The early years of the Second Seminole War have been described by historians as the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history. The war, which lasted from 1835 to 1842 provided the opportunity for hundreds of enslaved blacks in Florida and Georgia to not only runaway from their slave owners but to revolt against the institution of slavery itself. During the war, over twenty-one plantations in Florida were destroyed as Seminole Indians and hundreds of blacks fought side by side – the former to prevent their removal from Florida and the latter to prevent their return to slavery.

Massacre of the Whites by the Indians and Blacks in Florida.
Printed in An Authentic Narrative of the Seminole War. Providence:  D. F. Blanchard, 1836.
Courtesy of the Florida Department, Miami-Dade Main Library.