The Battle of Negro Fort

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This narrative recounts the U.S. government's destruction of a free community of fugitive slaves in Spanish Florida following the War of 1812. Major General Andrew Jackson led a joint army-navy expedition to eliminate this refuge, resulting in the Battle of Negro Fort—a brutal conflict involving American troops, Native American warriors, and black rebels. The battle led to the death or re-enslavement of nearly all the fort's inhabitants, effectively closing an escape route that African Americans had relied on for generations. This action also intensified the oppression of southern Native Americans, including the Creeks, Choctaws, and Seminoles. Moreover, the fort served as a potent symbol of black freedom, challenging the racist foundations of an expanding slave society. Its destruction marked a pivotal moment in the U.S.'s commitment to slavery, highlighting the diminishing ambivalence towards the institution since the nation’s founding. Four decades after proclaiming that all men are created equal, the United States dismantled a fugitive slave community in foreign territory for the first time, accelerating its transformation into a white republic. The Battle of Negro Fort thus places the violent expansion of slavery at the forefront of early American history.