

Not all of the A of C were ineffective
Settlement of the “western lands” was decided
State Claims to Western Lands

O of 1784:
◦ Western land that was owned by states was ceded
to the federal gov’t
◦ Divided into ten self-governing districts
 Could petition for statehood
 Sought to avoid creating second class citizens

O of 1785:
◦ Created a system of surveying and selling land

O of 1785 divided up land into a grid
◦ Jefferson’s plan


Influenced by the Enlightenment ideas of
mathematical forms of land distribution
Became the norm for land distribution in land
west of the Appalachians
Northwest
Territory
Plot #16
was set
aside for
public
education
Public Land
sold for
$1.00 to
$2.00 an
acre = pay
debt

O of 1785 let land be sold and that went
sideways
◦ Sold only to a few speculators
 Too much land power in the hands of the few

Abandoned the earlier ten districts and
created a single Northwest Territory
◦ Lands north of the Ohio

Could be split into between three and five
territories
◦ 60,000 residents= new state!

New rules
◦ You will be working with these today!
 Surprise!

Too much expansion and some uncontrolled
expansion led to conflicting land claims in
that region (Way to go Congress!!)
Ohio
1ST STEP
2nd STEP
3rd STEP
WHEN PEOPLE
FIRST SETTLE IN
THE AREA:
5,000 FREE ADULT
MALES:
60,000 SETTLERS:
Congress appoints a
governor and three
judges to govern the
territory
Landowners elect a
congress to make laws
and raise taxes with
approval of governor. 1
representative is elected
to the US Congress who
can debate but not vote.
Becomes a state, with its
own government and
constitution. New states
admitted with same rights
as the original states. No
more than 5 states can
carved out of this area.


Confederation divided up, and gave away,
land that was already claimed by N.A. tribes!
Tried to persuade N.A. tribes to sign treaties
ceding those western lands
◦ Didn’t work

Fighting broke out
◦ 1790 & 1791 the Miami tribe beat US forces in two
major battles on the Ohio frontier

Battle of Fallen Timbers
◦ Gen. Anthony Wayne
◦ 4,000 troops


US defeated the Miami
Miami signed the Treaty of Greenville
◦ Ceded major lands to the US in exchange for a
formal acknowledgement of their claim to the
territory
 Affirmed that N.A. lands could only be ceded by the
tribes themselves
 Yea, right!