The Seminole Summary

This story of the Seminoles’ struggles for identity and sovereignty is a microcosm of the true horrors inflicted on Indian nations by the federal government. The Seminoles remarkably defied federal, state, and local government pressures of removal in the early nineteenth century. They also disputed Creek insistence on tribal consolidation, and other Indian nation claims to their property. Among the federal tactics were the illegal removals, and treaties that meant little to the federal government when land, as part of Manifest Destiny, and wealth the federal government sought entered the equation. The Seminoles also endured the paternalism, coercion tactics, and pressures from Bureau of Indian Affairs agents who made promises to them that were frequently broken. At the Territory and local level, legislation would pass to limit their mobility and interaction with Whites. This was a story of a people’s rebellion and quest for sovereignty, one that came at the expense of tribal disagreements, internally and externally, and separate battles with the Creek Indians and the federal government. What legitimately created an Indian nation? Certainly, the Seminole’s

Seminoles) definitely deserved a closer analysis of the trends and gaps in the historiography, and hopefully avoid only reflecting the systematic hierarchies dominating the recent research. This story also hopes to expose Seminole history as part of the larger Native American narrative by giving an account of the treaties that were ignored or poorly scrutinized in most, if not all publications about the Seminoles. The story should reflect the interaction and different perceptions among the players (Americans, Creeks, Blacks, Seminoles, etc.) as a reality constantly being negotiated despite the "permanence" of a treaty or a Supreme Court decision. And how the enduring Seminole struggles for identity resulted in the recognition of their