The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-10-09
From the Atlantic Monthly for September
STORY OF THE SEMINOIE

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ASTORY OF THE SEMINOLES.s
A cruel story this, Mr.. Giddings tells us.
Too cruel, but to true. 1t is full Of pathetic
and tragic interest, and melts and stirs the
heart at once with pity for the sufferers, and
with anger, that sins not, at their mean and
ruthless oppressors. Every American citi-
zen should read it; for it is an indictment
which recites crimes which have been COM
mitted in his name perpetrated by troops
and officials in his service, and all done mt
his expense. The whole nation is response
bic at the bar Of the world and before the
tribunal Of posterity for these atrocities, de-
vised by members of its Cabinet and its
Congress, directed by its Presidents, and
executed by its armies and its courts.
So carefully has the truth Of this story
been covered up with lies, that probably
very few indeed of the people of the free
States have any just idea OF the origin char
actcr and purposes Of the Seminole wars,
or of the character of the race with which
they were waged. And yet there is no cpl
sode in the American history more full of
romantic interest, Of heroic struggles and of
moving griefs. We have been taught to
believe that these wars were provoked by
lncurslons of the savages Of Florida on the
frontier, md, if the truth could not be con-
cealed, that an incidental motive of onr war
OF determination against them was to be
found in the sanctuary which the fugitive
slaves OF the nelghborins States found in
their Businesses. The general impression
has been that these were mainly runaways of
recent date, who had made their escape from
cotemporary masters. How many Of our
readers know that for more than three quar-
ters of century before the purchase of
Florida there had been nation of negroes
established there enjoying the wild freedom
they loved, mlngling and gradually becoming
identified with the Indians, who had made it
their city OF refuge from slavery also ? For
the shareholders of Carolina had no more
scruPles against enslaving Indians any more
than Africans, until it was discovered that
the untamable nature of the red man made
him an Improbable and n dangerous ser
want. These Indian slaves fed into the
wilderness, which is now the State of Geor
gin, pushing their way even to the peninsula
OF Florida, and were followed, in their
flight and to their asylum, by many Of their
black companions in bondage. For nearly
scventy-fve years this little nation lived
happy and contented, till the State of Geor-
gia commenced the series of piratical incur
sior~ into their country, then a Spanish de-
pendency, from which they were never
afterwards free; the nation at last taking
up the Shareholders quarrel, and pr osecting
it to the bitter and bloody end.
This whole story is told, and we'll told, BY
Mr.. Gddings. And most touching picture
it Is. First the original invasion of the
slaves into that peninsular wilderness which
they reclaimed as far as the supply of their
simple wants demanded. They planted,
they hunted, they multiplied their cattle.
they intcr-married with their Indian friends
and allies, their children and their chidren's
children grew up around them, knowing of
slavery only by traditionary legend. The
original founders of the tribe passed away,
and their sons and grandsons possessed their
cornhelds and their hunting grounds in
peace For many years no fear disturbed
their security. Under the Spanish rule they
we're safe and happy. Then comes the grad
ual gathering of the cloud on the edges of
their wilderness, its first ftful and irregular
flashes, till it closes over their heads, and
bursts upon them in universal ruin. Their
heroic resistance to the invasion of the
United states troops follows, sublime from
its very desperation. A more unequal con-
test was never fought. On one side the
mightiest powers on earth with endless stores
of men and money at its back; and ON the
other handful of outcasts fighting for their
homes, and their liberties in no metaphori-
cal sense) of themselves, their wives their
children, and protracting the fight for as
many years rs the American revolution
lasted.
Then succeeded the victory Of slavery,
and the reduction to hopeless bondage of
multitudes who have been for generations
free, on claim Of pretended descendants Of
imaginary owners, by the decision of petty
government officials without trial or real
examination. More than FIVE hundred per-
sons, some OF them recent fugitives, but
mostly men born free, were thus reduced to
slavery at cost to u, all of forty millions
of dollars, or eighty thousand dollars for
each recovered slave! Then comes their
removal to the Cherokee lands, West of
Arkansas, under the pledge of the faith of
the nation, plighted by General Jessup, its
authorized agent, that they should be sent
TO the West, and settled in a village separate
from the Seminole Indians, and that, in the
meantime, they should be protected, should
not be separated, "nor any of them sold to
white men tr others.' This however, was
not n legitimate issue Of a war wagcd solely
| for tho reduction Of these exiles to slavery:
and so the doubts of President Polk as to
! the construction of this treaty were solved
by Mr.. John Y. Mason, Of Nirginia, was
sandwitched in between the two free-state
who Attorney Generals for this sing lie piece
of dirty work, (of which transaction see a
most curious account. p $3.50 of this book }
and who tnli -htened the Presidential mind
by the information that, though the exiles
were entitled to ther freedom, under the
treaty, and had r ght to remain in the town
assigned to them, ''the Executive could
not in any manner intefere to protect
them.
The bord, r.ng Gre ks, who by long slave
holding had sunk to the level Of the whites
around them, longed to seize on these valu-
able neighbors, and indeed, they claimed
rights Of property in them as fugitiyes in
fact from themselves. The cxilcs were as
surcd by the President that they "had the
right to remain in their villages, free from
all interference, or interruption from the
| Greeks" Trusting to the plighted word Of
the head of the nation, they built their huts
planted their ground, and began again their
little industries and cnjoyments.
But the sight of so many able bodied ne
groes, belonging only to themselves, and
setting an evil example to the siav, in the
spectacle of an independent colony Of
blacks, was too tempting and too irritating
to be resisted. A slave-dealer appeared
amongst the Creeks and offered to pay one
hundred dollars for every Floridau exile
they would seize and deliver to him-he
taking the risk of the title, Two hundred
armed Greek warrior. made forny into the
colony and seized all they could secure
They were repulsed, but carried their pison-
crs and delivered them toSthe tcmtper,
receiving their stipulated pieces Of silver for
their reward. The Seminole agent had them
brought before the nearest Arkansas judge
by habcas corpus, and the whole matter was
reviewed by this infamous magistrate, who
overruled the opinion of the Attorney Cen
eral as to their right to reside in their
villages. ovcrrode the decision the President,
repealed the treaty stipulatinns, pronounced
the tide Of the Creek Indians, and con-
quently that Of their vendcc, legal and per.
feet, and directed the kidnapped captives to
be delivered up to the claimant! We regret
that Mr.. Giddings has omitted the name of
this wretch, and We hope that in future
ndit;nr hn will toll the world how to cata