SW027 Why a SECOND Seminole War? Federal Government’s Eminent Domain Land Grab Fueled Removal Demands & Invited Imminent Conflict

There is a short answer to the question, "What started the Second Seminole War?" That’s simple. An ambush. The Florida Seminole Indians attacked a column of American Soldiers by surprise. The Soldiers were marching along the old Fort King Military Road to relieve the garrison at Fort King.

A better question, however, begins with why. Why did the Second Seminole War start? Seminole anger with the US Government. Why were the Seminoles suddenly hostile to the US Government? Because the US Government had unilaterally ended its treaty with the Seminole. Why did the US Government abrogate its treaty and fervently insist they remove from Florida ten years before the treaty’s expiration? It wanted their land. Why did it want their land?  The answer to that question is more nuanced than one may imagine.

In this episode, autodidact, living historian, and military reenactor Jesse Marshall joins us to explain the underlying causes that blazed a path to war between the US Government and the Florida Seminole in 1835.

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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