Hostages

The hostages included members of Micanopy's household, among them the chief's beloved slave Ben. Using Ben as a hostage, Jesup pressed for negotiations. But he did not seek to negotiate with Micanopy himself. Instead, he arranged a parley with the chief's interpreter and "sense bearer," the Black Seminole leader Abraham. In keeping with his assertion that this was a "Negro, not an Indian war," Jesup was negotiating first with the leader of the blacks.