The saga of the Black Seminoles is a compelling narrative of resistance, resilience, and the complex interplay of race, culture, and freedom in the tumultuous landscape of the American Southeast. It’s a story of enslaved Africans and African Americans who, beginning in the late 17th century, sought refuge from the brutal realities of plantation life by forging alliances with the nascent Seminole tribe in Spanish-controlled Florida. This union, born of shared adversity and a mutual desire for autonomy, created a unique chapter in American history, one where freedom was not a gift, but a hard-won achievement. This is the story of How Black Seminoles Found Freedom from Slavery in Florida.
From the late 1690s until Florida’s eventual incorporation into the United States in 1821, the Florida peninsula became a haven for those seeking to escape the tightening grip of oppression. Unlike the conventional path of flight northward, thousands of Native Americans and runaway slaves turned southward, drawn to the relatively open promise of Florida. This period witnessed the emergence of a distinct cultural and social dynamic, one that would forever alter the course of the region’s history.
The term "Maroon" was commonly used in the American colonies to describe African people who had escaped slavery. Derived from the Spanish word "cimarrón," meaning runaway or wild, it captured the essence of their defiant spirit. Those Maroons who made their way to Florida and integrated with the Seminoles were known by various names, including Black Seminoles, Seminole Maroons, or Seminole Freedmen. The Seminoles, recognizing their unique identity, adopted the Muskogee word "Estelusti" to refer to them, a term signifying "black." The story of How Black Seminoles Found Freedom from Slavery in Florida is incomplete without understanding this rich tapestry of identities.
The very word "Seminole" is itself a derivative of "cimarrón," reflecting the shared history of resistance. The Spanish used this term to describe the indigenous people of Florida who deliberately avoided contact with European colonizers. The Seminoles, a newly formed tribe, primarily consisted of Muskogee or Creek people fleeing the devastating effects of European-borne violence and disease that had decimated their original communities.
In Florida, the Seminoles found a space to exist beyond the immediate control of established political powers, though they maintained connections with the Creek Confederacy. Crucially, they were free from the constraints of political alliances with either the Spanish or the British, allowing them to forge their own path.
A pivotal moment arrived in 1693 when a royal Spanish decree offered freedom and sanctuary to all enslaved persons who reached Florida, contingent upon their willingness to convert to Catholicism. This proclamation sparked a surge of enslaved Africans fleeing from the Carolinas and Georgia. The Spanish, recognizing the strategic importance of these new arrivals, granted them plots of land north of St. Augustine. Here, the Maroons established Fort Mose, also known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first legally sanctioned free black community in North America.
The Spanish motivation for embracing these fleeing slaves was twofold. Firstly, they needed them to bolster their defensive capabilities against potential American incursions. Secondly, they recognized the value of their expertise in navigating and utilizing the tropical environment. During the 18th century, a significant portion of the Maroons in Florida had been born and raised in the tropical regions of Kongo-Angola in Africa, bringing with them invaluable knowledge and skills. However, many of the incoming slaves harbored a deep distrust of the Spanish and therefore chose to ally themselves with the Seminoles.
Seminole and Black Alliance
The Seminoles were not a monolithic entity, but rather an amalgamation of diverse Native American nations, united by shared experiences and a desire for self-determination. Among them was a substantial contingent of former members of the Muscogee Polity, also known as the Creek Confederacy.
These individuals were refugees from Alabama and Georgia who had broken away from the Muscogee, partly due to internal conflicts. Their migration to Florida led them to absorb members of other existing groups, and this newly formed collective adopted the name Seminole.
Integrating African refugees into the Seminole band was, in some respects, akin to incorporating another tribe. The Estelusti brought with them a range of valuable attributes. Many possessed experience in guerrilla warfare, were proficient in multiple European languages, and had knowledge of tropical agricultural practices.
This convergence of interests – the Seminoles’ determination to maintain their foothold in Florida and the Africans’ desperate fight for freedom – forged a new identity for the Africans as Black Seminoles. The influx of Africans seeking refuge among the Seminoles intensified particularly during the two decades of British rule in Florida.
Between 1763 and 1783, the Spanish lost control of Florida to the British, who promptly implemented the same harsh slave policies prevalent throughout European North America. However, when Spain regained Florida under the 1783 Treaty of Paris, they actively encouraged their former black allies to seek refuge in Seminole villages.
Being Seminole
The sociopolitical dynamics between the Black Seminole and Native American Seminole groups were intricate and multifaceted, shaped by economic considerations, procreation, mutual desires, and shared combat experiences. Some Black Seminoles were fully integrated into the tribe through marriage or adoption, solidifying their belonging and kinship.
Seminole marriage customs dictated that a child’s ethnicity was determined by the mother’s lineage. If the mother was Seminole, so too were her children. Other Black Seminole groups formed independent communities and acted as allies, offering tribute in exchange for mutual protection. Conversely, some Black Seminoles were re-enslaved by the Seminoles, although accounts suggest that bondage under Seminole rule was significantly less harsh than slavery under European control.
While Black Seminoles might have been referred to as "slaves" by other Seminoles, their condition more closely resembled tenant farming. They were required to contribute a portion of their harvests to Seminole leaders but enjoyed considerable autonomy within their own separate communities.
By the 1820s, an estimated 400 Africans were associated with the Seminoles, seemingly independent "slaves in name only," holding positions of influence as war leaders, negotiators, and interpreters. The extent of the Black Seminoles’ freedom is subject to debate. The U.S. military, seeking to assert its dominance over Florida, actively sought the support of Native American groups to "claim" the land and "reclaim" the human "property" of southern slave owners, achieving some limited success.
The Removal Period
The prospect of Seminoles, both Black and Native American, remaining in Florida diminished dramatically after the U.S. took control of the peninsula in 1821. A series of conflicts, known as the Seminole Wars, erupted between the Seminoles and the U.S. government, commencing in 1817. These wars were a blatant attempt to forcibly remove the Seminoles and their black allies from the state, paving the way for white colonization.
The Second Seminole War, lasting from 1835 to 1842, proved to be the most intense and effective in achieving its objective, although some Seminoles managed to remain in Florida despite the relentless pressure.
By the 1830s, the U.S. government brokered treaties aimed at relocating the Seminoles westward to Oklahoma, a journey fraught with hardship and known as the Trail of Tears. These treaties, like many others forged between the United States government and Native American groups in the 19th century, were ultimately broken.
One Drop Rule
The Black Seminoles occupied an ambiguous position within the larger Seminole tribe, partly due to their history as slaves and partly due to their mixed ethnic heritage. Their existence challenged the rigid racial categories established by European governments to maintain white supremacy.
The white European contingent in the Americas found it expedient to uphold white dominance by confining non-whites within artificially constructed racial boundaries, employing a "One Drop Rule" that dictated that any trace of African ancestry rendered an individual African and therefore less deserving of rights and freedom in the newly formed United States.
In contrast, 18th-century African, Native American, and Spanish communities did not adhere to the same "one drop rule" when identifying blacks. In the early stages of European settlement in the Americas, neither Africans nor Native Americans harbored such ideological beliefs or implemented regulatory practices concerning social and sexual interactions.
As the United States expanded and prospered, a series of public policies and even scientific studies sought to erase the Black Seminoles from the national consciousness and official histories.
Even today in Florida and elsewhere, the U.S. government struggles to differentiate between African and Native American affiliations among the Seminole using any objective criteria.
Mixed Messages
The Black Seminoles were given an official tribal name: the Estelusti. Some argue that the Seminoles established separate villages for the Estelusti to deter whites from attempting to re-enslave the Maroons.
However, upon resettlement in Oklahoma, the Seminoles took steps to distance themselves from their former black allies. They adopted a more Eurocentric view of blacks and began to practice chattel slavery.
During the Civil War, many Seminoles fought on the Confederate side; the last Confederate general killed in the Civil War was a Seminole, Stan Watie. At the end of the war, the U.S. government forced the southern faction of the Seminoles in Oklahoma to relinquish their slaves. In 1866, Black Seminoles were finally accepted as full members of the Seminole Nation.
The Dawes Roll
In 1893, the U.S.-sponsored Dawes Commission was created to establish a membership roster of who was and was not Seminole based on an individual’s African heritage. Two separate rosters were compiled: one for Seminoles, called the Blood Roll, and one for Black Seminoles, called the Freedman Roll.
The Dawes Rolls stipulated that if one’s mother was a Seminole, one was placed on the Blood Roll; if she was African, one was placed on the Freedman Roll. Individuals who were demonstrably half Seminole and half African were enrolled in the Freedman Roll; those who were three-quarters Seminole were placed on the Blood Roll.
The status of the Black Seminoles became a contentious issue when compensation for their lost lands in Florida was finally offered in 1976. The total U.S. compensation to the Seminole nation for their lands in Florida amounted to US $56 million.
However, the agreement, drafted by the U.S. government and signed by the Seminole nation, explicitly excluded the Black Seminoles, as it was to be paid to the "Seminole nation as it existed in 1823." In 1823, the Black Seminoles were not (yet) official members of the Seminole nation, and they could not be property owners because the U.S. government classified them as "property."
Seventy-five percent of the total judgment went to relocated Seminoles in Oklahoma, 25 percent went to those who remained in Florida, and none went to the Black Seminoles.
Court Cases and Settling the Dispute
In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the Distribution Act outlining the use of the judgment fund, and the following year, the usage plan passed by the Seminole nation excluded the Black Seminoles from participation. In 2000, the Seminoles expelled the Black Seminoles from their group.
A court case (Davis v. U.S. Government) was filed by Seminoles who were either Black Seminole or of mixed black and Seminole heritage, arguing that their exclusion from the judgment constituted racial discrimination.
The suit was brought against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as the Seminole Nation, as a sovereign entity, could not be named as a defendant. The case failed in U.S. District Court because the Seminole nation was not a party to the case.
In 2003, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued a memorandum welcoming Black Seminoles back into the larger group. Attempts to mend the fractured bonds that had existed between Black Seminoles and the main group of Seminoles for generations have met with varying degrees of success.
In the Bahamas and Elsewhere
Not all Black Seminoles remained in Florida or migrated to Oklahoma; a small contingent eventually established themselves in the Bahamas. Several Black Seminole communities exist on North Andros and South Andros Island, established after enduring hurricanes and British interference.
Today, Black Seminole communities can be found in Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Black Seminole groups along the Texas/Mexico border continue to fight for recognition as full citizens of the United States. The story of How Black Seminoles Found Freedom from Slavery in Florida continues to unfold, a testament to their enduring spirit.