Warren County Local
History by Dallas Bogan |
Contributor: |
Dallas Bogan on 29 July 2004 |
Source: |
Dallas Bogan, Warren County, Ohio and Beyond (Bowie Maryland: Heritage Press, 1979) page 382 |
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan |
I have made mention from time to time the Battle of Fallen Timbers, The Treaty
of Greenville, and the Northwest Territory. These three subjects all have one
thing in common: the expansion of the geographical United States. The result
of the combination of the three meant the carving out and annexation of Ohio,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota (the portion east of the
Mississippi River) to the United States. The original flag of thirteen stars
was changed to the flag of the United States. The success of the Revolutionary
War was then assured bringing forth the birth of a new republic.
For 40 years the struggle with the Indians for new lands west of the Alleghenies
took precedence over all other issues. George Washington had
sent several of his generals, Gen. Bowman, Gen. Clark,
Gen. Harmar, and Gen. St. Clair to quell the
Indians, but only Anthony Wayne could make a final settlement
with them. His defeat of the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August
20, 1794, was a stepping-stone for some type of permanent peace.
The actual Treaty of Greenville was signed August 3, 1795, at what is now Greenville,
Ohio. The tribes under the Indian leaders Little Turtle, Tahre
and Black Hoof had been defeated. Little Turtle,
after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, declared that General Wayne
"never sleeps; night and day are alike to him."
George Washington knew that the expansion of the original thirteen
colonies depended upon defeat and ultimate peace with the Indians. He also knew
that the salvation of his plans and the plans of those who had secured their
name on the Declaration of Independence rested entirely on the banishing of
all French and British interests in the Northwest Territory.
To do this the colonies resorted to bribery and tempting promises to secure
the Indians as allies. Washington had complete faith in Anthony
Wayne and he and all the colonies embraced news that peace had been
secured.
It was the signing of the treaty that stopped violations of the Paris Treaty
of 1783, and forced the British to surrender territory held against the terms
of that pact. It was the most momentous event in American history since Cornwallis'
surrender.
What if General Wayne had not won his campaign against the
Indians? What would be the boundary lines for the United States? If the British
had secured this territory, for which they continued to contest in the face
of the Treaty of Paris assigning it to the colonies, the growth of the republic
of the United States, as we now have it might have been stopped at the Ohio
River. It would have meant a United States bounded on the east by the Atlantic
Ocean, on the north by the Ohio River, and on the west by the Mississippi River,
from its junction with the Ohio, southward.
The French, at the time the Treaty of Greenville was signed, owned Louisiana,
thus probably retaining that ownership. Great Britain would have had province
over the Great Lakes and all that territory including what is now Ohio, Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. All the property west of the Mississippi
would have been a vast wasteland. With the continuing battle involving the original
13 states, Great Britain and France, the new Treaty averted all possibility
of war.
The Ordinance of 1787 was the law that governed the new territory gained by
the peace treaty. It was the model for future territorial governments. This
was the third most important document ever written, next to the Declaration
of Independence and the Constitution.
In the initial stage the Northwest Territory was ruled by a governor, secretary,
and three judges, all appointed by Congress. When the population reached 5,000
free adult males the territory was permitted an elected legislature and a nonvoting
representative to Congress.
When the population reached 60,000 a constitutional convention could be summoned
and drawn into a State constitution. The Ordinance also included a Bill of Rights,
promising freedom of worship, the right to a jury trial, and the protection
of habeas corpus. Last, but not least, the Ordinance prohibited slavery in the
Northwest Territory.
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This page created 29 July 2004 and last updated
28 September, 2008
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