NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND NORTHWEST ORDINANCE WHEN THE UNITED

NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND NORTHWEST ORDINANCE

WHEN THE UNITED STATES BEGAN AS A NATION ON JULY 4, 1776, WE HAD 13 STATES IN THE UNITED STATES. THEY WENT FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST TO THE APPALACHIANS.

WE FOUGHT IN A REVOLUTIONARY WAR AGAINST ENGLAND FROM APRIL 19, 1775 TO OCTOBER 19, 1781.

FOLLOWING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR THE UNITED STATES SIGNED A TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN (ENGLAND). THIS TREATY WAS SIGNED IN PARIS, FRANCE. THE TREATY WAS CALLED THE TREATY OF PARIS - 1783. THE FOLLOWING SLIDE IS AN UNFINISHED PORTRAIT/PAINTING OF THE UNITED STATES PEACE NEGOTIATORS AT PARIS. AMONG THE NEGOTIATORS WERE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND FUTURE PRESIDENT, JOHN ADAMS.

WHEN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR STARTED IN 1775, THE UNITED STATES WAS 13 STATES IN SIZE WHICH WENT FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST TO THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

THE TERMS OF THE TREATY OF PARIS-1783 GAVE THE UNITED STATES MUCH MORE LAND. THE AREA OF THE UNITED STATES NOW WENT FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND FROM THE GREAT LAKES ALMOST TO THE GULF OF MEXICO.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY THE LAND TO THE WEST OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS AND TO THE NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER WAS CALLED THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AT THIS TIME WAS THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. THE ARTICLES WAS NOT A GOOD GOVERNMENT, BUT THIS GOVERNMENT DID WRITE AND PASS A GREAT LAW… THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE

THIS IS A COPY OF THE FIRST PAGE OF THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE PARTS OF THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE: 1) THE LAND COULD BE MADE INTO NO MORE THAN 5 STATES AND NO FEWER THAN 3 STATES 2) THERE WAS A PLAN FOR ALL FUTURE STATES BECOMING A PART OF THE UNITED STATES 3) THERE WAS NO SLAVERY ALLOWED IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 4) THERE WAS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 5) PUBLIC EDUCATION WAS TO BE PROVIDED FOR IN THE LAND OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 6) LAND WAS ORGANIZED INTO TOWNSHIPS WITH 36 SECTIONS EACH SECTION HAS 640 ACRES IN IT.

THOUSANDS OF SETTLERS FROM THE 13 STATES STARTED MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. THE OHIO TERRITORY WAS THE FIRST AREA WHERE THE SETTLERS CAME TO LIVE, BUILD HOMES AND FARMS. MANY OF THE SETTLERS CAME TO OHIO ON FLATBOATS DOWN THE OHIO RIVER.

THE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES DID NOT WANT THEIR LAND TAKEN BY THE SETTLERS. THE TWO GROUPS FOUGHT WITH EACH OTHER DURING THE NEXT 7 YEARS IN THE OHIO TERRITORY. THESE BATTLES WERE CALLED THE FRONTIER WARS.

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WAS NOW UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON WANTED THE THREAT TO SETTLEMENT BY THE NATIVE AMERICANS STOPPED. TWO ARMY GROUPS WERE SENT TO TRY TO STOP THE INDIANS OF OHIO FROM ATTACKING THE SETTLERS. THE FIRST WAS UNDER THE COMMAND OF JOSIAH HARMAR. THE SECOND WAS UNDER THE COMMAND OF ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF JOSIAH HARMAR. THE FOLLOWING 3 SLIDES TELL ABOUT THE BATTLES BY HARMAR’S FORCES AGAINST THE INDIANS UNDER THE COMMAND OF CHIEF LITTLE TURTLE OF THE MIAMI INDIANS.

Harmar's Defeat In 1790, Josiah Harmar, commander of the American army in the Northwest Territory, was stationed at Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati). Henry Knox, the Secretary of War, ordered Harmar to end the threat of Indian attack in western Ohio. Harmar marched from Fort Washington with 320 regular soldiers and roughly 1, 100 militiamen -- primarily from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The militiamen were poorly trained. Many did not know how to load and fire a musket; several others did not even have a gun. Harmar was determined to destroy the native villages near modern-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. He intended to attack the Miami Indians, the Shawnee Indians, and the Delaware Indians, along with other natives located in western Ohio.

The natives fled their villages as Harmar's army approached. The Americans burned several villages, but the Indians regrouped. On October 20, the natives, led by Little Turtle, of the Miami Indians, attacked a detachment from Harmar's army led by Colonel John Hardin's force consisted of several hundred militiamen and a few regular soldiers. Hardin led his men into an ambush. Most of the militiamen fled the battle without even firing a shot. The regular soldiers put up a brief resistance, but the natives killed most of them. Some of the retreating militiamen did not stop until they crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. Harmar sent out another detachment after Little Turtle's warriors two days later. Once again, the natives inflicted heavy casualties upon the Americans. Harmar immediately retreated to the safety of Fort Washington. He had lost 183 men killed or missing in his campaign. It became known as Harmar's Defeat. In 1791, the United States army convened a court-martial against Harmar. He was accused him of wrongdoing during the campaign, including being drunk on duty. The court-martial exonerated him of all charges, but Harmar retired from the army on January 1, 1792.

Harmar's actions in western Ohio only heightened tensions between the white settlers and the Indians. Following Harmar's defeat, native attacks against settlers increased. In 1791, Arthur St. Clair led another campaign against the natives in western Ohio, hoping to succeed where Harmar had failed.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE GREAT OHIO INDIAN CHIEF, LITTLE TURTLE, FROM THE MIAMI TRIBE. IN TWO SEPARATE BATTLES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES ARMY, LITTLE TURTLE DEFEATED THE AMERICANS IN 1790 WITH HARMAR’S DEFEAT. IN 1791, HE LED HIS INDIAN FORCES IN A DEFEAT OF ARTHUR ST. CLAIR IN ST. CLAIR’S DEFEAT.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF ARTHUR ST. CLAIR. HE LED A GROUP OF U. S. SOLDIERS AGAINST THE OHIO INDIANS LED BY MIAMI CHIEF, LITTLE TURTLE. THE NEXT 3 PAGES GIVE THE DETAILS OF ST. CLAIR’S DEFEAT IN 1792.

• St. Clair's Defeat was a major confrontation between the armed forces of the United States and the Native Americans of the Northwest Territory. To protect settlers and to force the Indians to abide by the Treaty of Fort Harmar, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, ordered the construction of forts in what is now western Ohio. St. Clair moved against the Indians living near presentday Ft. Wayne Indiana, in September 1791. His men left Fort Washington, near Cincinnati, on September 17. The men marched twenty miles in two days and then built Fort Hamilton. St. Clair's army then advanced forty-five miles northward, where his men built Fort Jefferson.

Leading primarily untrained militiamen, St. Clair faced problems with desertion from the beginning of his campaign. Although it was still early fall, his men faced cold temperatures, rain and snowfall. St. Clair also had a difficult time keeping his soldiers supplied with food. His men became demoralized. Despite these problems, St. Clair continued to advance against the Miami Indians. By November 3, his men had arrived on the banks of the Wabash River, near some of the Miami villages.

St. Clair's Defeat Little Turtle led his warriors against the Americans on the morning of November 4. Many of the militiamen under St. Clair immediately fled. St. Clair led the regular soldiers in a bayonet charge. St. Clair had two horses shot out from under him. Several bullets passed through his clothing and one took off a lock of his hair. The Indians surrounded the Americans camp. After three hours of fighting, the remaining American soldiers fought through the Indians and began a lengthy retreat. The survivors reached Fort Jefferson late that afternoon and evening. With limited quantities of food and supplies at Fort Jefferson, St. Clair ordered his forces to Fort Washington. The Indians had soundly defeated St. Clair's army.

More than 600 soldiers and scores of women and children were killed in the battle, called St. Clair's Defeat, the "Columbia Massacre, " or the "Battle of the Wabash. " It was the greatest defeat of the American army by Native Americans in history with some 623 American soldiers killed in action as opposed to about 50 dead braves. After this debacle, he resigned from the Army at the request of President Washington, but continued to serve as Governor of the Northwest Territory.

ALARMED BY THE DEFEAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMIES UNDER THE COMMANDS OF HARMAR AND ST. CLAIR, PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON PUT GENERAL “MAD” ANTHONY WAYNE IN CHARGE OF TRAINING AN ARMY FORCE TO DEFEAT THE INDIANS IN OHIO.

This is a portrait of Anthony Wayne. He was a successful army commander during the Revolutionary War. There are several explanations for his nickname “Mad” Anthony. One explanation is how wild he was in attacking the British in the Revolutionary War. Another explanation is he was called “mad” when he punished an American spy. A final explanation is he was wounded in the head and a metal plate was put over the wound. From time to time General Wayne was affected by seizures and fainting spells which are were attributed to the head wound and plate. Whatever his nickname was President George Washington thought General Wayne was the right man to solve the Indian problems in the Northwest Territory.

General Wayne trained his troops here at Fort Washington, the site of present day Cincinnati. The area between Paul Brown Stadium and the Great American Ball Park is where Fort Washington was located.

After training his men, who were called the “Legion of the United States, ” Wayne led his men to a location in west central Ohio and built a fort there. He called it Fort Recovery. The next slide shows the location of Fort Recovery in Ohio.

There is a full size reproduction of Fort Recovery located at a state memorial there.

General Wayne moved 250 soldiers to Fort Recovery. They were attacked by 1, 500 Indians from the Delaware, Ottawa, Miami and other tribes under the leadership of Little Turtle in June, 1794 The soldiers were able to outlast the Indians and hold on to the Fort. Wayne’s men fought brilliantly. Little Turtle said General Wayne was “the General who does not sleep. ” Little Turtle encouraged the Indians to settle for peace, but many did not listen to him.

General Wayne then ordered the soldiers moved north in August, 1794 to build a new fort he called Fort Defiance.

Later in August, 1794, the Battle of Fallen Timbers took place. The battle lasted less than an hour, but the Indians were completely defeated.

As a result the Treaty of Greenville was signed in 1795. The Native Americans received the northwest part of Ohio. All the eastern and southern part of Ohio was open for settlement by new settlers without interference from the Indians.

This map shows all the movement of General Wayne’s soldiers and the forts that were built.

The next two slides show paintings of the signing of the Treaty of Greenville. The first painting is a very large painting you can see in the capital building in Columbus, Ohio. The second painting is a more realistic look at what the treaty signing really looked like.

The next slide shows the actual Treaty of Greenville signed in 1795. Notice the different colors of wax at the bottom of the treaty. These show different individuals representing different tribes who signed the treaty bringing about peaceful settlement in Ohio.

Now the land was divided up into townships. Each township was 6 miles square. The 36 squares in the township were each 640 acres in size. One of the squares was reserved for Public Education where a school was to be built. The next slide shows a plan for a typical township.

The location for government buildings was usually in the middle of the township so everyone in the township could get there in a day by walking.

The Northwest Ordinance also said there was to be: 1) No slavery allowed in any of the new states created from the Northwest Territory 2) Complete freedom of movement from one part of the territory to another without tolls or taxes 3) A method for bringing in new states into the United States

The following steps were to be followed to become a new state in the United States: 1) A governor and 3 judges governed the territory until… 2) 5, 000 free men elected a legislature (law making group) to make laws for the territory (A representative from the territory was sent to the United States capital to represent the new territory. ) 3) When 60, 000 free men moved to the territory a constitution ( a plan of government) for the new states was written 4) When the constitution was written the new territory could ask the Congress of the United States to become a new state in the United States

The Northwest Ordinance was a GREAT law for our country guiding the United States in its growth for the future.