Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance ... - Freedom Archives

South legal . The Seminoles prepared for war rather be removed from their terri-
tory. The Seminole state later offered to peacefully migrate if guaranteed a terri-
tory which would not be subject to white settler theft and safe passage of the
African maroons allied with the Seminole nation . The U .S . refused, preferring a
settlement which would merge the rebellious Seminoles with the Creek nation .
Under the American resettlement plan, the African maroons would be re-enslaved
by the Creeks . By 1835 the U.S . military estimated over 1500 African maroons
were living as subjects of the Seminole state . On the insistence of their African
maroons allies, the Seminole state rejected the U.S . resettlement offer. This
impasse led to the second U.S./Seminole War, which began in December of 1835 .
The second American/Seminole War would be one of the most costly in U .S .
military history. The war lasted seven years with the American military suffering
1500 casualties and the U .S . expending over twenty million dollars for this offen-
sive, the most expended in an U .S./Native conflict. A breakthrough occurred to
because of the cost of the war and the conclusion by the American military com-
mand that it was imperative that the African maroons be removed from the South-
east . The U .S . generals conceded to the safe migration of the African maroons as
part of the Seminole nation to the West, due to their conclusions that the maroons
re-enslaved in the Southeast would be a negative influence on the enslaved popu-
lation, possess a high potential for escape, and a potential to reorganize maroon
guerilla warfare with their knowledge of the Florida swamps . Because of Ameri-
can deception in past negotiating, it was difficult to convince the entire Seminole/
African military alliance to accept the new American offer. Between 1838 and
1842, the majority of the Seminoles and their African allies were peacefully