The page-turning and revelatory true story of America's vicious 1835 attack on the Seminoles in pre-statehood Florida, and the two men—a Black American and a renowned indigenous warrior—who fought back and brokered the resistance, from the author of "eye-opening marvel of a book" (Alexander Rose, New York Times bestselling author) 12 Seconds of Silence.
From 1817 to 1858, a series of military conflicts known as the Seminole Wars took place between the United States and the Seminole Tribe of Florida as they battled for ownership of the land.
Within this unconquered territory, former slaves and Seminole tribe members had lived side by side for generations, intermarrying and building communities in the interior, beyond the reach of the growing United States. But in 1835, the young country brought fire upon them, seeking to forcibly remove the Seminoles and reclaim any slaves in their path. In the face of this terror, tribes and bands came together across racial lines to preserve their freedom from federal interference. As the fight waged on, two men—Abraham, a free Black American, and the esteemed Creek warrior Osceola—worked together among many to save their lands and their people, against overwhelming odds, from America's formidable army of the South.
A powerful and vivid exploration of an overlooked revolt and historical alliances between Afro-descendant men and women and their indigenous brothers and sisters, The Free and the Dead is a timeless and revelatory work of history that sits alongside Empire of the Summer Moon and The Demon of Unrest.