The Seminole wars : America's longest Indian conflict / John Missall and Mary Lou Missall ; foreword by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Missall, John, 1949-

Contributor:

Missall, Mary Lou, 1949-

Series:

Florida history and culture series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Seminole War, 1st, 1817-1818.

Seminole War, 2nd, 1835-1842.

Seminole War, 3rd, 1855-1858.

Physical Description:

xxii, 255 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Gainesville : University Press of Florida, [2004]

Summary:

The Seminole Wars were the longest, bloodiest, and most costly of all the Indian wars fought by this nation. This illustrated history is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of all three wars. Seminole War authorities John and Mary Lou Missall examine not only the wars that were fought between 1817 and 1858 but also the events leading up to them and their place in American history. Employing extensive research that makes use of diaries, military reports, and archival newspapers, they shed new light on the relationship among the wars, the issue of slavery, prevalent attitudes toward Native Americans, and the quest for national security.

Although fought in Florida, the Seminole Wars were a major concern to the nation as a whole. The first war, led by General Andrew Jackson, was part of an attempt to wrest Florida from Spain and had international repercussions that led to a lengthy congressional investigation. The second, which lasted seven years, took the lives of more than 1,500 soldiers and resulted in the forced removal of more than 3,000 Seminole Indians from Florida and the deaths of countless others. The third war, fought on the eve of the Civil War, was an attempt to remove the final remnants of the Seminole Nation from their homes in the Everglades.

Underlying these conflicts was the nation's thirst for aggressive territorial expansion and the dangers of an inflexible government policy. The Missalls describe the wars as both a military and a moral embarrassment -- a sad and important chapter in American history that has been overshadowed by the Civil War and by Indian wars fought west of the Mississippi. Analyzing events of the wars against larger issues, the authors observe: "It seems as if the Seminole Nation was the nail being pounded by the hammer of American policy. What interested us most is why the hammer was swung in the first place."

Contents:

1. Newcomers 1

2. Americans 14

3. The First Seminole War 32

4. Coming to Terms 52

5. Disagreement and Defiance 69

6. Shock and Aftershock 93

7. The Destruction of Trust 122

8. Wedded to War 151

9. "I Feel the Irons in My Heart" 179

10. Remnants and Resurrections 203.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [227]-[245]) and index.

ISBN:

0813027152

OCLC:

54005595