Vandalia (colony)

Vandalia was the name of a proposed British colony in North America (Anderson 1979:375). The colony was located south of the Ohio River, primarily in what is now the U.S. states of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

Although Vandalia never functioned formally, some pioneers did settle there, whose numbers were adequate to propose (unsuccessfully) that Vandalia receive statehood as Westsylvania when the US became independent.[1]

Contents

History

In the 18th century, British land speculators attempted to colonize the Ohio Valley a number of times, most notably in 1748 when the British Crown granted a petition of the Ohio Company for 200,000 acres (800 km²) near the "Forks of the Ohio" (present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).[2] The outbreak of the French and Indian War (1754–63) and Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–66) delayed colonization in the region.[3]

After Pontiac's Rebellion, merchants who had lost goods in the war formed a group known as the "suffering traders", later known as the Indiana Company. At the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768), the "suffering traders" — most notably Samuel Wharton and William Trent — received a grant of land (the "Indiana Grant") along the Ohio River from the Iroquois as restitution for their losses.[4] When Wharton and Trent went to England in 1769 to have their grant confirmed, they combined forces with the Ohio Company to form a new consortium known as the Grand Ohio Company or the Walpole Company. The Grand Ohio Company eventually received an even larger grant than the Indiana Grant.[5] A new colony was planned, initially called "Pittsylvania" (Wright 1988:212) but later known as Vandalia, in honor of Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), who was thought to be descended from the Vandals.[6][7][8]

Opposition from rival interest groups[9] and the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–83) prevented Vandalia from coming into existence.[10] During the war, some settlers in the region petitioned the American Continental Congress to recognize a new province to be known as Westsylvania, which had approximately the same borders as the earlier Vandalia proposal. Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed the region, however, and blocked recognition of a new state.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cranmer, History of the Upper Ohio, 1:59–63
  2. ^ Anderson, James Donald, 'Vandalia: The First West Virginia?' , Volume 40, No. 4 (Summer 1979), pp. 375-92, (A copyrighted publication of West Virginia Archives and History) [1] (ret. 1/20/11)
  3. ^ Currey, Cecil B, 'Road to Revolution: Benjamin Franklin in England, 1765-1775' , ), 248-54, Doubleday Anchor Books, Garden City, N.Y. 1968.
  4. ^ Marshall, Peter. 'Lord Hillsborough, Samuel Wharton, and the Ohio Grant, 1769- 1775' , English Historical Review, LXXX (1965), 717-18
  5. ^ Croghan to T. Wharton, December 9, 1773, "Letters of George Croghan," PMHB, XV (1891), 436-37. Any migration westward could help Croghan sell some of his own lands at Fort Pitt. James Donald Anderson, 1978
  6. ^ Otis K. Rice and Stephen W. Brown. West Virginia: A History. 2nd Ed. University Press of Kentucky, 1994. p. 30. ISBN 978-0813118543
  7. ^ David W. Miller. The Taking of American Indian Lands in the Southeast: A History of Territorial Cessions and Forced Relocations, 1607-1840. McFarland, 2011. p. 41. ISBN 978-0786462773
  8. ^ Thomas J. Schaeper. Edward Bancroft: Scientist, Author, Spy. Yale University Press, 2011. p. 34. ISBN 978-0300118421
  9. ^ Gipson, Lawrence Henry, The British Empire Before the American Revolution, 15 vols. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946-1970, IX 457-88
  10. ^ Carter, Clarence Edwin, Great Britain and the Illinois Country, 1763-1773, Kennikat Press, Port Washington, N.Y 1970.
  11. ^ Abernethy, Thomas Perkins. Western Lands and the American Revolution. Originally published 1937. New York: Russell & Russell, 1959

Biblio

External links