5fish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2019
- Messages
- 10,700
- Reaction score
- 4,554
@Viper21 , @Andersonh1 , @Tom you can have your myth of Black Confederates and @Kirk's Raider's you can have your Black Nazis. I will call and raise you Black Seminoles of Florida. They have an impressive history until the 1830s. After the Seminole wars, they either were sent to Oklahoma or fled to the Bahamas and later to Mexico.
Snips... https://www.thoughtco.com/black-seminoles-4154463
The Seminoles were an aggregate of linguistically and culturally diverse Native American nations, and they included a large contingent of the former members of the Muscogee Polity also known as the Creek Confederacy. These were refugees from Alabama and Georgia who had separated from the Muscogee in part as a result of internal disputes. They moved to Florida where they absorbed members of other groups already there, and the new collective named themselves Seminole.
The sociopolitical relations between the Black Seminole and Native American Seminole groups were multi-faceted, shaped by economics, procreation, desire, and combat. Some Black Seminoles were fully brought into the tribe by marriage or adoption. Seminole marriage rules said that a child's ethnicity was based on that of the mother: if the mother was Seminole, so were her children.
Black Seminoles may have been referred to as "slaves" by the other Seminoles, but their bondage was closer to tenant farming. They were required to pay a portion of their harvests to the Seminole leaders but enjoyed substantial autonomy in their own separate communities. By the 1820s, an estimated 400 Africans were associated with the Seminoles and appeared to be wholly independent "slaves in name only," and holding roles such as war leaders, negotiators, and interpreters.
In some respects, incorporating African refugees into the Seminole band would have been simply adding in another tribe. The new Estelusti tribe had many useful attributes: many of the Africans had guerilla warfare experience, were able to speak several European languages, and knew about tropical agricultures.
Resettled in Oklahoma, however, the Seminoles took several steps to separate themselves from their previous black allies. The Seminoles adopted a more Eurocentric view of blacks and began to practice chattel slavery. Many Seminoles fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War, in fact, the last Confederate general killed in the Civil War was a Seminole, Stan Watie. At the end of that war, the U.S. government had to force the southern faction of the Seminoles in Oklahoma to give up their slaves. But, in 1866, Black Seminoles were finally accepted as full members of the Seminole Nation.
Not every Black Seminole stayed in Florida or migrated to Oklahoma: A small band eventually established themselves in the Bahamas. There are several Black Seminole communities on North Andros and South Andros Island, established after a struggle against hurricanes and British interference.
Today there are Black Seminole communities in Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Black Seminole groups along the border of Texas/Mexico are still struggling for recognition as full citizens of the United States.
There is more but this is an outline minus the wars... the link has so much more info on Black Seminoles...
Snips... https://www.thoughtco.com/black-seminoles-4154463
The Seminoles were an aggregate of linguistically and culturally diverse Native American nations, and they included a large contingent of the former members of the Muscogee Polity also known as the Creek Confederacy. These were refugees from Alabama and Georgia who had separated from the Muscogee in part as a result of internal disputes. They moved to Florida where they absorbed members of other groups already there, and the new collective named themselves Seminole.
The sociopolitical relations between the Black Seminole and Native American Seminole groups were multi-faceted, shaped by economics, procreation, desire, and combat. Some Black Seminoles were fully brought into the tribe by marriage or adoption. Seminole marriage rules said that a child's ethnicity was based on that of the mother: if the mother was Seminole, so were her children.
Black Seminoles may have been referred to as "slaves" by the other Seminoles, but their bondage was closer to tenant farming. They were required to pay a portion of their harvests to the Seminole leaders but enjoyed substantial autonomy in their own separate communities. By the 1820s, an estimated 400 Africans were associated with the Seminoles and appeared to be wholly independent "slaves in name only," and holding roles such as war leaders, negotiators, and interpreters.
In some respects, incorporating African refugees into the Seminole band would have been simply adding in another tribe. The new Estelusti tribe had many useful attributes: many of the Africans had guerilla warfare experience, were able to speak several European languages, and knew about tropical agricultures.
Resettled in Oklahoma, however, the Seminoles took several steps to separate themselves from their previous black allies. The Seminoles adopted a more Eurocentric view of blacks and began to practice chattel slavery. Many Seminoles fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War, in fact, the last Confederate general killed in the Civil War was a Seminole, Stan Watie. At the end of that war, the U.S. government had to force the southern faction of the Seminoles in Oklahoma to give up their slaves. But, in 1866, Black Seminoles were finally accepted as full members of the Seminole Nation.
Not every Black Seminole stayed in Florida or migrated to Oklahoma: A small band eventually established themselves in the Bahamas. There are several Black Seminole communities on North Andros and South Andros Island, established after a struggle against hurricanes and British interference.
Today there are Black Seminole communities in Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Black Seminole groups along the border of Texas/Mexico are still struggling for recognition as full citizens of the United States.
There is more but this is an outline minus the wars... the link has so much more info on Black Seminoles...
