Ohio History Journal

THE OHIO BOUNDARY, OR THE ERIE WAR.1

WHEN the great Ordinance of 1787 was passed by

Congress it was agreed by all the States present that six

of the articles, known as the articles of compact, should

not be repealed except by the joint consent of Congress

and the States concerned.   The fifth of these "irrevo-

cable articles" provided that not less than three nor more

than five States should be formed out of the region of

country known as the Northwest Territory. In case the

division was into three States, it was to be made by north

and south lines from points named in the articles; if it

should be divided into four or five, they were to be sepa-

rated by the same lines running north and south, and up

to an east and west line through the extreme south point

of Lake Michigan.

Thus it was left to the discretion of Congress whether

the territory north of this line should form one or two

States and that south two or three. But the boundary

line in either case was definitely fixed; especially was

this true of the line separating the northern from the

southern tier of States. It was imperatively stated that

an east and west line, running from the extreme south

point of Lake Michigan, should separate these two sec-

tions. According to the very nature of the compact, Con-

gress could not change these boundary lines at will.

The right of the Congress of the Confederation, so

to bind its successors, may, from a standpoint of justice

and right, be denied, but from a legal point of view it can

not surely be questioned, when we take into consideration

the fact that the power of the colonial and Continental

Congresses depended largely, if not solely, on the assump-

1This paper is a part of a formal thesis prepared two years since, when

its writer, then a student in Ohio State University, was a member of the

seminar established there for advanced and special investigation of Ameri-

can historical questions.

340

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The Ohio Boundary, or the Erie War.   341

tions of Congress, backed up by the acquiescence of the

people.

That the people consented to this division of the terri-

tory is evident from the fact that no question was ever

raised concerning the rights and intentions of Congress in

so decreeing, until the people of Ohio, on the application

of Michigan for admission as a State, claimed that there

must have been a misunderstanding by Congress, and

that it was never intended that this northern boundary

line should lie so far south. They claimed that it was

the intention of Congress to give the whole southern

shore of Lake Erie to Ohio, and that the first maps of the

country were incorrect and had thus misled Congress con-

cerning the southern point of Lake Michigan; forget-

ting that if there had been any mistake concerning the

southern point of Lake Michigan, no one had ever before

discovered it, or even hinted it, and also that Michigan

had been organized as a territory having the old bound-

ary line laid down by the ordinance, without a murmur or

complaint from any of her sister States, and lastly, that

Ohio herself had organized a State government and ex-

cluded therefrom the county of Wayne, which was claimed

at that time to lie north of her boundary line.

It is true, however, that when, on the 30th of April,

1802, an act was passed authorizing the people of that

part of the Northwest Territory lying east of Indiana and

south of the line running east from the most southerly

point of Lake Michigan, to adopt a constitution, the right

was reserved by Congress either to make all north of that

line into a separate State or to annex it to Ohio. That

Congress had a right to legislate, as the latter case would

require, has been emphatically denied by some of our

most eminent legal authorities. However, the difficulty

of making such a radical change in one of the sacred

articles of compact, was obviated by the fact that Con-

gress never chose to exercise her prerogative in annexing

this territory to Ohio. Yet the act of Congress assuming

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342     Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

the power to annex this territory to Ohio is indicative of

the fact that she, like England of old, claimed the right,

if she only chose to exercise it, to set aside the old bound-

ary lines of the ordinance.

That Congress did not originally intend to grant this

land to Ohio, in violation of the compact, seems evident

from the fact that, although the people of Ohio had peti-

tioned two successive sessions of Congress to grant to her

the now much disputed territory, yet Congress refused to

entertain any idea of so legislating, taking no note of such

requests.

That Michigan was organized as a Territory, assum-

ing, as she did, the boundaries of the ordinance, without

even the slightest objection from the senators or the rep-

resentatives of Ohio, is additional proof that the people of

Ohio either recognized this as the boundary line, or that

the sentiment in Congress was so overwhelmingly against

any change that Ohio's servants dared not object.

In the light of these facts it seems strange that Gov-

ernor Lucas, of Ohio, should recommend to the Legisla-

ture of that State to concert measures for the seizure and

occupation of this disputed territory, and yet such was the

case. He gave as his reasons for such aggressive measures

(I.) The intention of the Congress of 1787 to follow the

supposed line which was further north than the real one;

(2.) The action of the State Constitutional Convention;

(3.) The preference of the people within the district for

the government of Ohio.

The Legislature was not slow to follow out the plans

suggested by their chief executive. " They immediately

passed a series of acts and resolutions asserting jurisdic-

tion over the land in question and declaring that measures

should be taken by all departments of the State govern-

ment to enforce these acts." Nor was this the whole

attempt made by the government of Ohio to reclaim what

she would fain make herself believe justly belonged

to her. Governor Lucas, on the alert to obtain possession

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The Ohio Boundary, or the Erie War.   343

of this much-coveted territory, called an extra session of

the General Assembly. Himself assuming the aggressive,

he ordered the commissioners, appointed by him for the

purpose, to meet him at Perrysburg, stating his intention

to run the boundary line, and thus in a manner peculiar to

himself settle this dispute, which Congress itself seemed

unwilling to handle. Again the Legislature came to his

rescue and stimulated his exertions by voting an appropri-

ation of $300,000, with which to carry out his plans.

It is not surprising that these violent measures called

out a keen retort from Michigan, nor was she tardy in

challenging the determined efforts of Ohio's governor to

strip her of her fair territory. Immediately after Governor

Lucas's first message to the General Assembly recommend-

ing to them the seizure of the disputed tract, the Legisla-

ture of Michigan passed a series of acts making it a criminal

offense for any one to accept or exercise any office in the

disputed tract, except by the authority of the United States

or of Michigan. When the tidings reached the capital of

Michigan that Governor Lucas, of Ohio, was taking active

measures to occupy this territory, Governor Mason, of

Michigan, at once ordered his adjutant-general to hold

himself in readiness for any invasion from Ohio, and the

Legislature vied with that of Ohio in the readiness with

which it placed money and men at the disposal of its gov-

ernor.

Thus hostilities began to assume a serious aspect, when

the territorial authorities presented the matter to the At-

torney-General of the United States, Benjamin F. Butler.

He regarded the claims of Michigan to the territory as the

better of the two, and was strengthened in this opinion by

the President and members of the cabinet. But the good

people of Ohio were very firm in their determination to

possess this territory, and the Attorney-General hoped the

matter might be brought to an amicable settlement by a

compromise. Accordingly two commissioners, Rush and

Howard, were sent out to inquire into the trouble and to

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344   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

report the condition of affairs to the Attorney-General.

Meanwhile the militia of Michigan had marched to the

scene of action, but to their disgust and chagrin they found

no enemy - no Ohio troops - there to oppose them. They

had made great preparation and military display all on

account of a report, that had reached them, that Governor

Lucas purposed setting up a court at Toledo for the regula-

tion and disposal of this disputed tract. Thus the fire

which had animated the hearts of the patriotic sons of Mich-

igan was forced to consume their own ambition, and they

marched back sullenly from the imaginary field of glory,

leaving no bones to bleach in the sun, save those of the

noted horse, the sole hero and martyr of the Erie war.

All this display of chivalry and heroism by the contend-

ing parties had little to do with settling the real question

at issue, except, perhaps, to bring about the immediate

consideration of it by Congress. Congress resolved to put

an end to this quarrel between two unruly members of

the Union by forcing them to a compromise. This was

easily brought about, from the fact that Michigan was

seeking admission as a State, and Congress would not

admit her until she would renounce all her claims to the

disputed territory.

The President and the Democratic party were especially

anxious to settle the question without antagonizing Ohio,

as a Presidential election was near, and the electoral votes

of Ohio were wanted.

On the whole, we are bound to regard the compromise

that resulted as the most happy arrangement that could

have been made, since both parties are vastly better pro-

vided for than if Michigan's rights had been enforced by

Congress. Michigan, by the grant of the upper peninsula,

which she received as compensation for her concessions,

obtained her great mineral wealth, and Ohio, by the an-

nexation of the extensive tract of fertile land which she

claimed, was thereby greatly enriched.

L. G. ADDISON.

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