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U.S. Landmark Books #50
War Chief of the Seminoles
RED BOARDS WITH DARK LETTERING & ILLUSTRATIONS. STICKER RESIDUE INSIDE FRONT COVER. A FEW PAGES HAVE A DARKENED AREA AT BOTTOM OUTER EDGE, NOT AFFECTING READABILITY. COVERS & SPINE EDGES HAVE MINOR SCUFFING. PLEASE SEE OUR SCAN.
180 pages, Library Binding
Published June 1, 1963
76 people want to read
About the author
May Yonge McNeer
39 books5 followershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_McNeer
Married to Lynd Ward, who illustrated several of her works. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Married to Lynd Ward, who illustrated several of her works. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 18, 2022
Short and sweet story of Osceola and the Seminole Wars, written for preteens. It was interesting to learn more of the history of my state! The author did a pretty good job of being fair in the telling, especially since this was written in the mid-1900s.
July 9, 2017
This was a good book for helping me to understand the Seminole Wars of Florida. My family will use this book to help us explore Florida state history. I have a lot of respect for the Seminole people, and I hope to use their history to teach my children to think more deeply about how Americans treated the native peoples.
February 19, 2024
This is the tragic tale of how America's first harmful president, Andrew Jackson, enacted the Trail of Tears in Florida. Anyone who reads this book will realize that while the Trail of Tears was wrong, they were not evicting "normal" citizens. They were evicting people who still wanted to roam like nomads in modern America. In Florida there was plenty of unsettled land for everyone, except that crime between the settlers and Indians kept them in constant tension. Jackson should have tried a deeded peace treaty, stating the Indians could have their own laws on their land, and the settlers could buy and settle anywhere else.
Jackson started a war because he did not think carefully through the best way to satisfy everyone. Rather he chose to put both the settlers and the American people out to make the government's job easier.
Jackson started a war because he did not think carefully through the best way to satisfy everyone. Rather he chose to put both the settlers and the American people out to make the government's job easier.
March 16, 2019
It’s been a long time since I read a book in a single 24-hour period. This one wasn’t difficult. It seemed to be written for a young audience but was still entertaining. It was published in 1954 and shows its age with its use of noble savage imagery regarding Osceola and the Seminole people.
September 30, 2018
Very informative historical book about the War with the Seminole Indians of Florida. Very sad.
January 13, 2014
The author May McNeer's great grandfather, Dr. Frederick Weedom of St. Augustine, was a personal friend of Osceola (1804-1838), the War Chief of the Seminole Indians. The author's family owned some personal belongings of Osceola, e.g. his peace pipe and a braided lock of his hair.
The author clearly had a personal mission which she also clearly states in the beginning of the book: "I have wanted to write a book about Osceola ever since I can remember."
I originally bought the book in the 80's from the old book sale of Beaconsfield library in Quebec. Some 20+ years passed before I finally grabbed the book from my bookshelf and read it from cover to cover.
McNeer's book is a mixture of historical facts and fiction. War Chief Osceola was a freedom fighter who stood against the US governnent decision to relocate the Seminoles from Florida to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. On 28 December 1835, Osceola killed General Thompson by shooting him down with a rifle. The killing started the Seminole war which was the longest, most destructive to life, and most expensive Indian war. Some 3000 US soldiers died in the war.
From the military standpoint, the Seminole war was far from a success story to the US troops. The Seminole warriors were able to defeat US troops several times. Ambush and disappear was the successfull Seminole method, and US troops had severe difficulties finding any Seminole warriors.
However, there were too few Seminoles to win the war. As the result, more than 10000 Seminoles were sent from Florida to the West, and 4000 of them died on the way. Yet 150 Seminoles remained in the Florida wetlands. When May McNeer wrote the book, there were more than 500 Seminoles staying in Florida. The Seminoles in Florida had never signed a treaty of surrender to the US government.
In the Seminole war, the US troops were not able to capture Osceola in military actions. But in October 1837, Osceola with his warrior companions were captured as prisoners under a flag of truce. General Jesup gave the orders to trick the Indians. In captivity, Osceola became sick,and on 30 January 1838, he died. Osceola was buried with full military honors with also US Army officers and troops attending.
Due to the mission and the personal bond of the author to Osceola, I can well understand the obvious glorification of the freedom fighter. However, Osceola was also a normal human being with many other dimensions than just military merits. Based on the background of the author, I expected more insight to the personal qualities of Osceola, the hero of the Seminoles.
May McNeer has written the book in very simple and plain language which makes it especially suitable for children and youngsters.
The author clearly had a personal mission which she also clearly states in the beginning of the book: "I have wanted to write a book about Osceola ever since I can remember."
I originally bought the book in the 80's from the old book sale of Beaconsfield library in Quebec. Some 20+ years passed before I finally grabbed the book from my bookshelf and read it from cover to cover.
McNeer's book is a mixture of historical facts and fiction. War Chief Osceola was a freedom fighter who stood against the US governnent decision to relocate the Seminoles from Florida to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. On 28 December 1835, Osceola killed General Thompson by shooting him down with a rifle. The killing started the Seminole war which was the longest, most destructive to life, and most expensive Indian war. Some 3000 US soldiers died in the war.
From the military standpoint, the Seminole war was far from a success story to the US troops. The Seminole warriors were able to defeat US troops several times. Ambush and disappear was the successfull Seminole method, and US troops had severe difficulties finding any Seminole warriors.
However, there were too few Seminoles to win the war. As the result, more than 10000 Seminoles were sent from Florida to the West, and 4000 of them died on the way. Yet 150 Seminoles remained in the Florida wetlands. When May McNeer wrote the book, there were more than 500 Seminoles staying in Florida. The Seminoles in Florida had never signed a treaty of surrender to the US government.
In the Seminole war, the US troops were not able to capture Osceola in military actions. But in October 1837, Osceola with his warrior companions were captured as prisoners under a flag of truce. General Jesup gave the orders to trick the Indians. In captivity, Osceola became sick,and on 30 January 1838, he died. Osceola was buried with full military honors with also US Army officers and troops attending.
Due to the mission and the personal bond of the author to Osceola, I can well understand the obvious glorification of the freedom fighter. However, Osceola was also a normal human being with many other dimensions than just military merits. Based on the background of the author, I expected more insight to the personal qualities of Osceola, the hero of the Seminoles.
May McNeer has written the book in very simple and plain language which makes it especially suitable for children and youngsters.
October 23, 2014
I just looked through the list of Landmark Books for some familiar titles and found a couple, including this one. I found a Landmark Book at the transfer station(Lafayette) and recalled reading several back in the 50's as a kid. I don't remember anything about this one except the name Osceola. Date read is a guess...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews