OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
QUARTERLY.
JUNE, 1887.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COLONIAL SYSTEM
OF THE UNITED STATES.1
THE formation of this society comes at
an opportune mo-
ment. In a little more than three years
a century will have
elapsed since the first permanent white
settlement was made
within the limits of the great region
Northwest of the River
Ohio. That settlement was the beginning,
not only of this
good State of Ohio, but also of Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin, which have all been
formed from that North-
west Territory. It was not an accidental
settlement that was
made on the 7th of April, 1788, at the
mouth of the Mus-
kingum, nor was it any fortuitous
collection of men that first
planted themselves on the soil of Ohio.
It was the result of
careful deliberation by wise and prudent
and patriotic men.
The decade in which that settlement was
made was the era of
a greater number of important events
affecting the interests
of the United States than any other
decade in our National
history. And these events were almost
all closely connected
with the founding of the State of Ohio.
Among these events were the adoption of
the Articles of
Confederation between the thirteen
States; the provisional
treaty of peace with Great Britain in
1782, and the definitive
1 An address delivered before the Ohio
Archaeological and Historical So-
ciety at its first public meeting, March
12th, 1885.