On this day we remember the Battle of Lake Okeechobee in 1837, an important, anti-colonial struggle against Manifest Destiny and the genocide of African and Native peoples. Seminole fighters were victorious in what was the worst defeat for the U.S. in 40+ years of Florida warfare

The Seminole people lived freely on the southern Atlantic coast before U.S. and European colonial powers brutally pushed them out of their homes and into Florida.

The U.S. slave owning elites passed racist laws that broke all treaties, igniting warfare and forced removal of Native people. Seminoles fled south to seek independence. Africans who had earlier escaped bondage welcomed them to Florida and offered them a safe haven.

The two groups forged a prosperous multicultural nation + military alliance to defend against European invaders and slave catchers. This alliance angered U.S. slaveholders who saw this unity between oppressed peoples as a direct threat to the white supremacist plantation system.

The U.S. Constitution of 1789 embraced slavery and protected slaveholder interests, as many slave owners were elected into legislative positions.

In 1816, General Andrew Jackson ordered a major U.S. assault on Seminole land, authorizing slave-catching "Patriots" and massacres on Seminole fields.

On Christmas Day 1837, hundreds of Seminole fighters gathered at Lake Okeechobee ready to halt the armies of Colonel Zachary Taylor, a Louisiana slaveholder and ambitious career soldier, known by many as an “Indian killer.”

Lake Okeechobee was the worst U.S. defeat in more than 40 years of Florida warfare. Despite their losses and forced retreat, Taylor declared victory anyway, bragging that “the Indians were driven in every direction.”

Taylor was promoted and later became the 12th U.S. president.

Seminole death counts were not recorded.

On Christmas Day 183 years later, we remember the Battle as an important, anti-colonial struggle against Manifest Destiny and the genocide of African and Native peoples on stolen land.