Resolved, That the Territory Northwest of the river Ohio be divided into two distinct and separate governments, by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running through a north course, until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Canada.

16.

Creation of Indiana Territory (May 7, 1800).

On March 20, 1800, a bill for an act to divide the Northwest Territory into two separate governments was reported in the House. After full discussion, the bill passed the House on March 31 and the Senate on April 21 with amendments, and was then submitted to a conference committee for adjustment. The chief arguments in favor of the passage of the bill were made by Mr. William Henry Harrison who insisted that the government was too unwieldy; that numbers of families had removed to Spanish territory; that the number of inhabitants in the western division of the Territory was at least 15,000; and that it was the general wish of the people that a division should take place. Mr. Robert Goodloe Harper of South Carolina also supported the bill in a speech in which he asserted that a territory 1,000 miles in length and 700 in breadth, divided by an extensive wilderness, inhabited by Indians, was much too large, and the local situation too dissimilar to admit of being one government, either to enact equal laws or to provide for the execution of them. The opposition to the passage of the bill in the House was led by Mr. George Jackson of Virginia whose action was based on the belief that many of the people of the Territory had no knowledge or desire that the proposed division should take place or even that such a measure was under consideration. In his reply to Jackson's argument, Mr. Harrison stated that Mr. Jackson had obtained his information from an interested person who resided near Cincinnati, which would cease to be the seat of government if the proposed bill passed; he knew the information was inaccurate; believed that nine-tenths of the people were in favor of its passage, among whom were a great number of the members of the legislature, and although the Senate amendments had materially weakened the bill he was in favor of its passage in the amended form. The people of the Illinois country were in favor of a division of the Territory because their country was 800 miles in length and 400 in breadth; that many of them had to go 600 miles to a judicial court; that immigrants were very numerous.

[Annals, Sixth Congress, First Session, 1498.]

AN ACT to divide the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio, into two separate governments.

Be it enacted, etc., That, from and after the fourth day of July next, all that part of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Ohio river which lies to the west ward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States

and Canada, shall, for the purposes of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Indiana Territory.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be established within the said Territory a Government in all respects similar to that provided by the ordinance of Congress, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eightyseven for the government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the river Ohio; and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to, and enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges, and advantages, granted and secured to the people by the said ordinance.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the officers for the said Territory, who, by virtue of this act shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent. of the Senate, shall respectively exercise the same powers, perform the same duties, and receive for their services the same compensations, as by the ordinance aforesaid and the laws of the United States, have been provided and established for similar officers in the Territory of the United States Northwest of the river Ohio: And the duties and emoluments of Superintendent of Indian Affairs shall be united with those of Governor: Provided, That the President of the United States shall have full power, in the recess of Congress, to appoint and commission all officers herein authorized; and their commissions shall continue in force until the end of the next session of Congress.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That so much of the ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Ohio river, as relates to the organization of a General Assembly therein, and prescribes the powers thereof, shall be in force and operate in the Indiana Territory, whenever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the Governor thereof that such is the wish of a majority of the freeholders, not withstanding there may not be therein five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards: Provided, That, until there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of twenty-one years and upwards in said Territory, the whole number of representatives to the General Assembly shall not be less than seven, nor more than nine, to be apportioned by the Governor to the several counties in the said Territory, agreeably to the number of free males of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, which they may res, ectively contain.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed so as in any manner to affect the Government now in force in the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Ohio river, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof within the Indiana Territory, from and after the aforesaid fourth day of July next: Provided, That, whenever that part of the Territory of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line. beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent State, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line between such State and the Indiana Territory, anything in this act contained to the contrary not withstanding.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, until it sh 1l be otherwise ordered by the Legislatures of the said Territories, respectively, Chilicothe, on Scioto river, shall be the seat of the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Ohio river; and that Saint Vincennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of the Government for the Indiana Territory.

Approved, May 7, 1800.

17. Favorable Senate Report on Creation of Michigan Territory (October 27, 1803).

On October 21, 1803, a memorial of Joseph Harrison and other citizens of Michigan was presented in the Senate asking for the creation of a separate government. This memorial was presented to a select committee which presented the following report on October 27.

[Annals, Eighth Congress, First Session, 29.]

The committee to whom was referred the memor al of Joseph Harrison and others, resident in that part of the Indiana Territory which lies north of an east and west line, extending through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, report:

That it appears from the census taken under the authority of the United States in the year 1800, the territory above described contained three thousand nine hundred and seventy-two free white inhabitants at that time.

It also appears, from the best information that the committee have been able to obtain, that these inhabitants are separated from the other settlements of the Indiana Territory by a tract of the Indian country, at least three hundred and fifty miles in extent;

and that Vincennes, the seat of Government of the Indiana Territory, and place of residence of the Governor and other officers appointed to govern the same, is still more distant.

The committee are of opinion, that the local situation of the inhabitants of Detroit, and of the adjacent settlements, requires the special attention of the General Government, for reasons too obvious to every one, who will examine their geographical situations, to be enumerated.

On the one side, their settlements adjoin to, and are bounded by, the British Province of Canada; and on the other sides, are wholly encompassed by Indian tribes. Thus situated, and in a quarter so interesting to the Union, it is the opinion of the committee, that every accommodation and arrangement which would tend to populate and strengthen that quarter, and thereby enable the General Government with the least expense to maintain good order, ought to be extended to them. Were even these considerations without any weight, the committee conceive that the unreasonable delays and difficulties which must necessarily exist in the administration of justice, and the other concerns of these inhabitants, detached as they are from Vincennes, the residence of the Governor and other principal officers of the Territory, require that a separate territorial government should be extended to them. Under these impressions your committee respectfully submit the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the prayer of the memorial of Joseph Harrison and others ought to be granted, and that all that portion of the Indiana Territory which lies north of a line drawn east from the southernmost extreme of Lake Michigan, until it intersects Lake Erie, and west from the said southernmost extreme of Lake Michigan until it shall intersect the Mississippi river, shall form a separate Territory, and that the said Territory shall, in all respects, be governed by, and according to, the principles and regulations contained in 'An ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the river Ohio,' passed on the 13th day of July, 1787.''

18. Unfavorable House Report on Creation of Michigan Territory (December 29, 1803).

On November 4, 1803, a bill was reported in the Senate providing for the creation of Michigan Territory, which passed on December 6. On December 8, the bill, having been reported to the House, was referred to a select committee who submitted a report opposing the passage of the bill. This report was the subject of an animated debate. The report was supported chiefly

on the grounds that the population around Detroit was too small to justify the expense of supporting a separate territorial government, and that if the advantages derived from a separate government were conferred on them they might, and would be claimed, with equal justice, by several detached settlements in the Mississippi and Louisiana Territories. The report was opposed on the theory that equal justice was due to every member of the American community, and that however small the population it was entitled to the same protection with a community composed of larger numbers; that the distance of this population from St. Vincennes was so great as to deprive them of the benefits resulting from the administration of justice; that Michilimackinac, which exported produce valued at more than $200,000, and from whose imports the United States derived a revenue of $17,000, was more than 800 miles from the present seat of government. Thirty-four votes were registered against the report and the bill was then advanced to third reading but was defeated on February 21 by a vote of 58-59.

[Annals, Eighth Congress, Appendix, 1589.]

Communicated to the House December 29, 1803.

Mr. Lucas, from the committee appointed on the eighth instant, to whom was committed the bill sent from the Senate, entitled, "An Act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments," made the following report:

That, by the ordinance for the government of the territory north of the river Ohio, it is stipulated that when any of the three divisions, pointed out to form separate States, shall contain 60,000 inhabitants, that division shall become a State in the Union, and have a right to exercise and enjoy a form of government free and republican. That it appears that nearly all the people contemp'ated to be governed by a territorial government, according to the bill from the Senate, are within the boundaries pointed out by the ordinance to form the State, which is now called the State of Ohio, and that they have a right to be a part of said State, and to be governed in conjunction with the people of said State, until Congress shall think proper to make a State of that and the adjacent country, agreeably to the said ordinance. Of course, your committee cannot recommend to the United States, to take upon themselves at this time, the expenses of a separate territorial government over that part of the country.

From the foregoing considerations, your committee respectfully submit their opinion, that the said bill ought not to be passed by this House.

19.

Creation of Michigan Territory (January 11, 1805).

On December 5, 1804, a petition of James May and others of Michigan Territory was presented in the Senate asking for the division of Indiana