Florida
Florida had become a burden to Spain, which could not afford to send settlers or garrisons. Madrid therefore decided to cede the territory to the United States through the Adams–Onís Treaty, which took effect in 1821. President James Monroe was authorized on March 3, 1821 to take possession of East Florida and West Florida for the United States and provide for initial governance. Andrew Jackson, on behalf of the U.S. federal government, served as a military commissioner with the powers of governor of the newly acquired territory for a brief period. On March 30, 1822, the U.S. Congress merged East Florida and part of West Florida into the Florida Territory.
By the early 1800s, Indian removal was a significant issue throughout the southeastern U.S. and also in Florida. In 1830, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act and as settlement increased, pressure grew on the U.S. government to remove the Indians from Florida. Seminoles offered sanctuary to blacks, and these became known as the Black Seminoles, and clashes between whites and Indians grew with the influx of new settlers. In 1832, the Treaty of Payne's Landing promised to the Seminoles lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida. Many Seminole left at this time.
Seminole Tribe of Florida
The claim was filed 14 August 1950 and represented land taken under the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823, land taken under the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, land taken in the Macomb Treaty of 1839, and land taken in 1944 for the Everglades National Park —– in all totaling nearly $48,000,000. In July, 1951 the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma had also filed a petition before the Indian Claims Commission for claims involving their removal to Oklahoma and substantially the same land takings under Moultrie and Payne's Landing as the Florida Seminoles. Because of the overlapping of claims, the commission split the Florida claim into 2 cases, one sharing the Oklahoma claims in the treaties and the other, dealing with Florida's sole claim to land taken for the Everglades National Park.