Indiana Territory

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Name:	Indiana Territory
Existed:	July 4, 1800 – November 7, 1816
Size:	1800: apr. 259,824 sq mi 1816: apr. 36,418 sq mi
Capitol:	1800–1813: Vincennes 1813–1816: Corydon
Population:	1800: 2,632 1816: 64,281

Indiana Territory was an organized territory of the United States from 1800 to 1816, created by Act of Congress and signed into law by President John Adams on May 7, 1800, effective on July 4. It was the first new territory created from lands of the Northwest Territory, which had been organized in 1787 by the Northwest Ordinance. The territory originally contained approximately 259,824 square miles of land The territory ceased to exist when Indiana statehood was approved in 1816.

Contents 1 Original boundaries 2 Governors 3 History 3.1 District of Louisiana 3.2 War of 1812 3.3 Statehood 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 External links

[edit] Original boundaries

The original boundaries of the territory included the area of the Northwest Territory west of the Great Miami River and a line extending north from its headwaters in Indian Lake (in present-day Logan County, Ohio) along approximately 83 deg 45 min W longitude. The territory included all of present-day Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, as well as the portions of Minnesota originally part of the Northwest Territory. It also included almost all of the upper peninsula of present-day Michigan and the western half of the lower peninsula. It also included the portion of present-day Ohio west of the Great Miami River. This latter parcel became part of the state of Ohio when it was admitted to the Union in 1803. The eastern half of Michigan was added to the Indiana Territory at that time. The area of the territory was reduced in 1805 by the creation of the Michigan Territory, and in 1809 by the creation of the Illinois Territory.

[edit] Governors

Main article: List of Governors of Indiana

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Appointed by
1	William Henry Harrison	May 13, 1800	December 28, 1812	John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
2	John Gibson1	December 28, 1812	March 3, 1813
3	Thomas Posey	March 3, 1813	November 7, 1816	James Madison

Notes
¹John Gibson is sometimes known as Indiana's second territorial governor. In actuality he only served as acting governor of the Indiana Territory during the absences of Governor William Henry Harrison.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Indiana

The Northwest Territory was formed by the Congress of the Confederation on July 13, 1787, and included all land between the Appalachia and the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. This single territory became the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and eastern Minnesota. The Northwest Territory act had all the newly acquired territory surveyed according to the The Land Ordinance of 1785 for future development by the United States. The act also provided an administration to oversee the territory.

At the time the territory was created, there where only three American settlements in what would become the Indiana Territory, Vincennes, Kaskaskia and Clark's Grant. The entire population was under 5,000 Europeans. The Native American population was estimated to be near 20,000.^[1]

In 1785, the Northwest Indian War started. In an attempt to end the native rebellion, the Miami town of Kekionga was attacked unsuccessfully by General Josiah Harmar and Northwest Territory governor Arthur St. Clair.^[2] St. Clair's defeat is considered the worst defeat of the U.S. army by Native Americans in history. The defeat led to the appointment of General "Mad Anthony" Wayne who organized the Legion of the United States and defeated a Native American force at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. In 1795 the Treaty of Greenville was signed taking a slice of eastern Indiana for the United States. Fort Miamis at Kekionga was occupied by the United States, who rebuilt it as Fort Wayne. The powerful Miami nation would consider themselves allies with the United States after the treaty,^[3] but a new resistance movement began under Shawnee Chief Tecumseh.

On July 4, 1800, the Indiana Territory was established out of Northwest Territory in preparation for Ohio's statehood. The capitol of the new territory was to be Vincennes, a former French trading post and one of the only three white settlements in the vast territory.^[4] The name Indiana meant "Land of the Indians", and referred to the fact that most of the area north of the Ohio River was still inhabited by Native Americans. (Kentucky, South of the Ohio River, had been a traditional hunting ground for tribes that resided north of the river, and early American settlers in Kentucky referred to the North bank as the land of the Indians.) The Indiana Territory contained present day Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. Those areas were separated out in 1809. The first Governor of the Territory was William Henry Harrison, who served from 1800 until 1813. Harrison County was named in honor of Harrison, who later become the ninth President of The United States. Harrison was succeeded by Thomas Posey in 1813 who served until 1816.

As governor, Harrison had wide ranging powers in the new territory including the authority to appoint all territory officials, the territorial legislature, and dividing the territory into districts. A primary responsibility as territorial governor was to obtain title to Native American lands so that white settlement could expand in the area and the region could attain statehood.^[5] Harrison was also extremely eager to expand the territory for personal reasons, as his own political fortunes were tied to Indiana's rise to statehood. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson granted Harrison authority to negotiate and conclude treaties with the Indians. Harrison oversaw the creation of thirteen treaties, purchasing more than 60,000,000 acres (240,000 km²) of land including much of present day Indiana from Native American leaders. The Treaty of Grouseland in 1805 was thought by Harrison to have appeased Native Americans. But tensions remained high on the frontier and became much greater after the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, in which Harrison illegally purchased more than 2,500,000 acres (10,000 km²) of American Indian land.^[6]

In 1803 Harrison lobbied Congress to repeal the Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance to permit slavery in the Indiana Territory. He claimed it was necessary to make the region more appealing to settlers and ultimately make the territory economically viable. Congress suspended the article for ten years and the territories covered by the ordinance were granted the right to decide for their selves whether to permit slavery. That same year Harrison had indenturing legalized by the territorial legislature which he had appointed. He then proceeded to attempt to have slavery legalized outright in both 1805 and 1807. His attempts caused a significant stir in the territory. In 1809 he found himself at odds with the legislature when the abolitionist party came to power. They promptly rebuffed many of his plans for slavery and repealed the indenturing laws he had passed in 1803.^[7]

From 1800 to 1813, the territorial capital was Vincennes. Corydon served as the second territorial capital from 1813 to 1816, and would later serve as the first capital upon being granted Statehood. Originally the territory had just three counties: St. Clair, Wayne, and Knox. Knox County contained all of present-day Indiana. William Henry Harrison was the Governor of the Indiana Territory from May 13, 1800 to December 28, 1812. John Gibson, the Territorial Secretary, was acting Governor during Harrison's absences from July 4, 1800 to January 10, 1801 and from June 1812 to May 1813. Thomas Posey was appointed Governor in March 3, 1813 and served until the state's first Governor was sworn into office on November 7, 1816.

The first capitol was established in Vincennes where it remained for thirteen years. After the territory was reorganized in 1809, the legislature made plans to move the capitol to Corydon to be more centralized with the population. The new capitol building was finished in 1813 and the government relocated to Corydon. Corydon itself was established in 1808 on land donated by William Henry Harrison.^[8]

As the population of the territory grew so did the people's exercise of their freedoms. In 1809, the territory was granted permission to fully elect its own legislature for the first time. Prior to that time, the legislature had been appointed by Governor Harrison. Slavery in Indiana was the major issue in the territory at the time and the anti-slavery party won a strong majority in the first election. Governor Harrison found himself at odds with and overruled by the new legislature which proceeded to overturn the indenturing and slavery laws he had enacted. Slavery was the defining issue in the state for the decades to follow.^[9]

[edit] District of Louisiana

Main article: District of Louisiana

From October 1, 1804 until July 4, 1805, administrative powers of the District of Louisiana were extended to the governor and judges of the Indiana Territory. Under the terms of the act establishing the temporary government, the Governor and Judges of the Indiana Territory were supposed to meet twice a year in St. Louis, Missouri. Residents of the new district objected to many of the provisions of the new United States government. On July 4, 1805, the territory west of the Mississippi became Louisiana Territory.

One of the most notable events during this period was the Treaty of St. Louis in which the Sac and Fox ceded northeastern Missouri, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin to the United States. Resentments over this treaty were to cause the tribes to side with the British during the War of 1812 in raids along the Missouri, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and was to spur the Black Hawk War in 1832.

[edit] War of 1812

The first major event in the territory was the resumption of hostilities with the Indians. Unhappy with their treatment since the peace of 1795, the native tribes, let by the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and his brother, rose up against the Americans. Tecumseh's War started in 1811 when General William Henry Harrison led his army to rebuff the aggressive movements of Tecumseh's confederation.^[10] The war continued until the Battle of Tippecanoe which firmly ending the Native American uprising and allowed the Americans to take full control of all of Indiana. The Battle earned Harrison national fame, and the nickname "Old Tippecanoe".^[11] The victory opened up central Indiana to settlement allowed settlers to venture beyond the southern periphery of the state.

The war between Tecumseh and Harrison merged with the War of 1812 when the Indian Confederation allied with the British in Canada. The Battle of Fort Harrison is considered by some to be the United States' first land victory during the war. Other battles that occurred in the modern state of Indiana include the Siege of Fort Wayne, the Pigeon Roost Massacre and the Battle of the Mississinewa. The Treaty of Ghent, signed in 1814, ended the War and relieved American settlers from their fears of the nearby British and their Indian allies.^[12] For the first time, the United States had firm control over the Indiana Territory.

[edit] Statehood

In 1812, Jonathan Jennings defeated Harrison's chosen candidate and became the territory's representative to Congress. Jennings used his position there to speed up Indiana's path to statehood by immediately introducing legislation to grant Indiana statehood, even though the population of the entire territory was under 25,000. Jennings did this against the wishes of then-governor Thomas Posey. No action was taken on the legislation at the time though because of the outbreak of the War of 1812.

Posey had created a rift in the politics of the territory by refusing to reside in the capitol of Corydon, but instead living in Jeffersonville to be closer to his doctor.^[13] He further complicated matters by being a supporter of slavery much to the chagrin of opponents like Jennings, Dennis Pennington, and others who dominated the Territorial Legislature who sought to use the bid for statehood to permanently end slavery in the state.

In February 1815, the United States House of Representatives began debate on granting Indiana Territory statehood. On May 13, 1816, the Enabling Act was passed and the state was granted permission to form a government subject to the approval of Congress.^[14] A constitutional convention met in 1816 in Corydon. The state's first constitution was drawn up on June 10. The 43 delegates in charge of writing the state's constitution met inside the original Harrison County Courthouse. Because of cramped conditions inside the log courthouse and the summer heat, the delegates often sought refuge outside under a giant elm tree next to Big Indian Creek.^[15] This tree is now known as the Constitution Elm, and its trunk is still preserved.^[16][17]

[edit] See also

• Historic regions of the United States
• Illinois Territory
• Michigan Territory
• Northwest Territory
• Wisconsin Territory

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• Funk, Arville L. (1969, revised 1983). A Sketchbook of Indiana History. Rochester, Indiana: Christian Book Press. 

• Gresham,Matilda (1919). [Life of Walter Quintin Gresham 1832-1895 Life of Walter Quintin Gresham 1832-1895]. Rand McNally & company. 

• Whiting, Isaac (1840). A Sketch of the Life and Public Services of William Henry Harrison. I. N. Whiting. 

[edit] External links

• The Indiana Historian - Indiana Territory, PDF, retrieved 2008-05-16
• Act creating Indiana Territory, retrieved 2008-05-16
• Other acts concerning the Indiana Territory