The BLACK Indians America Tried To Hide From You

Spanish Florida 1835 the sugar plantations of Florida were a

Spanish Florida 1835 the sugar plantations of Florida were among the most valuable in North America their owners thought they were Untouchable they were wrong in April of that same year something unprecedented happened 385 slaves would Escape their chains and take up arms against their colonial oppressors but these weren't just any rebellious slaves they were joining forces with one of the most remarkable communities in American history a group that had already been living free from the chains of white oppression in the Florida Wilderness for decades the Spanish called them simmeron the Wild Ones history would know them as the black seol what happened next was so extraordinary that a US general would write to the war department this you may be assured is a Negro not an Indian War this group was led by a man named John horse and they would accomplished something that had never been done before forcing the United States government to negotiate with former slaves this is the story about a people who built their own free Society right under the nose of the plantation system a story about former slaves who became generals a story so threatening to the power structure that it's been systematically left out of your history books you probably know Florida as America's Sunny vacation Paradise but in the 1700s it wasn't even part of the United States see while Britain controlled what we now call the American colonies places like Georgia and South Carolina Florida belonged to Spain and this created a situation that would change the lives of thousands of enslaved people in the British colonies particularly South Carolina and Georgia slavery was the backbone of the economy vast rice plantations ran on the brutal labor of enslaved people particularly the gulla people who had special knowledge of rice cultivation from their African heritage but just across the border lay Spanish Florida and here's where it gets interesting the Spanish had a unique strategy with Florida they claimed it but they didn't want to settle it instead they used it as a buffer zone between the British colonies and their own valuable settlements further south their plan was simple but effective keep Florida a dangerous Wild Frontier think about it what better way to protect your settled territories than to have an un AED Wilderness filled with people who have every reason to resist British expansion and they came up with an ingenious plan to do it the Spanish crown made an announcement that would send shock waves through the British colonies any slave who managed to escape to Florida would be given their freedom not only that they would be protected by Spanish law now Florida wasn't exactly Paradise it was a harsh Wilderness of dense jungles and malari infested swamps I'm sure if you visited before you know exactly what I mean most Europeans considered it completely uninhabitable but for people living under the brutality of slavery these dangers seemed like a small price to pay for freedom and so they ran through swamps and Wilderness risking everything for a chance at Freedom the gulla people with their knowledge of rice cultivation and tropical agriculture were particularly well suited to survive in this harsh environment by the late 1700s something remarkable was happening in the Florida Wilderness these Escape slaves weren't just surviving they were thriving building entire Villages communities with thatched roof houses surrounded by fields of corn and swamp rice they were creating the first legally sanctioned free black towns in North America but they weren't alone in this Wilderness oh no far from it various Native American groups people who would later become known as the Seminoles had also made Florida their home like the escaped slaves they too were seeking freedom from Colonial expansion what happened next was unprecedented these two communities escaped slaves and Native Americans formed an alliance that would reshape American history the story of the black seol is one of strength Defiance and a refusal to be broken but too many people have never even heard of them if you think more people people need to know this untold history make sure to like this video and drop a comment what part of the black seol story shocked you the most the black seol as they came to be known maintained their own Villages while forming close ties with their Native American Neighbors The Americans called them seols a word that came from Simon in Spanish it meant wild or Untamed it was an insult but these people embraced their situation and their freedom and what emerged in those swamps and forests was something entirely new a society where former slaves and Native Americans coexisted and thrived free from the influence of the white man while they formed a close alliance with the seol Indians they maintained their own separate Villages and communities their own distinct identity their own way of life the seols practiced a unique religion a powerful blend of African and Christian rituals with traditional seol dances woven in they even developed their own language an English Creole that carried Echoes of their Gula Roots now technically the black seol were considered slaves to the seol Indians but if you're thinking about the brutal chatt slavery of American plantations think again their only obligation was a small percentage of their Harvest paid once a year that's it no overseers no Chains No whips they lived in their own Villages controlled their own lives and kept their own wealth but perhaps their most valuable role was as Bridge Builders the black seminal became crucial interpreters not just of language but of cultures they helped the semal understand both the language and the mindset of the European Americans in a world of increasing conflict this knowledge was power and prosper they did through farming hunting and trade they built significant wealth these weren't hidden camps of fugitives these were thriving communities of free people but their very success made them a Target picture yourself as a Southern plantation owner in Georgia or South Carolina just across your border there's a community of free armed black people they're prosperous they're organized and worst of all they're proving that your entire system of slavery is a lie every successful Harvest every newly built home every armed black seol standing proud and free was a direct challenge to the myth that black people needed to be enslaved and as more and more slaves escaped South to join these communities the slave owners fear turned to rage they would soon learn that trying to destroy this free black society would come at a terrible price because the black seminol hadn't just built a new Society they had built an army the success of the black seals had created an impossible situation for the American slave system free black communities armed and prosperous Living Just across the border something had to give as more and more runaway slaves and Renegade Indians escaped South the seol settlements in Spanish Florida grew larger conflict with the Americans became inevitable the first clashes came in 1812 and 1816 and in 1817 America decided they had enough in December of that same year General Andrew Jacks was given command of US forces in the area by Spring he was leading an American Army into Florida with one mission in mind to claim the territory for the United States but that was just the official story Jackson himself would later call this the Indian and negro war and that second part negro that wasn't just an afterthought these free black communities weren't just a threat to the plantation system they were living proof that everything the slave owners claimed about black people was a lie when Jackson's Army came the black seol and their native allies didn't run they stood their ground and they fought back what followed was a series of brutal engagements in November 1817 US soldiers attacked the seol village of foul toown the seol was retaliated laying Siege to a boat carrying reinforcements to Fort scottt 43 men women women and children lost their lives when Jackson's forces swept through Florida in the spring of 1818 they left a path of Destruction Village after Village was raised to the ground but Jackson didn't stop there he seized the Spanish military post at St Mark then captured the Spanish held town of Pensacola itself Jackson's unauthorized military campaign had far-reaching consequences Spain realizing it couldn't defend its territory agreed to negotiate in 1819 they signed the Transcontinental treaty seeding Florida to the United States but this wasn't the end of the black seminol fight for freedom in fact it was just the beginning by 1835 tensions had reached a Breaking Point the US government was demanding that all Seminoles both native and black be forcibly moved west of the Mississippi but for the black seol this wasn't just about leaving their homes the government had a special plan for them they would be returned to slavery their response in April 1835 they launched what would become the largest slave revolt in US history 385 Plantation Slaves broke their chains and joined the black seol together they laid waste to Florida's sugar plantations some of the most valuable property in North America among their leaders was a warrior named aola under his command the resistance would reach new heights of strategic Brilliance on December 28th 1835 they demonstrated just how deadly they could be as major Francis Dade LED more than 100 soldiers from Fort Brook toward Fort King 180 seminol Warriors launched a devastating Ambush only three soldiers survived what became known as the Dade Massacre the US military was stunned General Jessup the American Commander wrote back to Washington in frustration this you may be assured is a Negro and not an Indian War and what a war it was the black seols turned Florida's harsh environment into their greatest weapon they were masters of Guerilla Warfare more Adept at fighting in the dense jungle than even their Native American Allies for seven brutal years they fought the might of the US military to a standstill the Battle of Lake Oki chobi in December 1837 saw them inflict heavy casualties despite being vastly outnumbered at the Battle of the lockah hatchee river in January 1838 they forced an entire contingent of sailors and soldiers to retreat but in October 1837 the tide began to turn General jeup realizing he couldn't defeat them in open combat resorted to treachery he set up a false truce and captured osola along with dozens of his followers still the resistance continued for every American soldier who died in battle three more succumbed to disease and the brutal Florida environment the black seol knew this terrain they had made it their home and now they were using it to bleed the American Army dry by the time it was over the second seminor war would claim the lives of over 1,500 American soldiers and cost the government $20 million that's over half a billion in today's money but something strange happened when the Army finally captured the black seol Warriors the officers faced a dilemma these were no mere runaway slaves but battle hardened veterans who had spent years fighting for their freedom the officers knew that returning these Warriors to Southern plantations would be dangerous these people had grown accustomed to freedom and had proven their willingness to fight they feared these season Fighters would incite revolts across the south in 1842 after 7 years of brutal Warfare the US government forced the black seol along with their native allies to leave Florida their destination Indian Territory what we now call Oklahoma this was the beginning of an exodus that would take these Freedom Fighters on an epic journey across the continent in Oklahoma they found themselves under the authority of the Creek Indians slave owners who tried to strip away the freedoms they had fought so hard to win and they faced an even deadlier threat slave traders who would creep into their settlements at night kidnapping women and children to sell them into slavery for the black seol Oklahoma wasn't going to be their promised land they needed to move again but this time they had a leader who would become legendary his name was John horse the seals called him suaf tanuka he had risen From Slavery to become one of the most feared Warriors of the second seol war now he was about to cement his place in history horse knew that true Freedom wouldn't be found under American rule not in Florida not in Oklahoma not anywhere in the United States he had a more radical Vision Mexico a nation that had already abolished slavery a place where his people could finally be truly free but getting there meant Crossing hundreds of miles of hostile territory with Texas slave catchers and hostile tribes standing in their way in 1850 horse made his move Gathering the bravest and most determined of his people he prepared for what would become one of the most daring Freedom Rides in American history they would risk everything on one more Journey this time to Mexico where slavery was illegal but even in Mexico they couldn't escape American aggression in 1855 a heavily armed band of Texas Rangers crossed the border determined to destroy their settlement big mistake the black seol along with their native allies didn't just defend their new home they forced the Rangers to retreat back across the border finally in Mexico they found what they had been fighting for all along true Freedom they built new lives new homes and new Futures all on land that was legally their own but their story wasn't over in 1870 after the Civil War had ended slavery in the United States the US Cavalry came to them with an offer returned to Texas and join the Army as Scouts some accepted they became known as The seol Negro Indian Scouts and they proved to be some of the CH Soldiers the US Cavalry had ever seen in 1875 three of these Scouts did something extraordinary they won the Congressional Medal of Honor in a single engagement the highest military decoration in America awarded to the descendants of runaway slaves today the black seol story lives on in communities scattered across North America each carries a piece of this remarkable history on Andros Island in the Bahamas you'll find the black Indians descendants of those who escaped Florida after the first seol war they were the first to break away choosing the British Caribbean over American control in rural seol County Oklahoma the seol Freedman maintained the strongest connection to their past they're still official members of the seol Indian Nation preserving a unique identity forged in the Florida Wilderness Generations ago in the dusty desert town of nasimo Mexico the mascogos continue to live on the very land their ancestors defended against the Texas Rangers their presence there is a testament to John horse's daring vision of Freedom Beyond America's borders and in bracketville Texas the scouts live just outside the walls of the Old Fort where their grandfathers served in the US Cavalry a reminder of how their people eventually turned from fighting the US military to serving within its ranks in 1978 something remarkable was discovered Dr Ian Hancock found that Elders among the Texas Scouts still spoke a dialect of gula the same language their ancestors had brought from the rice plantations of South Carolina and Georgia nearly 140 years earlier 2 years later researchers made another stunning Discovery the Oklahoma seminol fredman also preserved this linguistic connection to their past with elderly members speaking gulla and younger Generations remembering phrases from their grandparents but language isn't the only thing they've preserved in Oklahoma black seol communities maintain a rich cultural heritage that Bridges their African and Native American Roots even their Cuisine tells this story they still eat rice as a staple often served with okra or spinach leaf sauce just like their Gula ancestors did and just like their distant relatives in West Africa still do today what's most remarkable is that many of these communities had lost contact with each other over the generations some didn't even know about their connection to the Gula people of South Carolina and Georgia yet they all held on to the memory of their ancestors extraordinary fight for freedom in the Florida Wilderness the story of the black seol is more than just a story about Escape From Slavery it's about people who dared to build their own free society when everyone said it was impossible people who fought against over whing odds to defend that freedom people who never stopped believing in their right to live as free human beings it's a lesson in what's possible when people refuse to accept the limitations others place on them and that same Spirit of resistance didn't die with the black seals decades later another young leader rose up with that same Fearless determination to fight for his people's freedom Fred Hampton his vision for Black Liberation was so powerful that the US government saw him as a threat if you want to know how they tried to silence him and why his legacy still inspires Revolution today click here to watch this was black stories Untold and as always thanks for watching

This chapter of the story continues from the previous sectio

This chapter of the story continues from the previous section.

This chapter of the story continues from the previous sectio

This chapter of the story continues from the previous section.

This chapter of the story continues from the previous sectio

This chapter of the story continues from the previous section.

This chapter of the story continues from the previous sectio

This chapter of the story continues from the previous section.