The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was an agreement signed in 1823 between the government of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the chiefs of several groups and bands of Indians living in the present-day state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The treaty established a reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula. The

indigenous peoples of Florida The indigenous peoples of Florida lived in what is now known as Florida for more than 12,000 years before the time of first contact with Europeans. However, the indigenous Floridians living east of the Apalachicola River had largely died out by t ...

had largely died out by early in the 18th century, and various groups and bands of Muskogean-speakers (commonly called ''Creek Indians'') and other groups such as

Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. The Yamas ...

and

Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...

moved into the area, often with the encouragement of the Spanish colonial government. These groups, which often lived on both sides of the border between Florida and

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, came into increasing conflict with white settlers after the United States became independent. When the United States acquired Florida from

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in 1821 (by means of the Adams-Onís Treaty), the conflict increased. In 1823, the United States government decided to settle the Seminoles on a reservation in the central part of the territory. A meeting to negotiate a treaty was scheduled for early September 1823 at Moultrie Creek, south of St. Augustine. About 425 Seminoles attended the meeting, choosing Neamathla, a prominent

Mikasuki The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. They were part of the Seminole nation until the mid-20th century, when they organized as an independent tribe, receiving f ...

chief, to be their chief representative. Under the terms of the treaty negotiated there, the Seminoles were forced to place themselves under the protection of the United States and to give up all claim to lands in Florida, in exchange for a reservation of about four million

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s (16,000 km²). The reservation ran down the middle of the Florida peninsula from just north of present-day

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to a line even with the southern end of

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. The boundaries were well inland from both coasts, to prevent contact with traders from

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and the

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. Neamathla and five other chiefs, however, were allowed to keep their villages along the Apalachicola River. Under the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, the United States government was obligated to protect the Seminoles as long as they remained peaceful and law-abiding. The government was supposed to distribute farm implements, cattle and hogs to the Seminoles, compensate them for travel and losses involved in relocating to the reservation, and provide rations for a year, until the Seminoles could plant and harvest new crops. The government was also supposed to pay the tribe US$5,000 a year for twenty years, and provide an interpreter, a school and a blacksmith for the same twenty years. In turn, the Seminoles had to allow roads to be built across the reservation and had to apprehend any

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or other fugitives and return them to United States jurisdiction.Missall: 64-65.

Notes

References

* *{{cite book, last=Missal, first=John and Mary Lou Missal, title=Seminole Wars: America's Longest Indian Conflict, year=2004, publisher=University Press of Florida, location=Gainesville, Florida, isbn=0-8130-2715-2 Moultrie Creek Seminole Wars 1823 treaties 1823 in the United States Native American history of Florida

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References