In 1781, the American colonies won their independence from Britain. As settlers began to come to the Southeast, they pushed the native tribes out of their homelands into northern Florida. The settlers brought slaves that often escaped into Spanish controlled Florida and lived with the Native Americans where they felt protected. The steadily pushing settlers often engaged in skirmishes with the tribes. This continued until the start of the First Seminole War.

In 1817, the United States government declared war on the tribes in Florida and the First Seminole War began. The government claimed that they were fighting to capture runaway slaves, but the true goal was to push the Spanish out of Florida & open the territory for American settlers. At Old Town (present day Tallahassee) the U.S. Army and Colonel Andrew Jackson first met tribal armies led by Billy Bowlegs. The tribes were out manned and out gunned and the tribes were quickly defeated. Those not killed or taken prisoner escaped into the swamp.

The First Seminole War convinced the Spanish that they had no chance of holding Florida, so in 1821 Spain sold the land to the United States. The Spanish had tried to convert the tribes to Catholicism, and in many parts the Spanish and natives had intermarried. The U.S. simply wanted the tribes out of their new land.

In 1823, 70 tribal chiefs met with Governor William P. DuVal in St.Augustine. The chiefs agreed to move to a reservation in central Florida. In return the government recognized the Seminole as a separate Indian nation. The treaty also promised that the U.S. government would give the Seminole farming equipment, cattle, protection from settlers, and a yearly payment of money.

The land that they moved to was poorly suited for farming and did not have the wild game and plants that they needed for food. The Seminole were soon going hungry and were being attacked by settlers looking for escaped slaves. When Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the removal of the Seminole off their lands was inevitable. The Seminole declared that they would not move West and in 1835, defiant warriors made two attacks on U.S. troops starting the Second Seminole War.

During the war, the Seminoles rallied behind a warrior named Osceola. Due to his talents as a commander, he became the Seminoles' leading war chief. The war was fought Guerrilla style in the swamps of Florida leading to many Seminole victories. Finally, chief Micanopy and Osceola wanted peace and agreed to move west. In October of 1837, Osceola agreed to meet General Joseph Hernandez to ask for the release of a previously captured chief. The white flag of truce was not honored and Osceola was captured. In 1838 Osceola died at Fort Moultrie and was buried by the U.S. soldiers with full military honors. By 1842 the remaining Seminole either gave up and moved to Oklahoma or escaped deep into the Big Cypress and Everglades swamps. There decedents are still living in Florida today.

The Third Seminole War began in 1855 when some white surveyors stole food from the village of Chief Billy Bowlegs. This renewed the fighting and all but 300 Seminole had left Florida in 1858 due to the forced migration west. The exit of the Seminoles marked the end of the Seminole Wars.

Map of War Operations (125k)