{"product_id":"the-black-seminoles-history-of-a-freedomseeking-people","title":"The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom-Seeking People","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"A blockbuster . . . and a vibrant and exciting history of John Horse and his followers. From the swamps and savannas of Florida to the Indian territory  on to Mexico and finally Texas  these people stood tall in their fight for freedom and dignity. This is a story that has long needed to be told  written in a thought-provoking and sympathetic manner.\"--Edwin C. Bearss  Historian Emeritus  National Park Service  \"Reveals  as fully as is likely possible  the meaningful history of the Black Seminole people. . . . A simple narrative  buttressed by solid analysis and innovative research. . . . Will appeal to buff and professional historians alike. . . . African Americans  in particular  will draw inspiration and use from it.\"--James Irving Fenton  historian  Lubbock  Texas  This story of a remarkable people  the Black Seminoles  and their charismatic leader  Chief John Horse  chronicles their heroic struggle for freedom. Beginning with the early 1800s  small groups of fugitive slaves living in Florida joined the Seminole Indians (an association that thrived for decades on reciprocal respect and affection). Kenneth Porter traces their fortunes and exploits as they moved across the country and attempted to live first beyond the law  then as loyal servants of it. He examines the Black Seminole role in the bloody Second Seminole War  when John Horse and his men distinguished themselves as fierce warriors  and their forced removal to the Oklahoma Indian Territory in the 1840s  where Johns leadership ability emerged. The account includes the Black Seminole exodus in the 1850s to Mexico  their service as border troops for the Mexican government  and their return to Texas in the 1870s  where many of the men scouted for the U.S. Army. Members of their combat-tested unit  never numbering more than 50 men at a time  were awarded four of the sixteen Medals of Honor received by the several thousand Indian scouts in the West. Porters interviews with John Horses descendants and acquaintances in the 1940s and 1950s provide eyewitness accounts. When Alcione Amos and Thomas Senter took up the project in the 1980s  they incorporated new information that had since come to light about John Horse and his people. A powerful and stirring story  The Black Seminoles will appeal especially to readers interested in black history  Indian history  Florida history  and U.S. military history. Kenneth W. Porter was professor of history at the University of Oregon. Alcione M. Amos is librarian at the World Bank in Washington  D.C. She has done extensive work on African-American military history and has published on the subject of the Black Seminoles in the Florida Historical Quarterly. Thomas P. Senter is a practicing physician in Anchorage  Alaska  who considers Brackettville  Texas  his second home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44966788005941,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813014514","price":43.37,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780813014517.jpg?v=1770580329","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-black-seminoles-history-of-a-freedomseeking-people","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}