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SoutheastTreaty

Treaty of Payne's Landing with the Seminole, 1832

At Payne's Landing in 1832 Seminole chiefs agreed to move west if satisfied with the land; the Seminole Nation Museum says many disputed it.

Signed
May 9, 1832
Senate
Ratified 1834-04
Land given up
about 6.2 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On May 9, 1832, James Gadsden, for the United States, signed a treaty at Payne's Landing on the Ocklawaha River in Florida Territory with chiefs and head men of the Seminole. The preamble says the Seminoles were "willing" for a delegation of chiefs, among them Jumper, Charley Emartla and Sam Jones, to examine the Creek country west of the Mississippi at United States expense. The articles would bind both sides only if they were satisfied with that country and with the Creeks' disposition to reunite with them.

In Article 1 the Seminole relinquished "all claim to the lands they at present occupy in the Territory of Florida." They agreed to emigrate to the country assigned to the Creeks and be received as part of the Creek nation. The United States agreed to pay $15,400 for improvements. It would also investigate and settle claims for slaves and other property alleged to be stolen, up to $7,000. Removal was to be completed within three years of ratification.

The Seminole Nation Museum says a delegation of seven chiefs toured the western land and on March 28, 1833 signed what they believed to be a statement that it was suitable. It says many chiefs stated they "had not committed to moving their people" and were "coerced through force and misinterpretation into signing." It says the refusal of most Seminoles to leave led to the Second Seminole War, from December 1835 to 1842.

Good to know. The Seminole Nation Museum's account and the treaty text differ on what the chiefs understood they had agreed to.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. relinquish to the United States, all claim to the lands they at present occupy in the Territory of FloridaTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  2. Many of the chiefs stated that they had not committed to moving their people to the new territoryThe Seminole Wars (Seminole Nation Museum)
  3. coerced through force and misinterpretation into signingThe Seminole Wars (Seminole Nation Museum)

Research notes. The museum's account and the treaty text differ on what the chiefs understood. The museum is a local museum page, not the nation's own governmental site. The treaty text states no acreage.

What the treaty did to the land

About 6.2 million acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

What happened next

Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.

  1. 1823

    Land kept

    About 6.2 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Seminole

    By Treaty of Moultrie Creek (Florida tribes), 1823

    area 173

  2. 1830

    Law

    Indian Removal Act

    The Indian Removal Act of 1830 let the President swap eastern tribal lands for districts west of the Mississippi River.

  3. 1832

    This treaty

    About 6.2 million acres ceded to the United States by the Seminole

    At Payne's Landing in 1832 Seminole chiefs agreed to move west if satisfied with the land; the Seminole Nation Museum says many disputed it.

  4. 1832

    Promise broken

    Seminole removal: Payne's Landing (1832), Fort Gibson (1833) and the Second Seminole War

    Seminole chiefs agreed at Payne's Landing in 1832 to move west if the land suited them; an 1833 acceptance was later disputed.

  5. 1834

    This treaty

    Ratified by the Senate

  6. 1942

    In court

    Seminole Nation v. United States

    In 1942 the Supreme Court said the United States must be judged by "the most exacting fiduciary standards" when it handles Indian treaty money.

The law behind it

The legal ideas behind the decisions, and related records without a date. Court cases and laws with a date are in what happened next, above.

  • Legal doctrine

    claims

    The 1946 Indian Claims Commission let tribes press land and treaty claims against the United States for money, as in the Sioux case.

  • Legal doctrine

    trust doctrine

    The 1831 'ward and guardian' description became a trust relationship that courts enforce for damages mainly where a statute or regulation creates the duty.

Who is doing the work today

The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/132015577reference work
Research notes

Seminole leaders later disputed that the delegation had authority to bind the nation. Ratification detail: 1834-04 (Senate); proclaimed 1834-04-12

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.