On January of 1827, a Congressional report stated “that the House Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law for the removal of the Florida Indians.” This became an important turning point in federal government policy of moving away from encouraging the Seminoles to move to the Florida, and instead to force migration to the west of the Mississippi. Among the rationalizations discussed before the introduction of the proposal were that the Indian Territory would supply the Seminoles with more game to hunt, and better soil for cultivation.
While no new federal treaty would be negotiated until 1832, the Florida Legislature in 1827 passed a decree to further persuade the Seminoles to comply with the Moultrie Creek Treaty. The decree stated “that any male Indian found out of the reservation ‘shall receive not exceeding thirty-nine stripes on his bare back, and his gun …show more content…
The governor used the pretense of Indians’ susceptibility to diseases through constant contact with other different Europeans, while removal far away would accomplish this. The United States’ enactment of the Indian Removal Act was mostly in place to open up lands for white settlers and prevent Indian and African American uprisings and forcing Indians to move west of the Mississippi River. The Act also sought to prevent Indians from harboring fugitive slaves. One of the decisive factors in Seminole resistance was the presence and the peculiar position of the Blacks among the Indians. Some of the Black Seminoles, such as Abraham, former slave and interpreter, were recent runaways from servitude among the Whites. Black Seminoles feared that attempts by the Indians to leave Florida with them would cause white slave owners to reclaim their human property including long-time freed
While no new federal treaty would be negotiated until 1832, the Florida Legislature in 1827 passed a decree to further persuade the Seminoles to comply with the Moultrie Creek Treaty. The decree stated “that any male Indian found out of the reservation ‘shall receive not exceeding thirty-nine stripes on his bare back, and his gun …show more content…
The governor used the pretense of Indians’ susceptibility to diseases through constant contact with other different Europeans, while removal far away would accomplish this. The United States’ enactment of the Indian Removal Act was mostly in place to open up lands for white settlers and prevent Indian and African American uprisings and forcing Indians to move west of the Mississippi River. The Act also sought to prevent Indians from harboring fugitive slaves. One of the decisive factors in Seminole resistance was the presence and the peculiar position of the Blacks among the Indians. Some of the Black Seminoles, such as Abraham, former slave and interpreter, were recent runaways from servitude among the Whites. Black Seminoles feared that attempts by the Indians to leave Florida with them would cause white slave owners to reclaim their human property including long-time freed