Article review
The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole War

Christopher Walker
Dr. Saunders Jacksonian 4407
July 12, 2014

The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole War
Introduction
In this critical review of The Florida Crisis of 1826 – 1827 and the Second Seminole War Canter Brown Jr., tells a very tragic, and hard fought story about the experience of the Seminoles and various groups involved in a plea for life. Brown tells this story in the form of an essay in which he shares his arguments and analysis as a historian, professor, a Floridian, and author in terms of the Florida Crisis. This paper will review Brown’s story as well as his main arguments and will evaluate the quality of Brown’s writing and focus on all areas and his weakness within this account.
Summary
This section contains a summary of The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole War. The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole is an article by Canter Brown Jr. and it addresses the history of Florida in the war between Seminoles along with other groups of people and the United States. Brown reveals the political, and racial aspects that lead to the history of the war in the United States. The author exclaimed that this war was marked as the most expensive Indian war of all times. This crisis that broke Florida involved the Seminole people and this is why the title “The Seminole War.” The crisis involved the Indian territories and associated free blacks with inhuman repression and suffering; the threat of war ensued due to many transgressions and the desire for revenge.
Brown explains the war was started by various tribes that were organized into band moving and settling in Florida which was by 18th century uninhabited. The tribes include Alabama, and the Creek people among other groups. The creek people were subdivided into two categories, the upper and the lower creek people. Therefore, the group was recorded as the largest ethnic group to settle in Florida. The most famous group of the Seminole War was the Mikasuki who settled in Tallahassee. After the revolutionary war, the United States and Spain were conflicting in governing Florida. The United States accused Spanish of encouraging Slaves and Native Americans into settling in Florida. This conflict led to the first Seminole War of 1817 Andrew Jackson was at the helm for the United States. At the end of the war, the Americans became victorious and governed Florida in 1821 with the help of the Adams-Onis Treaty. The government had pressure applied to them to evacuate the Seminole people out of Florida by the white settlers. In turn the government came up with the Treaty of Moultrie Creek. This treaty was a form of negotiation between the Government and the Creek people to move to reserves and leave Florida for the settlers. This excluded six villages that were allowed to dwell around the river of Apalachicola. The Seminole people moved to the reservation but they did not do so without a fight. A fort was built to guard the reservation and it was named Fort King. Troops were sent to the fort because the United State had a plan to move the Seminole people from Florida to Mississippi.
Governor DuVal, began to worry of a possible war caused by the Indian people who would be backed up by the Black Seminole due to their close knit tie. The governor requested the government to increase the number of troops in Fort King. Contrary to DuVal’s expectation, the Fort was closed down. This led to the suffering of the Seminole group that went starved for days due to lack of supplies that came from Fort King. In 1828, a new president was elected, Andrew Jackson. This president was no ordinary ruler because he had a strong dislike for the Seminole people. Additionally, he started off by enacting an act of removing Indians. This act was to move the Seminole group to Mississippi and leave Florida for the White Settlers. This was not the end of the Seminole pressure of moving out of Florida. The treaty of Payne’s landing was constructed and it peacefully advocated for the Seminole people to move to Mississippi.
People were summoned in a meeting where their chiefs were asked to influence their followers in moving west by viewing the place and signing the treaty. The chiefs were not cooperative because even after signing the treaty they refused to influence the people in moving to Mississippi. When the group proved difficult to cooperate to the treaty, Fort King was reopened and a new agent recruited, Wiley Thompson. His work was to lead the troops in forcing the Seminole out of Florida. The Indians were preparing for war by purchasing powder and lead. When Thompson noticed this unusual reaction, he requested for more troops from Fort Brooke. The president sent a message to the Seminole to move out of Florida unless they wanted blood to be shed. This message made eight chiefs comply with the treaty and they moved to Mississippi within one year. However, some strong chiefs including Alachua Seminole’s leader Micanopy was not ready to move his people out of Florida. Thompson then, banned the selling of riffles and gun powder to the Seminole. This was only the beginning of war, because a famous young man, Osceola was given a rifle by Thompson as a means of luring him to lead his followers to Mississippi. Later Osceola killed Thompson among other troops when he and the Seminole people attacked Fort King. The killings are known as the Dade Massacre because it was Major Francis L. Dade who had initially commanded the troops to join Fort King. As if that was not enough, the new leader attacked fellow Seminoles when they attempted to leave Florida. After the massacre, various Generals attempted to stop the killings. This is because it was the American troops that were decreasing in number while the Seminole group had a few number of dead and injured people. General Gaines was the first to attempt in defeating the Seminole people but he failed due to no real knowledge of the territory and was forced to go back to Fort Drane.
Author’s Arguments As described above, Brown’s main purpose for writing this article is to present and analyze the fighting between the Indians along with its counterparts and the United States. Brown’s two main arguments are: (1) his presentation and analysis of the Indians, Florida, and individuals such as Dade and DuVual and (2) the inhumane treatment of the Indians and its counterparts. Example stated, Brown argues “Among other considerations, its violence reached into the fabric of society to exacerbate racial, ethnic, and regional divisions and to mark patterns of behavior and race relations” (419). Brown bases this judgment on the Second Seminole War, stating “The Second Seminole War comprised the single most significant event of Florida’s territorial period” (419). Brown utilizes examples and accounts from the war to illustrate throughout this article to strengthen his argument.
Evaluation
This section contains an evaluation of Brown’s article. Firstly the author is a native of Florida and obtained his degrees from Florida State University as well as having taught at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University which gives him insight to be able to comment on the psychological impact and physical impact the “Crisis” has had and does have on Florida. However, this also creates a bit of bias because of his personal experience, Brown is unable to be entirely objective in writing this examination. Brown acknowledges this bias in the beginning of the article where he states “Additionally, the war brought to Florida a bounty of federal government expenditures and internal improvements, while dictating the manner and timing if development within much of its territory.” His overview does not seem objective and mostly out of proportion. A second weakness of Brown’s writing is the assumptions he sometimes makes to demonstrate his points. Brown overreaches with generalizations a few times in this article, making accounts that although may be true for himself and those around him, does not seem true for each individual across the spectrum. For example, in one instance, he says “The captain had reason to believe that the Indians although armed and hostile, would not fight a regular-army force that, accordingly, a show of force would forestall war” (437). This is a daring prediction, seeing as the Indians were mad, very hostile and were out for blood. Even though the Indians may have seemed that they would not fight; however history has taught us that when a group of people are feed up they rebel and they fight. Finally, Brown sometimes becomes too much of a historian and verbose in his writing style, which makes it very hard for the average reader to understand. One illustration is as follows. Brown states “In late 1825 and early 1826, then several interrelated circumstances threatened to intensify an already difficult situation and demanded the immediate attention of governmental officials” (425). This statement is overly wordy and complex, makes it tough for the average reader to comprehend exactly what he is saying. A reader can easily become irritated when trying to interpret the author’s meaning due to an overly complicated and redundant language.
Conclusion
This criticial review has evaluated the article The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole War by Canter Brown Jr. The theme of the article as summarized above is based on a number of factors such as politics, slavery and racism that took place in Florida. This article is an educative piece of work that serves as a record of the historical events, during the Florida crisis. It is very effective as an educational piece for the simple fact it uses primary sources as its main sources. The article is written through the use of primary data where the author shares first hand experiences from the victims of the Seminole war. This is apparent from the many quotes and words from leaders and commanders of the War. However, secondary data has not quantitatively been reflected in Canter’s work. The article was not easy to read and analyze because it used old- fashioned English which that are outdated today. Sources used in the article are also outdated because most are firsthand information from the victims of the Seminole war. The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole War showcases Florida history and how a native Florida scholar feels about the rich history of Florida. Canter’s article was written to attract the attention of other history scholars who can refer to his article as well as academic students in their school research. Although Brown wrote a very effective and well written educative piece, it is weakened by his overreaching statements, long-winded language and his bias.

Reference
Canter Brown Jr. The Florida Crisis of 1826-1827 and the Second Seminole War.
The Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Apr., 1995), pp. 419-442.
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