Treaty of Payne's Landing

This "treaty" followed the Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823) which was well documented and promised a four million acre reservation in Central Flordia in exchange for Native peoples to move away from the coastlines. Moultrie Creek had a guarantee to be in effect for 20 years, however Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828 and signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Treaty of Payne's Landing supposedly secured the removal of all Native peoples in Florida west of the Mississippi, however the negotiations occurred in secrecy and no notes of the meeting were taken. James Gadsden (grandson of the Don't Tread on Me flag Gadsden) was the US Army negotiator for this treaty. His demands were to remove all Seminoles to the Creek reservation in Oklahoma, for them to become part of Creek Nation, and the return of all runaway slaves living in the community. All of these demands were deeply unpopular with Seminole peoples. While some Seminoles had connection to the Creek's, others came from Choctaw, Yamasees, and Yuchis. Importantly, even if Seminoles did have Creek heritage, they were a distinct peoples by this time and did not wish to be removed nor joined with Creek Nation of Oklahoma. Beyond the secrecy there is further evidence that Native leaders were tricked, in that the wording of the treaty says they will be removed if they travel to Oklahoma and find the conditions there suitable. The Native leaders involved did travel to Oklahoma but deny that they found it suitable and believe their signatures to be faked. Per US Army General Maj. Ethan Allen Hitchcock's journal -- "The treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832 by which it was attempted to remove the Indians, was a fraud upon them and they have in fact never agreed to emigrate. I say therefore that the Indians are in the right to defend themselves in the country to the best of their ability." While some Seminoles were removed by this treaty, a large number stayed including Osceola and Micanopy. The fraud of a treaty that is Payne's Landing led to the Second Seminole War.