the interior of Florida the stubborn Seminoles proved an incredibly tough nut to crack. Their main force of warriors were based out
of their lake stronghold on the Withlacoochie river, known as the “Cove of the Withlacoochie”,
a nearly impenetrable natural location protected by thick swamps and seasonal floodwaters. American attempts to draw the Seminole out
of their den and into open battle proved utterly fruitless. Knowing they were heavily outnumbered, the
native warriors simply retreated into the deep swamps whenever a US army of significant
size approached, knowing the dense, marshy terrain made tracking them nearly impossible. The master guerilla fighters struck quickly,
attacking isolated platoons and supply convoys, before disappearing effortlessly back into
the misty longleaf pines as quickly as they had appeared. Various US commanders did find some success,,
but they were never able to pull the Seminoles out of their homeland by the very roots. Things looked increasingly bleak for the Americans
when the Seminoles launched a spree of aggressive raids in the summer of 1836, attacking homesteads
and plantations across Florida. To make matters worse, disease had also begun
to spread in the US ranks, resulting in one of their staging points, Fort Drane, being
abandoned in July. It would only be when Major-General Thomas
Jesup was put in charge of the war in December 1836 that the tides began to turn. Jesup realized that to beat the Seminoles,
you had to fight like the Seminoles. Jesup split his 9000-strong army into small
raiding parties, and instead of going after the main native stronghold, focused on his
own ruthless brand of Fabian warfare, targeting Seminole villages, stealing their cattle,
and harassing their women and children- all to wear down the resolve of their warriors. This plan worked, and by March of 1837, 700
Seminole warriors had surrendered to the US garrison at Fort Brooke, where they were put
in holding cells pending their deportation west. Despite this, the light of Seminole resistance
had not been entirely extinguished. In June, Chief Osceola fought his way into
the poorly garrisoned Fort Brooke with 200 warriors by his side. He convinced the interned warriors not to
give up the fight, and led them back into the swamps to continue the war anew. Jesup resolved to neutralize his Osceola problem
by playing dirty. He invited the Seminole Chieftain to a peace
summit at Fort Peyton under a flag of truce. This proved to be a ruse, and as soon as he
arrived, Osceola was attacked and imprisoned. Jesup’s act of treachery sent shockwaves
throughout the American public, who had come to admire Osceola as an honourable and valiant
foe. Both congress and the national press decried
Jesup’s tactics. To this day, some historians still refer to
Jesup’s deception as “one of the most disgraceful acts in American military history”. Osceola decayed in captivity, developing a
sickness, and died three months later. His American foes afforded him a proper burial
at Fort Moultrie, with military honours. Fighting continued throughout 1838 and 1839,
but by then, the writing was very much on the wall. In 1841, Colonel William J. Worth was able
to finally drive the Seminoles out of the Cove of the Withlacoochie. Over 4000 Seminoles put down their arms and
submitted to US authority, allowing themselves to be deported to Indian territory out west. What few remained in Florida, a paltry 300
or so souls, were relegated to the Everglades, the southernmost tip of the peninsula. By 1841, large-scale fighting had more or
less ended, and the second Seminole war was over. One would think that with their population
reduced, the remaining Seminoles in Florida would be done with war and resigned to relocation,
but the spirit of defiance had not yet been broken. In 1845, Florida achieved statehood, and as
a result, the United States ramped up its efforts in removing every last Seminole out
of its borders for good. By 1850, the federal government offered a
monetary bribe to every individual Seminole who agreed to move to Indian territory out
west, 450$ per woman, and 800$ per man. This proved largely ineffective, and by 1852,
only 100 or so had agreed to depart. War was once more inevitable, and began again
in 1855. This time, the resistance was led by a chieftain
known as Halpuda Mikko, meaning Alligator Chief, although he was better known by his
English name, Billy Bowlegs. Bowlegs was determined, but with only a tiny
handful of warriors at his command, all he could really do was commit petty raids on
small estates, picking off isolated farmers and fishermen. In 1856, Brigadier General William S. Harney
was put in charge of the situation. He built a chain of fortified outposts across
central Florida, and from them sent patrols to scour deep into the everglades for any
Seminoles. However, Bowlegs and his fighters were like
ghosts, having slipped into the deepest, most isolated of swampy quagmires. No patrol was ever able to catch them, although
the Americans burned down Seminole villages and croplands, which the natives had been
forced to abandon in their retreat. Despite this, no surrender came. The federal government resorted to bribery
once more. This time they promised the Seminoles the
original monetary compensation, as well as a reservation separate from the Creeks. These terms were agreeable to most of the
remaining Seminoles, and in 1858, Bowlegs and some 160 of his people finally put down
their arms, and agreed to go west. Despite this, there remained some 100 Seminoles
in Florida, 100 souls who never agreed to give up their land, who never signed a peace
treaty, who never surrendered. After the third Seminole war, the US government
was aware of these last remnants, but with so few Seminoles left in the state, they adopted
a new policy that basically amounted to “whatever, man”, and let the matter rest. Today, the Seminoles are a people alive and
well. A total of 16,000 of them live in Oklahoma,
the descendants of those deported during the wars. Those who remained in Florida eventually gained
legal recognition from the United States Government in 1957. Today, they number 4,000 strong, known as
indigenous pioneers of trade and business. The story of the Seminole is a stirring reminder
that throughout the American continents’ many colonial wars, some native tribes never
stopped fighting, never surrendered, and to this day, still inhabit the very same land
as their proud warrior ancestors. We always have more stories to tell, so make
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we will catch you on the next one.
Sorry not one tribe gave up, we all fought for freedom and give one hell of a fight. We died standing not on our knees begging