Negro Fort

Since Spain was too weak either to help or hinder Jackson, the general gathered forces for an invasion. In keeping with U.S. policies since the 1790s, Jackson enlisted the aid of Creek warriors. He offered the Coweta Creek chief William McIntosh $50 a head for each American-owned slave his men could capture. The practice of sending Creeks against the Seminole maroons dated back to the Treaty of New York in 1790, with roots in the colonial-era slave trade. For the Black Seminoles, this policy would have lingering, terrifying consequences.