The Treaty of Moultrie Creek between the Seminole Indians and the U.S. government was signed on this date in 1823 as a result of the U.S. acquisition of Florida two years earlier. Terms stipulated in the treaty included the concentration of the Seminoles onto a reservation in central Florida, thus relinquishing all other lands to the U.S., and also the promise by the Seminoles to apprehend all slaves and other fugitives found in this new reservation. The Indians were promised farming implements and funds to help develop this new land. Governor William Duval was present for the signing, as well as James Gadsden, appointed for the task of negotiation with the Seminoles. Over 400 Seminole Indians arrived from around the state for the treaty negotiations. Terms of the treaty were not fully upheld on either side, however, and the Second Seminole War broke out in 1835 as a result.
~Florida Historical Society
