Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Seminoles v. Tigers?

“Half the Seminole tribe was my color. Did you know that? Still is today. We fought Andrew Jackson. We fought Zachary Taylor. And we never lost! I bet you didn’t know that either. " 
--- In the Midst of the Valley.
No, this does not refer to the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminole Indians of Florida and Oklahoma are a tribe that developed in historic times. Upper Creek refugees from the Red Stick War fled to central Florida and re-formed their towns, joined by a flood of Africans escaping from captivity in other parts of the South. The US government waged war on these people for decades, but never defeated them. Some accepted removal west of the Mississippi. Others remained in Florida, where their descendants remain to this day. Below is a lithograph of John Horse, an African Seminole who fought against the US Army in the Second Seminole War.

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