Joe Knetsch

Another chapter in the sad history of relations between Americans – and other Americans. The Seminole Wars lasted for over forty years and played out the same way as all the other. The United States and Seminoles misunderstood each other; in particular United States politicians made exactly the same mistakes with regard to the Seminoles that they had with every other native tribe (to be fair these mistakes go back to well before there was a United States): the assumption that the “chiefs” (“mikos” to the Seminole) had much more political power than they actually did – in particular the power to enforce treaty provisions on their people; and the assumption that a war against the natives would be fought more or less like a war with European powers, with set piece battles in the open. The United States finally won, of course, but only after a whole lot of blood and treasure and using the same tactics that worked against all the other natives – ally with their hereditary enemies (in this case, the Creeks) and destroy their fields and food supplies rather than trying to meet them in combat.

Author Joe Knetsch makes the case that the Seminoles were especially problematical because they gave sanctuary to escaped slaves, even before Florida became part of the United States as sort of an afterthought to the War of 1812. The exact status of escaped slaves among the Seminole isn’t clear. Like most natives, the Seminole had always had “slaves” themselves, but these were captives from other tribes, and these were usually incorporated into the tribe after sort of a probationary period. The evidence is scanty but it seems like the Seminole initially treated escaped black slaves entering their territory the same way, but eventually adopted a “chattel slavery” attitude similar to the United States to their north. However there’s an argument that this was a pretense to avoid demands for the return of runaways. It’s certain that several blacks occupied respectable positions among the Seminole – often as translators; and its also certain that restoration of slaves to white owners was an extreme sticking point in treaty negotiations with the Seminole (and one that was eventually conceded; when most of the Seminole moved to Oklahoma, they took their blacks – slaves or tribesmen or whatever – with them). Ketsch also documents consistent attitude in the American slave states: it was widely claimed that Black Seminoles were responsible for all the trouble, “stirring up” the Indians for attacks on white settlements.

The war eventually ground down. The Seminole had a number of dramatic victories over the US Army and state militias, completely wiping out some units that were contemptuous of their enemy. Eventually most of the Seminole agreed to relocate; the remainder were treated with a sort of benign neglect with the idea that they would eventually give up and move; they didn’t and are still there in Florida.

Interesting discussion of yet another part of American history I had previously been ignorant of. Ketsch provides numerous illustrations of Seminoles and their opponents. There are quite a few maps, but they're all contemporary; I’d have liked to see some modern maps illustrating some of the troop operations. No foot or endnotes but most sources are identified in the text. The bibliography includes both documentary sources and books.… (más)