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There were three of them. Note that none were declared as wars by Congress. Spain claimed Florida when they began, by the end of the wars, Florida had been largely cleared of Native Americans.
1816–1819: The First Seminole War began with General Andrew Jackson's excursions into West Florida and East Florida against the Seminoles after the conclusion of the War of 1812. . . . Spain was unable to defend or control the territory, as several local uprisings and rebellions made clear. The Spanish Crown agreed to cede Florida to the United States per the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 . . .
According to the Treaty of Moultrie Creek of 1823, the Seminoles were required to leave northern Florida and were confined to a large reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula. The U.S. government enforced the treaty by building a series of forts and trading posts in the territory, mainly along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
1835–1842: The Second Seminole War was the result of the United States government attempting to force the Seminoles to leave Florida altogether and move to Indian Territory per the Indian Removal Act of 1830. . . . By the early 1840s, most of the Seminole population in Florida had been killed in battle, ravaged by starvation and disease, or relocated to Indian Territory.
1855–1858: The Third Seminole War was again the result of Seminoles responding to settlers and U.S. Army scouting parties encroaching on their lands, perhaps deliberately to provoke a violent response that would result in the removal of the last of the Seminoles from Florida. . . . by 1858, most of the remaining Seminoles, weary of war and facing starvation, agreed to be sent to Oklahoma in exchange for promises of safe passage and cash payments.
