Seminole slavery

John Horse was born a slave, but in 1812 Seminole bondage was radically different from southern-style slavery. Under the Seminoles' loose system, slaves and free blacks lived in their own towns, often at a considerable distance from Indian masters. The blacks built villages on the same model as the Indians, living in chickees -- elevated, palmetto-plank homes adapted to Florida's climate and topography. Blacks elected their own leaders and in general conducted themselves more like military allies than slaves.