b'Native American and Indigenous StudiesThe Seminole Wars of the 19th Century: A Look into the Causes of the Longest Conflicts of United States HistoryB. Cordell MoatsSponsor: Dr. Lavonna LovernThis research focuses on the causes of the Seminole Wars of the nineteenth-century. Research supports the reality that the Seminoles were often pushed into these conflicts by the United States, who maintained the belief that they were not the aggressor. The series of wars between the Seminoles and the United States have often been considered separate conflicts. However, there is a common thread that ties all three wars together and illustrates the complexity of the relationship between the US propaganda and the actual events. It appears more accurate to designate these events over the century as a single war with two ceasefires. To establish the single war theory, this paper will look at each of the traditionally labeled Seminole wars and examine the history and causes of each. The paper will then examine the relation of the causes and the use of the Seminole as means to achieve US political goals. Finally, the paper will argue that the continued US encroachment into Seminole territory was a single unified political strategy to gain larger territorial goals.45'