Legislating a Homestead Bill: Thomas Hart Benton and the Second Seminole War

Of the many causes Thomas Hart Benton espoused in his long Senate career, few demonstrate more clearly his perseverance and determination than his support for Florida during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), culminating in his Armed Occupation Act of 1842. The United States government and its citizens, in pursuit of a policy of aggressive territorial growth, met the stubborn resistance of an exotic blend of runaway slaves and expatriate Indians in the swamps and marshes of the Florida peninsula. Determined not to suffer a fate similar to other southeastern tribes during the years of Indian removal, the Seminoles mounted a guerilla campaign which drained the United States militarily, economically, and emotionally