Appeals for Help

While Jesup pressed the case of Coacoochee and John Horse, the pro-slavery Creeks found their own allies in Washington among Southern lawmakers. By 1845, lobbying on both sides resulted in a new treaty between the Creeks and the Seminoles. Though perhaps not immediately apparent, the treaty was decidedly tilted toward the South. The government proposed that the Seminoles could have their own lands as originally promised, but within Creek territory, ultimately under Creek jurisdiction. The government would not create a sovereign Seminole nation. 

The treaty made no direct mention of Black Seminoles, negroes, or slaves. Reading it today, one would have almost no idea that its underlying issue was slavery.