John Caesar

Biography

John Caesar (c. 1770s – January 17, 1837) was a Black Seminole lieutenant and interpreter to Ee-mat-la, hereditary chief of the St. Johns River Seminoles in Florida. In Joshua Giddings' history of the wars against the Seminole, Caesar was described as "an old man and somewhat of a privileged character among both Indians and Exiles." Recent scholarship has deemed him a "primary instigator of the destruction of plantations in East Florida by primarily Black Seminoles and plantation slaves," partially validating the thesis that the Seminole Wars should be considered slave rebellions as much as wars for Indigenous survival.

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