tensions escalated rapidly. American settlers and slaveholders viewed the Seminoles and their Black allies as threats to security, property, and expansion. Raids, real and alleged, along the Florida–Georgia border fueled calls for military intervention. The U.S. government sought to impose control through treaties that limited Seminole land and m… Read More

and the Seminole Wars between 1817 and 1858 is a powerful story of adaptation, resistance, and survival. It is inseparable from the landscape itself, for the Everglades were not merely a backdrop to Seminole life and warfare but an active force that shaped culture, strategy, and identity. During this period, the Seminoles forged a unique society ro… Read More

U.S. military incursions into Spanish Florida increased, culminating in actions that would soon trigger the First Seminole War. Although Spain formally retained control until 1821, its authority had effectively eroded by this time. The Spanish and British eras had transformed Florida from a network of Indigenous societies into a contested borderlan… Read More

battles there. In 1783, Britain lost the war and ceded Florida back to Spain. Spain regained control of a colony that was more diverse and volatile than before. British settlers largely departed, while some remained under Spanish rule. Enslaved Africans, free Blacks, Native Americans, and European settlers formed a complex and often unstable societ… Read More