Southern Enemies

In the mid-1840s, if the situation in Oklahoma had been left to the Black Seminoles and the Army, there probably would have been few problems. With Army support, the blacks could have easily defended themselves from the small parties of slave raiders and speculators roaming the Territory. Unfortunately, the destiny of the Black Seminoles was at the mercy of an enemy that they could not easily confront -- American democracy. By 1846, North-South sectionalism was rending the fabric of a country bitterly divided over slavery. In such a context, the existence of an armed community of free blacks could not possibly escape the national conflict.