Changes

Among all the Indian Wars fought between the United States and the hundreds of American Indian tribes during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, few were as important as the Second Seminole War. From 1835 to 1842 the Seminole Indians of Florida engaged the United States government in a war that was largely characterized by asymmetrical warfare, resulting in the loss of over 1,000 American lives and 3,000 Seminoles. The war was also very expensive, costing the government $40 million in what really be America’s first “Vietnam” – it was a war that the Americans did not lose nor win. Besides the significant cost and loss of life, the Second Seminole War resulted in a number of changes in Florida and beyond. The United States removed most of the Seminoles from Florida to Oklahoma, but allowed a number to stay in Florida, creating the largest Indian reservation east of the Mississippi River. The end of the war also cleared the way for Florida to become a state in 1845 and helped bolster the career of future President Zachary Taylor. For the Seminoles, the war changed the complexion of their leadership, as many of their older leaders, such as Osceola, died fighting the army.