388 PLANS FOR SETTLING THE WEST; INDIAN TREATIES. the Ohio Company, which had been formed for the purpose of colonization in the western lands. Upon the close of the Revolutionary War in 1783, the soldiers and officers found themselves confronted with grim penury and began to look about for some peaceful occupation.* Even before the treaty of peace was signed, it was rumored that a movement was on foot to form a new state in the West. Writing to Hodgdon, Timothy Pickering says: "A new plan is in contemplation - no less than forming a new State west of the Ohio. Some of the principal officers of the army are heartily engaged in it. About a week since the matter was set on foot and a plan is digesting for the purpose. Enclosed is a rough draft of some propositions respecting it, which are generally approved of. They are in the hands of General Huntington and General [Rufus] Putnam for consideration, amendment and addition." Pickering's propositions related to the establishment of a sort of brotherhood community of soldiers. † In June, 1783, Putnam sent a memorial to Washington, who forwarded it to Congress, and similar memorials were sent directly to that body, but it was urged that the title 254. Roosevelt, Winning of the West, vol. iii., p. † Dunn, Indiana, pp. 196–197. The propositions are given in full in Pickering, Life of Pickering, vol. i., pp. 546-549. See also Rowena Buell, Memoirs of Rufus Putnam, p. 215; W. P. & J. P. Cutler, Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, vol. i., pp. 159-174. to western lands was too unsettled for any definite action, and in October 29 of that year Congress formally gave notice that for the time being it could make no provision for the soldiers.* In 1785 Putnam was elected surveyor for Massachusetts, under the land ordinance, but, as he was unable to serve, General Benjamin Tupper was temporarily appointed to the position. In the summer of that year Tupper set out for the West, but upon reaching Pittsburg learned that the Indians were on the warpath and proceeded no farther. The Shawanese were the principal objectors to the advance of the whites. By the treaty of Fort Stanwix, October 22, 1784, the Iroquois surrendered all claims to lands northwest of the Ohio, but the western tribes disputed that the Iroquois had title there. By the treaty of Fort McIntosh, January 21, 1785, a part of the Chippewas, Wyandots, Ottawas and Delawares ceded more than half of Ohio, and in the latter part of 1785, General Samuel Holden Parsons joined George Rogers Clark and Colonel Richard Butler in an endeavor to bring the Shawanese to terms. Though the Indians were reluctant to surrender their old towns, the commissioners pointed out to them that they held their territory only by the sufferance of the tribes which had already ceded, and * Dunn, p. 197. Journals of Congress, vol. iv., pp. 527-547. THE OHIO COMPANY; PARSONS' MEMORIAL. that unless they relinquished the territory, war would be declared against them. On January 31, 1786, therefore, they signed a treaty at Fort Finney, at the mouth of the Great Miami, surrendering their territory, and with the consent of the Wyandots and Delawares, were given a tract of land running from the northern part of the Great Miami to the Wabash.* Meanwhile, so favorably impressed was Tupper with his view of the West, that upon his return to Massachusetts he determined to organize a band of emigrants in the New England States, for colonizing in the West; and in January, 1786, he and Putnam formed an association for that purpose called the Ohio Company. A meeting of Massachusetts man was held at Boston in March, and a plan devised for raising a fund of $1,000,000, in continental certificates, the funds to be applied to the purchase and settlement of lands in the western territory. This fund was to be divided into 1,000 shares of $1,000 each; every lot of 20 shares was to constitute a division which was to choose an agent, and the latter were to elect directors and a treasurer. Considering the prevailing financial conditions, subscriptions came in rapidly, and on March 8, 1787, a meeting of agents was held, at which Putnam, Parsons, and Manasseh Cutler were made directors. These men * 175. were Dunn, Indiana, p. 198; King, Ohio, pp. 174 389 chosen to go before Congress for the purpose of obtaining the right to purchase the lands.* By the time Cutler reached New York, the memorial of the Ohio Company had already been drawn up by Parsons and presented to Congress (May 9). It was a most opportune time, as the Ordinance for the Government of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio was then under consideration by Congress. The memorial drawn up by Parsons asked that "a Tract of Country within the Western Territory of the United States at some convenient Place may be granted them at a reasonable Price, upon their paying a Sum not exceeding One Million of Dollars, nor less than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars, and that Such of the Associators as by the Resolutions of Congress are entitled to receive their Lands for their military Services, may have their Lands assigned them within the aforesaid Grant."† While this memorial contained no objection to the Ordinance then before Congress, it is reasonable to suppose that it exerted a great influence in stopping action on it, and resulted in the introduction of a new draft. Because of the financial needs of the country, the plan greatly appealed to Congress, as by this one transaction there was a McMaster, United States, vol. i., pp. 504-507; Dunn, Indiana, p. 199; King, Ohio, p. 195. For the Articles of Agreement, see Cutler, Cutler, vol. i., 181-184. pp. + Dunn, Indiana, pp. 199–200. 390 ORDINANCE OF 1787 PASSED; CUTLER'S NEGOTIATIONS. prospect of materially reducing the public debt.* But a quorum was lacking in Congress, and none could be obtained from May 12 until July 4, and Parsons therefore decided to return home, turning over the actual negotiation to his co-director, Manasseh Cutler. Cutler arrived at New York on July 5, and on the following day, as a quorum was present in Congress, made a new proposal for the purchase, which the same day went to the old committee on Parsons' memorial. On the 9th the report on the Ordinance was sent to a new committee consisting of Dane, Smith, of New York; Carrington and Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and Kean, of South Carolina, and it was determined to push this to a conclusion befor considering the matter of the sale. The committee reported on the 11th, and having been made a special order of business the report was read and amended on the 12th. On the 13th it was advanced to the third reading and passed, Abraham Yates, Jr., whom Roosevelt calls a "nobody from New York,” registering the only vote against it.† Cutler now experienced much difficulty in obtaining the terms he desired, which were chiefly "three shillings, six pence, Continental money, Ibid, p. 201. Ibid, pp. 203-204, 215. On the debate, see Bancroft, vol. vi., pp. 227-291; McMaster, vol. i., pp. 507-508; Roosevelt, Winning of the West, vol. iii., pp. 256-257. or one-twelfth of a dollar coin, per acre, for the tract, with sections 8, 11, and 26 of each township to be reserved by Congress for future sale, section 16 to be donated for school land, section 29 to be donated for religious purposes, and two entire townships to be donated for a university.' On July 19 Congress came to the conclusion that the lowest price acceptable per acre for the land was a dollar in specie, or Continental money on a specie basis, but a discount of 33 1-3 per cent. was allowed for bad lands, expenses, etc. No allowance was made, however, for a university or for religious purposes. Cutler refused these terms, but at the instigation of Colonel William Duer, and the urging of Winthrop Sargent, secretly consented to take in another company, and to buy lands as its agent, though apparently for his own GRANT TO THE OHIO COMPANY; MARIETTA FOUNDED. on the 27th of July the bill passed, making the reservations for university and religious purposes for which Cutler had stipulated.* The contract was formally signed October 27, 1787, by the treasury board, and by Cutler and Sargent as agents for the Ohio Company.† According to the entry in Cutler's Journal, the company obtained" the grant of near five million of acres of land, amounting to three million and a half of dollars; one million and a half of acres for the Ohio Company, and the remainder for a private speculation, in which many of the principal characters of America are concerned.‡ Without connecting this speculation, similar terms and advantages could not have been obtained for the Ohio company." Putnam was made superintendent and the company was given immediate possession. In the spring of 1788 two parties of settlers (including surveyors, boat-builders, smiths, carpenters, farmers and laborers, 48 in all) left for the West, one by water and the other by land, and on April 7 a little town was es Dunn, Indiana, pp. 217-218. According to McMaster, this was probably the || Extracts from Cutler's Journal were published in North American Review, vol. iii., p. 520, and in Annals of the West, p. 308 et seq. See also Cutler, Life, Journals and Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler (1888); John M. Merriam, The Legislative History of the Ordinance of 1787, in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, n. s. vol. v., p. 303; William F. Poole, Dr. Cutler and the Ordinance of 1787, in North American Review, vol. cxxii., pp. 229-265. 391 tablished on the site of the present city of Marietta, which name was given it at the first meeting of the directors, July 2, in honor of Marie Antoinette.* "No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices," said Washington. "Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. 't As the Ordinance of 1787 constituted the basis of the territorial governments provided by Congress, and as its principles lie at the foundation of the civil polity of a considerable portion of the country, we will give its provisions somewhat at large.|| For the present the territory was to be one district, but could be divided into two, whenever Congress should * Roosevelt, Winning of the West, vol. iii., p. 265; King, Ohio, pp. 197-198; McMaster, United States, vol. i., pp. 508-515. † Ford's ed. of Washington's Writings, vol. xi., p. 282. Daniel Webster said: "I doubt whether one single law of any law-giver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." || Pitkin, vol. ii., pp. 210-213; McLaughlin, The Confederation and the Constitution, p. 120 et seq.; Curtis, History of the Constitution, vol. i., pp. 302-306 (Constitutional History, vol, i., p. 203 et seq.); Poore, Federal and State Constitutions, pt. i., pp. 429-432; United States Statutes-at-Large (ed. 1845), pp. 50-51; Story, Exposition of the Constitution, pp. 329-337; Preston, Documents Relating to American History, pp. 241-250; MacDonald, Select Documents, pp. 2229; Hough, American Constitutions, vol. ii., pp. 144-148; Thorpe, Federal and State Constitutions, vol. ii., pp. 957-962; Andrews, Manual of the Constitution, app. xiii.; Donaldson, Public Domain, pp. 153-156; Duer, Constitutional Independence, pp. 512-520; Clusky, Political Text-Book, pp. 469-472; St. Clair Papers, vol. ii., p. 612; Albach, Annals of the West, p. 466. See also Appendix I. at the end of the present chapter. 392 PROVISIONS OF THE ORDINANCE. deem wise. The Ordinance provided that until the free male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, should number five thousand, the legislative, executive, and judicial power should be vested in a governor and three judges, who, with a secretary, were to be appointed by Congress. The governor was to hold office three years, and the judges during good behavior. The governors and judges were given the power to adopt and publish such laws of the original States as might be necessary or suitable to the affairs of the district, and to report them to Congress, these laws to be enforced unless disapproved by that body. The governor had power to divide the territory into districts or townships, and to appoint all civil officers. As soon as the free male inhabitants should number five thousand, an assembly, consisting of the governor, a legislative council, and a house of representatives, was to be instituted. The representatives were to be chosen, for a period of two years, from the counties or townships, one for every five hundred free male inhabitants, until they should number twenty-five, after which time the legislature should regulate the number. These representatives must have been residents of the United States for three years, residents of the districts from which they were elected or have resided three years in the district. In either case they must possess in fee simple two hundred acres of land in the district. The electors must reside in the district, be citizens of one of the States, and have a freehold of fifty acres of land in the district, or a like freehold and two years' residence. The legislative council was to be composed of five persons, chosen for a term of five years, subject to removal by Congress. The method of choosing them was as follows: ten persons, who were the possessors of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, were to be nominated by the house of representatives, and out of this number Congress was to choose five who should constitute the council. All laws for the government of the district were to be made by the general assembly, but none were to be enacted contrary to the provisions of the Ordinance; and before these enactments could become law they must have had the sanction of a majority of both houses and the assent of the governor. The legislative assembly, by joint ballot, was to elect a delegate to Congress who should have the privilege of debating, but not of voting. At the same time Congress established certain articles which were to be considered as articles of compact between the people in the new territory and the original States, and which could not be altered except by the common consent of all. Religious liberty was established and all were entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and other fundamental rights. Education was to be encouraged and good faith |