On this day in 1837, Africans and Native Americans who had formed Florida's Seminole Nation decisively defeated an invading U.S. force more than twice their size, led by slaveowner and future U.S. president Zachary Taylor.

Since the founding of the U.S., escaped African slaves had settled in modern-day Florida. At the same time, Seminoles suffering under Creek rule in Alabama and Georgia were fleeing south to seek independence. There, the two groups formed an alliance, sharing cultivation techniques and putting up armed resistance against colonization and slaver forces.

The U.S. repeatedly invaded territory controlled by this alliance, and, on Christmas Day in 1837, 380 to 480 Seminole fighters gathered on the northeast corner of Florida's Lake Okeechobee ready to halt the armies of Colonel Zachary Taylor, a Louisiana slaveholder and future U.S. president.

Seminole riflemen waited for the soldiers in trees, firing on them from above. The battle was a decisive defeat for U.S. forces, however Taylor falsely claimed a victory when returning to Fort Gardner.

Dec. 26, 1835: Second Seminole War, Largest Uprising of the Enslaved amerikkka

Christmas day freedom fighters: hidden history of the Seminole anticolonial struggle - William Katz left-unity-2

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  • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Managed to tell my dad my "liberal Massachusets indictrinating the disabled with Marxist lit" story without revealing that im a communist. He has a sense of humor so he laughed. Just said a friend challenged me to read Marxist lit.

    • bubbalu [they/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Awesome! Aside from capitalists and hardcore reactionaries, there are is very communist beliefs that are that unpopular.

      • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Do you mean there "aren't" many communist beliefs that are that unpopular?

        • bubbalu [they/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah. Without rhetoric and the coherent narrative which people are propagandized to ignore, most communist beliefs are popular. For instance, someone who would never agree with the sentence 'all housing should be publicly owned' will probably agree with 'my landlord is a rat who provides nothing of value.' Or if you describe events in Palestine without mentioning Palestine, they will be outraged.

          • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
            ·
            1 year ago

            To be honest, there are a lot of people outraged IRL with what's happening in Palestine (from what I have personally seen) and, given the issue of rent in my area, being pissed off with your landlord goes without saying.

      • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        1 year ago

        He did the "no reason to be afraid of an ideology, its when it gets violent that its a problem" thing lol. So he's still a lib obv. I just wanted a way to tell him the joke.

        • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          1 year ago

          That's more progressive compared to other liberals I've seen. You're honestly pretty lucky.

          • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]
            ·
            1 year ago

            Yeah my dads alright. Mostly just a grillman guy who avoids politics. Some reactionairy brainworms from time to time of course but honestly pretty good. And a much better parent than my mom.