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Slavery and the Seminole
By Jean West
Overview
Slavery and the Seminole is a lesson plan designed for students to use in conjunction with or as a follow up lesson to the topic of slavery in the United States. It may also serve as a bridge to the topic of westward expansion. The lesson explores the relationship between two refugee groups, the Seminole and African slaves, who sought sanctuary from Anglo-American slavery in Spanish colonial Florida. It traces their stories through the following events or periods: their coalition during Spanish rule, the three Seminole wars with the United States, removal to Indian Territory, to modern litigation over tribal membership. This lesson is most appropriate for grades nine-12 and is best used with the Slavery and the Seminole Essay.
Curriculum Standards
For a list of standards that this unit addresses, click here.
Time Required
This lesson should take one to two 50-minute class periods, depending on the amount of outside reading and written work you assign.
Materials
- Essay, "Slavery and the Seminole"
- Chalkboard, flipchart, or overhead projector
- Internet access to the following web pages:
The Lesson
Anticipatory Set
- Have students link to the N. Orr drawing of Juan Caballo at the Smithsonian Web site: http://www.si.edu/maroon/tour/visit/a2.htm. Ask them: What is the race of this person and why might it matter in the United States of the 21st Century?
- Read the petition below with the class or link to it from the African-nativeamerican.com web site http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/Petition.htm, and ask students why race might matter in the United States of the 21st Century
| To the Lawmakers of the United States of America:
We, the descendents of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw), as well as their supporters, call for legislation to enforce the rights of descendents of Freedmen which were agreed on between the United States and the Five Civilized Tribes in the treaties of 1866. (Prior to 1866, the five tribes did not allow persons of African descent to become tribal citizens, regardless of their "blood" Indian descent). These 1866 treaties required that the five tribes give the Freedmen and their Descendents rights of native tribal citizens.
The Freedmen and Freedmen Descendents were adopted by the tribes to comply with the treaties. Freedmen and Descendents of the Freedmen of the five tribes were separately listed on the Dawes Rolls from other tribal citizens (who were "full bloods)" or were mixed bloods (Indian and Caucasian mixture), whom were listed on "Indian by blood" rolls, in which an Indian blood degree was listed. Again, we emphasize that many of these Freedmen descendents did have Indian blood, although blood degrees were not listed on the Dawes Freedmen Rolls.
At the present time, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) refuses to issue certificate of Indian blood (CDIB) cards to Freedmen Descendents, which are required to participate in BIA administered programs. Furthermore, the five tribes, in violation of the 1866 treaties, have passed tribal constitutions and tribal acts which specifically require potential enrollees to provide CDIB cards prior to enrollment and/or specifically allow the enrollment of only those descended from the Dawes "Blood Rolls".
We call on lawmakers to pass legislation which will establish a blood quantum of "full blood" equivalent to those Freedmen Descendents whom are listed on the Dawes Rolls of the five tribes for purposes of the U.S. Government. Furthermore, we call on the U.S. Government to not recognize those tribal governments which currently refuse to allow the enrollment and which do not allow participation in tribal elections for the descendents of those tribal citizens who were listed on the Freedmen rolls by the Dawes Commission, and for the BIA to directly administer tribal programs for these illegal tribal governments.
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Procedures
- Ask students to read the essay "Slavery and the Seminole."
- Then, have them create two lists of evidence from the article, one supporting inclusion of Black Seminole members in the Seminole Nation and the other supporting the contention that Black Seminole members should be excluded from the Seminole Nation. (You may choose to assign either list or both lists to individuals, teams, or small groups based on earlier information they received and the interpersonal dynamics of the class.)
- Record the evidence from both lists on the board, a chart, or an overhead.
- Ask students to assess which evidence seems most persuasive and reliable for each position.
- Poll the class, either by a show of hands or by ballot, to see where each student stands on the issue.
- Then, poll the class to determine which body of evidence would seem most reliable in a court of law, emphasizing that this is independent of their view on the issue of inclusion or exclusion.
- Ask students to write a memo offering advice to one of the legal teams arguing the tribal status of the Black Seminole. The memo should state clearly the student's position on the inclusion or exclusion of the Black Seminole. In arguing his or her position, the student also should offer three pieces of evidence (primary or secondary source), describe and evaluate each one, interpret how each piece supports the position the student is arguing, and provide the student's conclusion based on the evidence.
Assessment
Use the following rubric to assess students' memos:
|
Scoring Element |
Scoring Criteria |
Score |
Percentage of Grade |
|
Clarity of position |
Has clearly focused position statement |
2 |
15 |
|
Has unclear position statement |
1 |
|
Does not have position statement |
0 |
|
Sources |
Includes all three sources of evidence |
2 |
15 |
|
Includes some but not all three sources of evidence |
1 |
|
Does not include sources of evidence |
0 |
|
Analysis and Evaluation of Sources of Evidence |
Thoroughly describes and/or evaluates origin and purpose, and analyzes evidence in historical context |
4-5 |
30 |
|
Evaluates sources but references to origin and purpose are limited. Attempts some analysis |
2-3 |
|
Describes sources but without reference to origin, purpose or reliability, and does not attempt any analysis |
1 |
|
Does not describe or evaluate sources |
0 |
|
Application |
Applies evidence to support the position |
3-4 |
25 |
|
Applies some but not all the evidence to support the position |
1-2 |
|
Does not apply evidence to support the position |
0 |
|
Conclusion |
States is clearly and consistent with the evidence |
2 |
15 |
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States conclusion that is not consistent with all of the evidence |
1 |
|
Has no conclusion |
0 |
This lesson was written by Jean M. West, a social studies education consultant in Port Orange, Florida.
Extension Activities
After learning this basic knowledge about the Seminoles in Florida, students then can do their own research on a variety of related topics, such as:
- Biology (genetics)--Students can examine the role of mitochondrial DNA of the Y chromosome in the Seminole tribe and how it can be applied in the litigation over tribal membership
- Language Arts (linguistics)--Students can study how languages survive and adapt, using the Seminole Maroon Creole language surviving in Mexico, the Bahamas, and Texas as an example.
- Social Studies (archaeology and anthropology)--Students can explore how material and cultural remnants (i.e., folklore, naming patterns, foods, and spiritual practices) add to historical records and create a more complete knowledge of the Black Seminole and other groups.
- Foreign Languages (Spanish)--Students can translate a Spanish colonial record, understanding that the handwriting may be difficult or abbreviated, and that Spanish (like English) has evolved, so some expressions may be archaic or the usage may have changed.
Related Works
Books
Foreman, Grant. The Five Civilized Tribes. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1937.
Hancock, Ian F. The Texas Seminoles and their Language. Austin: University of Texas African and Afro-American Studies and Research Center, 1980.
Katz, William Loren. Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage. New York: Athenaeum, 1986.
Mahon, J.K. History of the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1967.
Mulroy, Kevin. Freedom on the Border: The Seminole Maroons in Florida, the Indian Territory, Coahuila and Texas. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1993.
Opala, Joseph. A Brief History of the Seminole Freedmen. Austin: University of Texas African and Afro-American Studies and Research Center, 1980.
Porter, Kenneth Wiggins. The Negro on the American Frontier. New York: New York Times and Arno Press, 1971.
Porter, Kenneth Wiggins. The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom Seeking People. Rev. and ed. Amos, Alcione M. and Thomas P. Senter. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996.
Price, Richard, ed. Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas. (3rd ed) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
Simmons, William Hayne. Notices of East Florida, with an account of the Seminole Nation of Indians. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1973 (1822).
Weisman, Brent Richards. Like Beads on a String: A Culture History of the Seminole Indians in North Peninsular Florida. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1989.
Wright, James Leitch, Jr. Creeks and Seminoles: The Destruction and Regeneration of the Muscogulge People. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986.
Primary Sources
United States Congress. American State Papers. 38 vols. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1832-1861.
United States Congress. House. "Information in relation to the destruction of the Negro fort in East Florida." 25th Cong., 2nd Sess., Hse. Doc. 122, 1819.
United States Congress. House. "Negroes, &c., captured from Indians in Florida, &c." 25th Cong., 3rd Sess., Hse. Doc. 225, 1839.
United States Congress. House. Indians--Creek and Seminole. 33rd Cong., 2nd Sess., Hse. Doc. 701, 1854.
United States Congress. House. Indians--Creek and Seminole. 33rd Congress, 2nd Sess., Hse. Ex. Doc. 15.
Articles
"Texas Gullah: The Creole English of the Brackettville Afro-Seminoles." Perspectives on American English, ed. Joseph L. Dillard. The Hague: Mouton, 1980, pp. 305-33.
Thybony, Scott. "Against All Odds, Black Seminoles Won Their Freedom." Smithsonian (1991) 22: pp. 90-101.
Tyler, R.D. "Fugitive Slaves in Mexico." Journal of Negro History, (1972) 57: pp. 1-12.
Wright, J.L., Jr. "A note on the First Seminole War as seen by the Indians, Negroes, and their British advisors." Journal of Southern History (1968) 34: pp. 565-575.
Videotapes
Mathews, D. (Producer and Writer). (1989) "Black Warriors of the Seminoles."
Opala, J. and SCETV. (1990). "Family Across the Sea."
Web sites
UF Researchers Launch First Excavation of Black Seminole Town: http://www.napa.ufl.edu/digest/old/2000-2001/seminole0619.htm
Strands of Time: A Geneticist's Work on DNA Bears Fruit for Anthropologists: http://www.chattanooga.net/cita/mtdna.html
Genetics and Identity: The Black Seminole: http://www.bioethics.umn.edu/genetics_and_identity/case.html
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