Editing Seminole Wars (section)

===Treaty of Moultrie Creek===
{{main|Treaty of Moultrie Creek}}
[[File:Moultriecreekreservation.PNG|thumb|250px|The [[Treaty of Moultrie Creek]] provided for a reservation in central Florida for the Seminoles.]]

In 1823, the government decided to settle the Seminole 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 Seminole attended the meeting, choosing ''Neamathla'' to be their chief representative or Speaker. Under the terms of the treaty negotiated there, the Seminole were forced to go under the protection of the United States and give up all claim to lands in Florida, in exchange for a reservation of about four million acres (16,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>). The reservation would run down the middle of the Florida peninsula from just north of present-day [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]] to a line even with the southern end of Tampa Bay. The boundaries were well inland from both coasts, to prevent contact with traders from [[Cuba]] and the [[Bahamas]]. Neamathla and five other chiefs were allowed to keep their villages along the [[Apalachicola River]].<ref>Missall. pp. 63–-64.</ref>

Under the [[Treaty of Moultrie Creek]], the US was obligated to protect the Seminole as long as they remained law-abiding. The government was supposed to distribute farm implements, cattle and hogs to the Seminole, 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 per year for twenty years and provide an interpreter, a school and a blacksmith for twenty years. In turn, the Seminole had to allow roads to be built across the reservation and had to apprehend and return to US jurisdiction any runaway slaves or other fugitives.<ref>Missall. pp. 64–65.</ref>

[[File:Fortbrooke.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Barracks and tents at [[Fort Brooke]] near [[Tampa Bay]]]]

Implementation of the treaty stalled. [[Fort Brooke]], with four companies of infantry, was established on the site of present-day [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] in early 1824, to show the Seminole that the government was serious about moving them onto the reservation. However, by June [[James Gadsden]], who was the principal author of the treaty and charged with implementing it, was reporting that the Seminole were unhappy with the treaty and were hoping to renegotiate it. Fear of a new war crept in. In July, Governor DuVal mobilized the militia and ordered the [[Tallahassee]] and [[Miccosukee]] chiefs to meet him in St. Marks. At that meeting, he ordered the Seminole to move to the reservation by 1 October 1824.<ref>Missall. pp. 69–71.</ref>

The move had not begun, but DuVal began paying the Seminole compensation for the improvements they were having to leave as an incentive to move. He also had the promised rations sent to Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay for distribution. The Seminole finally began moving onto the reservation, but within a year some returned to their former homes between the Suwannee and Apalachicola rivers. By 1826, most of the Seminole had gone to the reservation, but were not thriving. They had to clear and plant new fields, and cultivated fields suffered in a long drought. Some of the tribe were reported to have starved to death. Both Col. George M. Brooke, commander of Fort Brooke, and Governor DuVal wrote to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] seeking help for the starving Seminole, but the requests got caught up in a debate over whether the people should be moved to west of the Mississippi River. For five months, no additional relief reached the Seminole.<ref>Missall. pp. 71–73.</ref>

[[File:Seminolevillage.jpg|thumb|250px|View of a Seminole village shows the log cabins they lived in prior to the disruptions of the Second Seminole War]]

The Seminoles slowly settled into the reservation, although they had isolated clashes with whites. [[Fort King]] was built near the reservation agency, at the site of present-day Ocala, and by early 1827 the Army could report that the Seminoles were on the reservation and Florida was peaceful. During the five-year peace, some settlers continued to call for removal. The Seminole were opposed to any such move, and especially to the suggestion that they join their [[Muscogee (Creek)|Creek]] relations. Most whites regarded the Seminole as simply Creeks who had recently moved to Florida, while the Seminole claimed Florida as their home and denied that they had any connection with the Creeks.<ref>Missall. pp. 75–76.</ref>

The Seminoles and slave catchers argued over the ownership of slaves. New plantations in Florida increased the pool of slaves who could escape to Seminole territory. Worried about the possibility of an Indian uprising and/or a slave rebellion, Governor DuVal requested additional Federal troops for Florida, but in 1828 the US closed Fort King. Short of food and finding the hunting declining on the reservation, the Seminole wandered off to get food. In 1828, Andrew Jackson, the old enemy of the Seminoles, was elected [[President of the United States]]. In 1830, Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]] he promoted, which was to resolve the problems by moving the Seminole and other tribes west of the Mississippi.<ref>Missall. pp. 78–80.</ref>