For those avid readers of historical books, or are curious of the history of the early United States, look no further than to Hunted Like A Wolf: The Story of the Seminole War by Milton Meltzer. He explains the early period of colonization of the eastern North America by European colonists, then the initial Thirteen Colonies periodically dealings with the various Native American tribes that dotted the land. Later on in the book Meltzer introduces the United States and the various dealings the newly created nation has with all of its Native American neighbors.
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Of these many tribes, as time progressed five began to gradually differ from the other Eastern tribes. These five tribes included the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole. Collectively, these tribes were known as the Five Civilized Tribes. Each of these tribes homelands are described briefly by Meltzer. As he explains the territories that make up each tribes land claims, he introduces the rapid expansion of both the Thirteen Colonies governed by the English Monarchy and later the newly constructed United States.
Meltzer explains that the Chickasaw Tribe called small portions of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama home for hundreds of years. Also that the Choctaw Tribe controlled a great portion of Mississippi and a small portion of Alabama their homelands. Along with the Creek Tribe, with portions of Alabama and all but the eastern coast of Georgia being their homelands. The Cherokee called parts of southern Kentucky, a majority of Tennessee, a small part of West Virginia, as well as northern portions of both Alabama and Georgia. Lastly the Seminole called the entire area known as Florida as their homeland.
Meltzer explains topics such as the differing and unique societies that each tribe possessed, the varying practices of slavery, and their overall attempted assimilation to the European/American ways of life. Along with that, Meltzer explains that the United States had begun an ever growing desire for land that was owned by the Five Civilized Tribes.
Though this book does it's best to explain the practices of the five different tribes, it goes into exceptionally more dept with the Seminole tribe. In addition, Meltzer goes into depth with explaining that the Seminole splintered from the Creek tribe and created its own culture. For instance, all of the Civilized Tribes practiced slavery, in their own unique ways. In the case of the Chickasaw and Cherokee, slaves were treated similar to European/American slaves but with the Choctaw and Creek the slaves were better treated.
It was only with the Seminole that the slaves were treated like equal people. The slaves that the Seminole had in their care were mostly from the nearby plantations in Georgia. These runaway slaves were welcomed with open arms and treated with an amount of respect that was unheard of. The slaves would be allowed to be considered full members of the Seminole Tribe, and would be allowed to have homes, work the land and even be able to establish towns. However, as is typical with Native American tribes, they did not permit them to own the land, as no one could for it was the Great Spirit's land.
Throughout Meltzer's book, he displays an obvious amount of bias attitudes towards the early colonists' attitudes on expansion, and later the United States. He explains the political manipulations of the slaveholders of the Colonies and later States. In addition, he also goes into detail over the amount of greed that many of the slaveholders at the time possessed to acquire runaway/ free slaves that had taken refuge in the Seminole lands.
It would be through these attitudes that would establish a desire to rid future lands of their Native American owners. With this, there was a desire to expand into the western portions of the American frontier and subsequently into other areas that were governed by European monarchies. Throughout various acts, such as the Indian Removal Act that was enacted by President Andrew Jackson, and the following Anti-Indian policy that was taken up by many presidents following Jackson.
The rest of the book revolves around the response the Five Civilized Tribes had to the United States and its Anti-Indian policies. With many of the tribes forfeiting their lands for portions of unclaimed territory in what would be called Oklahoma. In the case of the Cherokee, who were the one tribe that had assimilated to European/American ways, they took their case to the Supreme Court. However, despite creating their own alphabet, forsook the traditions of hunting for agriculture, and assimilation to European/American culture, the Cherokee lost.
That left the Seminole, who remained in what was then the Florida territory. Instead of forfeiting their lands, the Seminole tribe fought back. This would be in response to the never ending amount of harassment that would follow the tribe to their former slave tribesman. With the continuing amount of encounters and the lack of trust of the Natives, the United States sends a variety of generals to handle the situation. These representatives of both the United States military and government include figures such as Gen.Thomas Jesup, future President Zachary Taylor, John Quincy Adams, and of course Andrew Jackson.
Thus, the rest of the book depicts the feats of various Seminole leaders such as Osceola, King Philip, Tuchose Emathla, Coacoochee, and other key figures. In addition, Meltzer also introduces several notable African-American leaders who played key roles in the war. Of these, he makes a point of highlighting their contributions, such as Abraham who was a former Florida slave turned interpreter and councilor to the Seminole.
Though this book does possess a variety of bias attitudes in its pages, it does provide a great amount of detail in the battles, encounters, policies, and attitudes. I recommend this book for anyone wishing to dabble into a bit of history, especially those who aren't familiar with that of Early American history. I've had this book in my library for some time now and have only recently finished it, however despite its obvious age, this book is still a good read.
