Northwest Territories. Includes dispute of Ontario Lands
Whereas We have taken into Our Proclamation, the extensive and valuable Acquisitions in America, secured to our Commonwealth by the late Definitive Treaty of Peace (...) We have thought fit, with the Advice of our State Council (...) to erect, within the Countries and Islands ceded and confirmed to Us by the said Treaty, Two distinct and separate territories, styled and called by the names of Quebec and Illinois Country (...) (Northwest Territories Proclamation)
The Illinois Country , renamed Northwest Territories refers to all territories north of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers and East of the Mississippi river. The Northwest Territories borders Borealia, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, Maryland and Quebec.
The Northwest Territories was divided into the colonies of Ohio (1766), Illinois (1768) and Tennessee (1768). They later merge in the Dominion of Indiana (1838).
The Ontario Lands are administered by Quebec.
Creation and Development[]
The Northwest Territories are composed of the Commonwealth colonies and Indian territories of Illinois Country, Ohio and Tennessee. The latter was added as part of unclaimed territories south of Ohio. The Northwest Territories were created by the British Commonwealth after the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) and by the Treaty of Paris (1763) that awarded all the territories of French Canada to the British. The initial administration was deposited in the North-West Board (NWB, 1764-1838).
The NWB was established to administer the territory, enforce law, implement common Indian, trade and land policies and chart the mostly unexplored territory. Its most notable expression was the North-West Mounted Guard (NWMG), a mounted riflemen force created in order to maintain law and order and cooperate with its northern counterpart, the Borealia Guard Service (BGS). The NW Board of Ordnance and Survey was created to map and plot the territory.
The headquarters of the NWB were at first located in Ontario and later moved to Chicago. The NWB was dissolved with the establishment of the Dominion of Indiana (1838).
A frontier colony and Indian barrier state[]
The Colonies and Indian Territories of Ohio, Illinois Country and Tennessee were created as a reaction of the end of hostilities between France and Britain after the French and Indian War (part of the War of the Austrian Succession). Ohio, Illinois Country and Tennessee were originally established as Indian barrier states on the disputed territories between the Ohio Company and French Canada. Its origins go far back to the Ohio Company.
The British ordered the existing settlers (mostly French) to leave or get special permission to stay and prohibited British colonists from settling outside of the established and planned settlements and land grants. The charters of the three colonies reaffirmed for the Indian Territory an unspecified self-government and rights been given to it.
The creation of these three colonies and Indian territories did not go well with the Atlantic commonwealths of Virginia and Maryland that expected to enlarge their territories with the gains of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) in which they had given much money, weapons and soldiers.
From its creation, the Northwest Territories were under the pressure of two conflicting policies. On one hand the Indian Affairs Department had a long-term plan to reconcile the Indian tribes to Commonwealth rule and diminish hostilities between the tribes and the British Army following its victory in the French and Indian War. Contrary to this design the governments of the colonial commonwealths of Maryland and Virginia had land claims over the Northwest Territories - being one of their reasons to enthusiastically participate in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), and considered them as part of their settlement policies and disregarded the land rights of Native Americans. Also the Ontario Lands were considered by the governors of Quebec as part of their territory, leading to an enduring feud over its jurisdiction between Quebec and Illinois.
The land titles of the dissolved Ohio Company were honored by the governments of Virginia and Maryland, but not by the Commonwealth. Several of these disputes were settled by the courts of justice of Virginia and Maryland and numerous appeals to the High Judicial Committee. The cession of rights was ultimately solved by the enactment of the Cession of Lands of the Northwest Territories Act of 1783, approved by the Commonwealth Parliament.
Indian Affairs Department officials pursued efforts to organize the various tribes within it into a sort of Confederation that would form the basis of an Indian state, independent of the British settlements and under their tutelage, as a way to protect fur trade ventures in the region and to block anticipated Dakotan and Louisianan attacks upon the remaining North American possessions.
The First Western Indian Confederacy, lasted only three years (1770-1773) before it fell due to disputes between the member tribes and armed skirmishes of the Maryland Provincial Regiment with the Erie, a tributary of Iroquia.
The Second Western Confederacy (1775), was established to compete with the Iroquois Confederacy over the control of local nations of the region, already in process after Erie became a junior member of Iroquia and thus under Dutch protection.
Most of the Northwest Territories was uncharted and several expeditions were ordered and funded along the establishment of forts. In 1789, the Indian Affairs Department delegated local and urgent powers to the NWB.
The Ohio Company[]
The Ohio Company (complete name: The Ohio River Trading Company of Virginia) was a chartered trading and land speculation company established by settlers from Virginia in the Ohio Valley and trans-Allegheny territories.
The company had a land grant from the British Commonwealth and a treaty with Indians, but France also claimed the area, and the conflict helped provoke the 'outbreak' of the French and Indian War.
Colonial Government[]
Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee were given similar charters that were generous in terms of political autonomy (it was too far off any central authority) and liberties (encourage colonization). The Ohio Charter specified as authorities:
- Governor, named for a fixed term by the Protector.
- Governor's Council composed of ex-officio members and the other half by elected members from the General Assembly.
- A General Assembly, elected every five years by all freemen and landowners.
- Supreme Tribunal named by the Governor.
Territorial Limits and Jurisdictions[]
According to the Ohio Charter the colonial borders are to the north, French Canada and Dutch New Netherlands and Iroquois, east the British colonies of Maryland and Virginia, south Spanish Florida and west French Louisiana. Ohio is historically known as the Buckeye Land after its Ohio buckeye trees, and Ohioans are also known as "Buckeyes".
The Colony and Indian Territory of Illinois Country borders are from the southern territories of French Canada and east of the Mississippi. Illinois has a dispute with Quebec over the administration of the Ontario Lands that mark its northern limits.
Tennessee stretches from the Appalachian Mountains west to the Mississippi River and from as far north with Ohio to down south to Spanish Florida.
Main Characteristics of the Colony and Indian Territories[]
| Colony and Indian Territory of | Ohio | Illinois Country | Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flag and Coat of arms
(same one used by all three) |
 
| ||
| Established date | 1766 | 1768 | 1768 |
| Capital | Logstown (1766-1773),
New Lancaster (1773 to date) |
Kaskaskia (1768-1772),
Chicago (1772 to date) |
Fort Loudoun |
| Cities | Logtown | Kaskaskia, Peoria,
Cahokia, Vincennes |
|
| Languages | English (main),
Siouan, Iroquoian and Algonquian languages |
English (main),
French, Michif, Ojibwe, Shawnee, Illiniwek, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Menominee, Miami-Illinois, Sauk and Fox. |
English (main),
Yuchi, Muscogee and Cherokee |
| Religion | Church of England (main), Protestants, Quakers, Catholicism, Judaism, Native American religions and Animism | ||
| Denomyn | Ohian, Ohioan and Buckeyes (colloquial) | Illinoisia and Illinoian | Tennessean |
| Government | Colony of the Commonwealth | Colony of the Commonwealth | Colony of the Commonwealth |
| Governing body | General Assembly
of Ohio |
General Assembly
of Illinois |
General Assembly
of Tennessee |
| Currency | Pound sterling, Virginia pound,
New England pound, Ohio territorial tokens and barter |
Pound sterling, Virginia pound,
Illinios territorial tokens and barter |
Pound sterling, Virginia pound,
Spanish dollar and barter |
| Timezone | UTC−5 | UTC -6, −5 | UTC−5 |
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