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.
2
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
treaty in 1783; the petition, in the
latter year, of a large
number of officers of the army of the
revolution, that their
bounty lands might be located between
Lake Erie and the
Ohio; the cessions of four States
claiming large tracts in this
Northwest Territory; the passage of the
ordinance for survey-
ing public lands in 1785; the formation
of the Ohio Company
of Associates in 1786; the passage of
the celebrated ordinance
in 1787 for the government of the
territory Northwest of the
river Ohio; the purchase by the Ohio
Company in 1787 and
the planting of the colony in the next
year; the framing of
the Constitution by the Convention in
1787, its ratification
the next year by a sufficient number of
States to secure its
adoption, and the full establishment of
all the departments
of the government with the inauguration
of Washington as
the first President in 1789. All these
events, save those per-
taining to the new Constitution, were
directly connected with
the Ohio region, and most of them also,
with its first settle-
ment at Marietta.
The action of the Continental Congress,
July 4th, 1776,
declared the freedom and independence of
the United States,
and the army of the revolution under the
direction of Con-
gress made good that declaration. But
what were the limits
of the United States? The Atlantic ocean
was our boundary
on the East, but what was it on the West
and North?
Boundary lines between nations are
settled by treaties. We
wanted the largest area; Great Britain
would confine us to
the smallest. King George and his ministers contended
strenuously for the Ohio river as the
dividing line. And
France, whose troops had fought so
valiantly for our in-
dependence, was really more anxious for
the same line than
for one farther North. Spain, too, which
was also at war with
Great Britain, was determined to keep us
to the south of the
Ohio and as near as possible to the base
of the Alleghenies.
Three treaties were in negotiation at
the same time by Great
Britain; with the United States, with
France, and with Spain.
Questions of territory entered into them
all; for France had
formerly claimed the whole valley of the
Mississippi from
the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghenies,
and Spain was at
Beginnings of Our Colonial
System. 3
that time in possession of all west of
the Mississippi, and
all Florida, reaching west to that
river. The latter power,.
indeed, advanced a claim to the
Illinois region, because of
the conquest in the winter of 1781, of
the English Fort St.
Joseph, near the source of the Illinois
river. The narrower
the limits within which France and
Spain could succeed in
confining the United States, the better
terms of territory
could they probably secure for
themselves.
Then, unfortunately, our commissioners
were hampered
by the resolutions of Congress that
required them to be
guided, in negotiating the treaty, by
the advice of the French
Government. But when Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay became
convinced that both "France and
Spain intended either to
secure the western country to
themselves, or yield it to
Great Britain for an equivalent
elsewhere, they determined to
act for themselves and conclude the
treaty without consulting
the French Court or its
ministers." (Pitkin, Vol. II, p. 148.)
The American commissioners certainly in
this disregarded
their instructions, but they did what
they believed the best
interests of their country imperatively
demanded, and were
willing to take the responsibility. I
refer to these negotia-
tions because they were concerned with
the ownership of the
very territory where we now dwell, and
to show that the ex-
istence of Ohio and these other
northwestern States hung
upon the firmness of those American
commissioners at Paris
in the autumn of 1782.
The French minister was not a little
disturbed by the inde-
pendent action of our commissioners,
and wrote a note to
Dr. Franklin which was certainly
embarrassing even to that
skillful diplomatist. But Franklin's
candid admission that
they had "been guilty of
neglecting a point of bienseance,"
and his protestation that it "was
not from any want of re-
spect for the King, whom we love and
honor," and his hope
"that the great work which has
hitherto been so happily
brought to perfection, and is so
glorious to his reign, will not
be ruined by a single
indiscretion," mollified the Count de
Vergennes, and the terms of the
provisional treaty of 1782
remained unchanged in the definitive
treaty of 1783.
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Ohio Arckaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
By this treaty the claims of Great
Britain, France and
Spain to the territory northwest of the
Ohio were virtually
withdrawn. But there was a question of
ownership among
the States. Virginia, New York,
Massachusetts and Con-
necticut claimed it in whole or in part.
It was these conflict-
ing claims that caused the delay in
ratifying the Articles of
Confederation. Maryland and some other States insisted
that this territory belonged to the
Nation and not to indi-
vidual States. "Territory wrested from England by the
common efforts and sacrifices of the
people should belong,"
they said, "to the whole and not to
a part." Congress, un-
willing to decide between them, urged all
the claimants to
yield their claims. New York led the way
in the matter of
cessions. On the first of March, 1781,
her delegates made
an absolute surrender of her claim. On
the same day the
delegates of Maryland signed the
Articles of Confederation,
thus making the Union formally complete.
The other cessions followed, though not
as rapidly as was
hoped, nor were all made without
conditions, as was that of
New York. That of Virginia was early in
1784. She ceded
her claim to any territory north of the
Ohio, reserving, how-
ever, the region between the Scioto and
Little Miami rivers
as bounty lands for her soldiers, and a
tract in Illinois for
George Rogers Clarke and his associates.
The next year
came the cession of Massachusetts,
absolute like that of New
York; and the year following that of
Connecticut. Like
Virginia's, the cession of Connecticut
was coupled with a res-
ervation.
These two reservations, making a pretty
large fraction of
the State of Ohio, were excepted from
the operation of that
great system of surveys which the
Continental Congress initi-
ated by the Land Ordinance of 1785. It
would have been
desirable if the system of uniform
ranges, townships, and
sections, which commenced with the seven
ranges in the
summer of 1786, could have been carried
out over the whole
surface of the State; avoiding the
confusion of the five-mile
system of the Western Reserve, and the
no-system of the
Virginia Military District.
Beginnings of Our Colonial
System. 5
We have seen how great was the
importance attached to
this western territory from the very
beginning of our national
existence. It required great firmness on
the part of our com-
missioners to hold it against England,
France and Spain. It
required great wisdom by the Continental
Congress to secure
it as a national domain, when the most
powerful of the States
were pressing their claims to it. As
soon as there was a
probability that these conflicting
claims would be settled, the
veteran officers of the army turned
their eyes to this region
as a place of settlement. After the provisional treaty with
Great Britain had been made, and before
the definitive treaty
had been signed, a large number of these
army veterans
asked Congress to give them their bounty
lands in the region
between Lake Erie and the Ohio. There
were lands for sale
in Maine, and in central New York, now
so densely populated,
but the Ohio country had a stronger
attraction for them.
Though their application was
unsuccessful, they did not
abandon their purpose, but three years
later, under the
leadership of General Rufus Putnam, an
association was
organized to purchase lands in the same
locality.
Meanwhile, a "plan for a temporary
government of the
western country," as it was then
called, had been adopted by
Congress, but the plan was open to
objection, and when the
Ohio Company of Associates, in May,
1787, sent one of their
directors to New York to purchase of
Congress a tract of
land for settlement, a new plan for the
government of the
territory was under consideration by
that body. Indeed, the
proposed ordinance had been read twice,
and its third read-
ing had been ordered for the next day,
when the agent of
the company presented himself. "Of
a sudden," says Mr.
Bancroft, "the further progress of
the ordinance was
arrested." The third reading did
not take place the next
day; in truth, that ordinance was never
read the third time.
It is difficult for us to realize the
effect produced on Congress
by this simple proposition from a number
of army veterans
to purchase a large tract of land in the
West for the purpose
of settlement. In the words of Mr.
Bancroft: "It interested
every one. For vague hopes of
colonization, here stood a
6 Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
band of hardy pioneers, ready to lead
the way to the rapid
absorption of the domestic debt of the
United States; selected
from the choicest regiments of the army;
capable of self-
defense; the protectors of all who
should follow them; men
skilled in the labors of the field and
artisans; enterprising
and laborious; trained in the severe
morality and strict ortho-
doxy of the New England villages of that
day. All was
changed. There was the same difference
as between sending
out recruiting officers and giving
marching orders to a regular
corps present with music and arms and
banners."
It was the 9th of May when General
Samuel H. Parsons,
a director of the Ohio Company,
presented their memorial.
After the 11th, it happened that there
was no quorum till the
4th of July, and General Parsons had
returned to Connec-
ticut. On the 5th of July another
director came to New
York-- Manasseh Cutler. He conferred with the committee
already appointed on the purchase. He became acquainted
with the members of Congress. He looked
over the ground
as well with reference to the government
under which the
settlers were to live as to the terms on
which the land should
be purchased. On the 9th of July the
report, which was to
have been read the third time on the
10th of May, was
referred to a new committee, of which
Edward Carrington, of
Virginia, was chairman. He was a new member, as was
Richard Henry Lee, also of Virginia, and
Mr. Kean, from
South Carolina. The former members were
Mr. Dane, from
Massachusetts, and Mr. Smith, from New
York. Two days
later they reported an ordinance, which
was read the first
time. The second reading took place the
next day, and on
the day following it was read the third
time, and was passed
by the unanimous votes of the States
then present. The
great statute forbidding slavery to
cross the river Ohio was
enacted by the votes of Georgia, South
Carolina, North
Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New
Jersey, New York and
Massachusetts. Thus the celebrated
ordinance of '87 was
reported by a committee composed of two
members from
Virginia, one from South Carolina, one
from New York and
Beginnings of Our Colonial
System. 7
one from Massachusetts, and was enacted
by the votes of five
southern and three northern States.
In his history of the Constitution, Mr.
Bancroft turns
aside to give a chapter on what he
terms "The Colonial
System of the United States." The
Constitutional Conven-
tion was in session at Philadelphia in
the summer of 1787,
while the Continental Congress was in
session at New York.
Mr. Bancroft thus opens his chapter:
" Before the Federal
Convention had referred its resolutions
to a committee of
detail, an interlude in Congress was
shaping the character
and destiny of the United States of
America. Sublime and
humane and eventful in the history of
mankind as was the
result, it will take not many words to
tell how it was brought
about. For a time wisdom and peace and
justice dwelt
among men, and the great ordinance,
which could alone give
continuance to the Union, came in
serenity and stillness.
Every man that had a share in it seemed
to be led by an in-
visible hand to do just what was wanted
of him; all that was
wrongfully undertaken fell to the
ground to wither by the
wayside; whatever was needed for the
happy completion of
the mighty work arrived opportunely,
and just at the right
moment moved into its place."
This "interlude in Congress"
was the passage of the
ordinance of 1787, which itself was
brought about by the
projected colonizing of a portion of
the Ohio Valley. For
some years a plan for the government of
the western terri-
tory had been on the statute book, as
we have seen, but
under it no settlement had taken place.
Various efforts to
improve it had been made, but it
remained substantially as
it was adopted in 1784. But the
application by the Ohio
Company to purchase land and plant a
colony changed every-
thing. The eloquent language of Mr.
Bancroft is none too
strong. It was comparatively an easy
thing for Manasseh
Cutler in July, 1787, to convince the
Continental Congress
that the colony which the Ohio
Associates proposed to found
was just what was wanted to begin under
the most favorable
auspices the settlement of the great
region Northwest of the
Ohio. Nor was it difficult for him to
show that such a
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Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
colony would need assurances of a wise,
humane and efficient
government before planting new homes in
that western
wilderness. Thus it came that the new
committee, appointed
after Dr. Cutler reached New York,
prepared in an incredibly
brief time a new ordinance, than which
no other human
enactment has received higher
commendation.
It is clear that the ordinance, the
purchase, and the settle-
ment were parts of one great whole. This invests with
dignity and importance the movement
resulting in the settle-
ment of 1788. The great ordinance was
occasioned by the
proposed purchase, and it was enacted
for that colony. It
was a movement in which the national
government and the
nation itself were deeply interested.
Mr. Bancroft interjects
into his history of the Constitution a
chapter on "The
Colonial System of the United
States," but the chapter is
wholly occupied with this colony and its
antecedent circum-
stances. No other is mentioned. This was the Colonial
System of the United States. Most
civilized nations have
sent out colonies, which have remained
colonies. Not so the
United States. In 1787 they made ready
to send out their
first colony; not across the ocean, but
across the Ohio; yet
into a region as new as if it had been a
thousand miles away.
It was not to remain a colony, but to be
the germ of a State
- of many States. Never in the history
of the world has
such a colony been founded before or
since; never one for
which such preparation had been made,
and from which
such great results have come.
Almost a century has completed its round
since those army
veterans, after a long and tedious
journey, landed from their
Mayflower at the mouth of the Muskingum.
The govern-
ment which Congress had provided in
anticipation was im-
mediately established, the first law for
the Northwest Terri-
tory having been promulgated at Marietta
on the 25th of
July. Other groups of immigrants came
later; new centers
of civilization are established, and
within a decade and a half
the new State of Ohio takes her place in
the great sisterhood,
to be followed by two others in another
decade and a half,
and presently by a fourth and a fifth.
Beginnings of Our Colonial
System. 9
It is fit that the occupation of the
territory which had not
only been the center of interest to the
greatest States of the
American Union, but which the most
powerful nations of
Europe had combined to prevent our
occupying; that the
planting on the seventh of April, 1788,
of the colony for
which such preparation had been made
and for whose benefit
the Continental Congress, with a
unanimity unparalleled, had
provided a plan of government which has
been the admira-
tion of the world - it is fit, I say,
that the centennial of that
event should receive suitable
commemoration, not merely by
the descendants of those noble
pioneers, but by the citizens
of this great State and of all the States
of the old Territory
of the Northwest.
I. W. ANDREWS.