The Exiles of Florida. Giddings Joshua Reed

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СКАЧАТЬ which the authorities of Georgia claimed to hold under the treaty of Galphinton, but retained substantially the stipulation for the surrender of negroes, which had been inserted in that extraordinary compact.

      By the third article of this new treaty, it was stipulated as follows:

      “The Creek nation shall deliver, as soon as practicable, to the commanding officer of the troops of the United States stationed at Rock Landing, on the Oconee River, all citizens of the United States, white inhabitants or negroes, who are now prisoners in any part of the said nation. And if any such prisoners or negroes should not be so delivered, on or before the first day of June ensuing, the governor of Georgia may empower three persons to repair to the said nation, in order to claim and receive such prisoners and negroes.”

      Historians have referred to this clause as containing merely a stipulation for the surrender of prisoners;12 but the manner in which the term “negroes” stands connected in the disjunctive form with that of “prisoners,” would appear to justify, at least to some extent, the subsequent construction put upon it, so far as regarded negroes then resident with the Creeks; but it certainly makes no allusion to those who were residing with the Seminoles in Florida.

      It is a remarkable feature of this treaty, that the Creek chiefs, principal men and warriors should, in its first article, profess to act, not only for the Upper and Lower Creek Towns, but for the Seminoles who were in Florida, protected by Spanish laws. They had not been invited to attend the negotiation, had sent no delegate, were wholly unrepresented in the Council; indeed, so far as we are informed, were wholly ignorant of the objects which had called such a council, and of the fact even that a council was held, or a treaty negotiated.

      Our fathers had just passed through seven years of war and bloodshed, rather than submit to “taxation without representation;” but this attempt to bind the Seminole Indians to surrender up the Exiles, who were their friends and neighbors, and who now stood connected with them by marriage, and in all the relations of domestic life, without their consent or knowledge, constitutes an inconsistency which can only be accounted for by the desire then prevalent, to gratify and please those who wielded the slaveholding influence of our nation.

      Another extraordinary feature of this treaty may be found in the secret article, by which the United States stipulated to pay the Creeks fifteen hundred dollars annually, in all coming time. The reason for making this stipulation secret is not to be learned from any documentary authority before the public, and cannot now be accounted for, except from the delicacy which the authorities of our nation then felt in taxing the people of the free States, to pay southern Indians for the return of those Exiles. And it is interesting at this day to look back and reflect, that for nearly seventy years the people of the nation have contributed their funds to sustain the authority of those slaveholders of Georgia over their bondmen, while Northern statesmen have constantly assured their constituents, they have nothing to do with that institution.

      It would be uncharitable to believe, that General Washington was at that time conscious that he was thus precipitating our nation upon a policy destined to involve its government in difficulties, whose termination would be uncertain.

      After the treaty had been agreed to by the parties making it, General Washington met the chiefs, headmen and warriors, assembled in the Hall of Representatives, in the presence of members of Congress and a large concourse of spectators. The treaty was publicly read, and to each article the Indians expressed their assent, and signed it in the presence of the people, each receiving from the President a string of wampum. The President then shook hands with each, which concluded the ceremonies of the day.

      The treaty was transmitted on the following day to the Senate, accompanied by a Message from the President, saying: “I flatter myself that this treaty will be productive of present peace and prosperity to our Southern frontier. It is to be expected, also, that it will be the means of firmly attaching the Creeks and neighboring tribes to the interests of the United States.” The President also alluded in his message to the treaty of Galphinton, as containing a stipulation to cede to Georgia certain other lands, which it was believed would be detrimental to the interests of the Indians, and, therefore, that covenant had been disregarded in the “treaty of New York.” In another Message to the Senate, on the eleventh of August, the President says: “This treaty may be regarded as the main foundation of the future peace and prosperity of the Southwestern frontier of the United States.”

      On the ninth of August, a motion was made in the Senate to refer the treaty to a select committee, which was rejected by a vote of ten nays to eight yeas; and on the twelfth, it was approved by a vote of fifteen yeas to four nays; but we have no report of any discussion upon the subject, nor do we know at this day the objections which dictated the votes given against its ratification.13

      CHAPTER II.

      FURTHER EFFORTS TO RESTORE EXILES

      Seminoles repudiate Treaty of New York – Attempts to induce Spanish authorities to deliver up the Exiles – Their refusal – Lower Creeks hostile to Treaty – McGillivray – His parentage and character – Georgia hostile to Treaty – Makes war upon Creeks – General Washington announces failure to maintain Peace – General Knox’s recommendation – Decision of United States Court – Exertions – Combination of various classes of Claimants – Washington finds his influence powerless – Appoints Judge Jay – Failure of claims on England – Condition and habits of Exiles – Effect on Slaves of Georgia – Treaty of Colerain – Commissioners of Georgia leave Council in disgust – Election of the elder Adams – His Administration – Election of Jefferson – His Administration.

      The long pending difficulties between Georgia and the neighboring tribes of Indians were now (1791) believed to be permanently settled, and it was thought the new government would proceed in the discharge of its duties without further perplexity. But it was soon found impossible for the Creeks to comply with their stipulations. The Seminoles refused to recognize the treaty, insisting that they were not bound by any compact, arrangement or agreement, made by the United States and the Creeks, to which they were not a party, and of which they had no notice; that they were a separate, independent tribe; that this fact was well known to both Creeks and the United States; and that the attempt of those parties to declare what the Seminoles should do, or should not do, was insulting to their dignity, to their self-respect, and only worthy of their contempt. They therefore wholly discarded the treaty, and repudiated all its provisions. They resided in Florida, under the jurisdiction of Spanish laws, subject only to the crown of Spain. There they enjoyed that liberty so congenial to savages, as well as civilized men. The Creeks dared not attempt to bring back the Exiles by force, and the Government of the United States was unwilling to invade a Spanish colony for the purpose of recapturing those who had escaped from the bonds of oppression, and had become legally free.

1792

      In this state of affairs, an agent by the name of Seagrove was sent to Florida for the purpose of negotiating with the Spanish authorities for the return of the Exiles. He had been agent to the Creek Indians, and well understood their views in regard to the treaty. When he reached Florida, he found the authorities of that Province entirely opposed to the surrender of any subjects of the Spanish crown to slavery. The Exiles were regarded as holding the same rights which the white citizens held; and it was evident, that the representatives of the King of Spain encouraged both the Seminole Indians and Exiles, to refuse compliance with the treaty of New York.14

      Nor was the Creek nation united upon this subject. The “lower Creeks,” or those who resided on the southern frontier of Georgia, were not zealous in their support of the treaty; and it was said that McGillivray, the principal chief of the Creeks, was himself becoming unfriendly to the United States, and rather disposed to unite with the Spanish authorities. This man exerted great influence with СКАЧАТЬ