Early Republic

First Seminole War

1817–1818
Florida
Date
1817–1818
Location
Florida
Type
battle

What happened

Andrew Jackson led an 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians in Spanish Florida, temporarily seizing Pensacola in 1818 in what became known as the First Seminole War.

People involved

When this happened

First Seminole War occurred in 1817–1818, during the early republic period of American history. The event spanned from 1817 to 1818.

Where this happened

First Seminole War took place in Florida. Explore the full history of Florida and primary source records from this era.

Historical context — Early Republic

The early republic period saw the United States move from the weak Articles of Confederation to the federal Constitution ratified in 1788, with the Bill of Rights added in 1791. George Washington served two terms as president (1789–1797), establishing precedents for executive authority, and the federal capital moved permanently to Washington D.C. in 1800. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the nation's territory for roughly $15 million, opening vast trans-Mississippi lands to American expansion. The War of 1812 against Britain ended inconclusively but produced a surge of American national identity and eliminated most British support for Indigenous resistance east of the Mississippi. The Northwest Indian Wars (1785–1795) and the Creek War (1813–1814) broke Indigenous confederacies that had resisted US expansion. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily balanced slave and free states as the nation expanded westward, but embedded the contradiction of slavery in every subsequent territorial debate.

Source

Content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source: Wikipedia: First Seminole War.

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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
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The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
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Notable People
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About First Seminole War

What was First Seminole War?
Andrew Jackson led an 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians in Spanish Florida, temporarily seizing Pensacola in 1818 in what became known as the First Seminole War.
When did First Seminole War happen?
First Seminole War occurred in 1817–1818.
Where did First Seminole War take place?
First Seminole War took place in Florida.

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