1813-1814 - The Creek War and The Seminoles
The Maskókî tribes in Alabama (whom English speakers erroneously called "Creeks") rose up against their former allies, the British settlers, in the Creek War of 1813-14.
The Creek Indians were defeated at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.
This was followed by the brutal repression and disastrous treaty forced upon them by General Andrew Jackson.
The remaining Creek chiefs signed away about half their lands, comprising 23,000,000 acres, covering much of southern Georgia and two-thirds of modern Alabama.
This caused thousands of the most determined warriors and their families to migrate southward and take refuge in Spanish Florida.
Once there, they joined their earlier rivals, the last remaining tribes of Seminoles.
The Indians who constituted the nucleus of this Florida group thought of themselves as yat'siminoli or "free people," because for centuries their ancestors had resisted the attempts of the Spaniards to conquer and convert them, as well as the attempts of the English to take their lands and use them as military pawns.
Soon, the European Americans would begin to call all of the Natives in Florida as "Seminoles".
The northern lands of Florida continued to be the home of the newly amalgamated Black and Native American Seminole culture.
It had also become a haven for people escaping slavery in the southern states and territories.
Settlers in the Georgia Territory demanded that Spain control the Seminole population and capture any runaway slaves.
Spain, not having the manpower nor likely the desire to handle such operations, responded that the slave owners were welcome to come recapture the runaways themselves.
1816-1819 - The First Seminole War
While there were threeSeminole Wars only the first occurred during Spanish rule.
The War of 1812 indirectly brought about the U.S. acquisition of Florida.
The First Seminole War began, in 1816, as a result of General Andrew Jackson's excursions into Spanish Florida to fight the Native warriors who fled south after The Creek War.
When the military and political opportunist, General Andrew Jackson, brazenly marched across Florida's international boundaries to settle the "Indian problem," he created an international furor.
Over a period of several tumultuous years, he burned Indian towns, captured Africans, and hanged one Maskókî medicine man, Francis, as well as two Englishmen whom he suspected of inciting the Indians.
This series of events is known as the First Seminole War.
Great Britain and Spain both expressed outrage over the invasion by the United States.
However, as several local uprisings and rebellions by American and british settlers had been occurring, in Spanish controlled Florida, Spain was no longer able to defend or control the territory.
During the First Seminole Indian War, the Seminoles attacked the early settlements.
Forts were built throughout East Florida to defend the settlers against the Seminoles.
Jackson's invasion into Florida (then part of New Spain), demonstrated to Spain that it could no longer control that colonial territory with their small force. In 1819, Spain agreed to cede Florida to the United States with the signing of the Adams–Onís Treaty. However, the official transfers took place in 1821.
1819 - Moses Levy and David Yulee
In 1782, when Spain had re-occupied Florida, they began awarding large tracts of land to those who granted favors.
In 1819, Moses Levy received one of these land grants from the Spanish.
He established a plantation along the St. Johns River, which was to be a settlement for oppressed European Jews.
Moses was the father of David Levy, who later changed his name to "Yulee."
David Yulee was Florida's first senator after aquiring statehood.
[Contributors: Jason Brown]
Next Article: 1819 - The United States Receives Florida Territory from Spain