Treaty of Greenville
Treaty with the Wyandots, etc. | |
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Ratifiers | United States Senate |
Language | English |
Full text | |
Treaty of Greenville at Wikisource |
The Treaty of Greenville, also known to Americans as the Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., but formally titled A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the
It was signed at
The treaty became synonymous with the end of the frontier in that part of the Northwest Territory that would become the new state of Ohio.
Participants
General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, who had led the US Army victory at Fallen Timbers and led the US government delegation. Other members included William Wells, William Henry Harrison, William Clark, Caleb Swan, and Meriwether Lewis.
Native American leaders who signed the treaty included leaders of these bands and tribes:
Following their defeat at
Wayne revealed that the U.S. Senate had recently ratified the Jay Treaty, ensuring that Great Britain would no longer provide aid to the Native Americans.[4] Tarhe confirmed that previous treaties had been signed by chiefs who were at Greenville and warned his fellow Indigenous tribal leaders that Wayne had the military power to take all of their lands if they did not negotiate.[3] Little Turtle and the Miami remained the lone dissent in the confederacy. At a private council between Wayne and Little Turtle on August 12, Wayne argued that the Miami chief was standing against the will of the confederate majority. Little Turtle reluctantly signed, stating that he was the last to sign, and would therefore be the last to break the treaty, even though he disagreed with the terms.[5]
The day after the Treaty of Greenville was signed, Little Turtle's wife died in camp. She was carried to a grave by US Soldiers and given a three-gun salute.[6]
The treaty was signed by President George Washington and ratified by the United States Senate on December 22, 1795.[7]
Terms
The treaty consisted of ten articles.
Land for annuity
The treaty established what became known as the Greenville Treaty Line, as delineated below. For several years, it distinguished Native American territory from lands open to European-American settlers, who, however, continued to encroach. In exchange for goods to the value of $20,000 (such as blankets, utensils, and domestic animals), the Native American tribes ceded to the United States large parts of modern-day Ohio.
The treaty also established the "annuity" system of payment in return for Native American cessions of land east of the treaty line. Yearly grants of
Treaty line
The treaty redefined with slight modifications the boundaries in Ohio established previously by the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785 and reasserted in the Treaty of Fort Harmar in 1789. In particular, the western boundary, which formerly ran northwesterly to the Maumee River, now ran southerly to the Ohio River.[9][10][11]
Ohio had developed settlements and defined tracts of land prior to 1795, including the
The treaty line began at the mouth of the
Other parcels of land
There were also other forts along the Great Lakes, such as
The treaty also permitted established US Army posts and allocated strategic reserved tracts within the Indian Country to the north and the west of the ceded lands, the most important of which was the future site of
The treaty exempted established settlements at St. Vincennes, General Clark's grant, various French settlements, and Fort Massac from relinquishment.[11]
Miscellaneous provisions
The United States renounced all claims to indigenous peoples' lands not within the treaty line in Ohio or parcels exempted. The indigenous groups were obliged to recognize the United States as the sole sovereign power in the entire territory, but the local peoples would otherwise have free use of their own lands as long as they were kindly disposed to American settlers. The treaty also arranged for an exchange of prisoners and specified the parties that would be responsible for enforcing the boundary and punishing transgressions.[11]
Criticism
After the signing of the treaty, the so-called "peace chiefs"—such as Little Turtle—who advocated for cooperation with the United States, were roundly criticized by Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who stated that the peace chiefs had given away land that they did not own. Tecumseh fought against the Americans during the War of 1812 and was killed in battle in 1813.[22][23]
Aftermath
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2020) |
The negotiated peace was only temporary. Anthony Wayne who promised to protect the treaty would die a year later. A Spanish spy James Wilkinson would take command of his army. Continuing encroachments by settlers on Indian Country north and west of the treaty line (and of future treaty lines established by the Treaty of Vincennes, Treaty of Grouseland, and Treaty of Fort Wayne of 1809), especially in Indiana, would lead a disgruntled Tecumseh, who had not signed the Treaty of Greenville, to reform the Confederacy at Prophetstown over the following decade.[24] Unrest among the tribes culminated in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, a major defeat for indigenous nations that may have contributed to their siding with the British in the War of 1812.[25][26]
The Treaty of Greenville closed the frontier in the Northwest Territory. Thereafter began a series of purchases of indigenous peoples' lands by treaty and Indigenous tribe removals by law throughout the territory and its successors, interrupted briefly by the War of 1812. Indians were moved west of the Mississippi River to Indian Country reservations in what later became the state of Oklahoma in a process that culminated with the dismantling of the Great Miami Reserve in Indiana by treaties in the 1830s. By 1840, the Old Northwest was essentially clear of indigenous peoples. Future conflicts would all be west of the Mississippi.[27]
The treaty line would become the southwestern boundary of the Northwest Territory at its division in 1800. Upon Ohio statehood in 1803, the western boundary of Ohio ran due north from a place on the Ohio River somewhat east of the south-southwesterly treaty line, leaving a sliver of land called "The Gore" in what is today southeastern Indiana remaining as part of the Northwest Territory. "The Gore" was ceded to Indiana Territory at that time, and became Dearborn County in March 1803.[28]
Meriwether Lewis and William Henry Harrison were both present at the treaty signing. The former would go on to launch the Lewis and Clark Expedition with William Clark in 1804, and the latter would later become the 9th President of the United States in 1841.[29]
Fort Greenville was abandoned in 1796; it would be another 12 years before the settlement of Greenville, Ohio, was founded on the site.[30][31]
It was the last treaty signed by Gen. Wayne, who died just over a year later, in December 1796.[32]
Depictions
A painting commemorating the treaty hangs in the Ohio Statehouse. It was completed by Ohio artist Howard Chandler Christy. At 23 feet (7.0 m) wide, it is the largest painting in the Ohio Statehouse.[33]
Gallery
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Treaty of Greenville medal
See also
Notes
References
- ^ for Nathanael Greene, a Major General in the Revolutionary War
- ^ "Address of Black Hoof, 5 February 1802". Retrieved October 26, 2019 – via National Archives.
- ^ LCCN 2017953580.
- ISBN 0253307511.
- ISBN 0-8061-2488-1.
- ISBN 0-8061-2488-1.
- ISBN 0-8061-3585-9.
- ^ Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty
- ^ "Treaty With The Wyandot, Etc., 1785". Oklahoma State University Libraries Tribal Treaties Database.
- ^ "Treaty With The Wyandot, Etc., 1789". Oklahoma State University Libraries Tribal Treaties Database.
- ^ a b c d "Treaty With The Wyandot, Etc., 1795". Oklahoma State University Libraries Tribal Treaties Database.
- ^ Barrow, William C. (August 3, 2020). "Western Reserve". Case Western Reserve University Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
- ^ Knepper, George W. (2002). The Official Ohio Lands Book. The Auditor of the State of Ohio.
- ^ "History & Heritage". Symmes Township. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-7862-7.
- ISBN 978-0-920474-79-2.
- ^ "Treaty with The Wyandot etc – 1795". www.firstpeople.us. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
- ^ "Fort Dearborn". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0226428963
- ^ see Article 3 #8
- ^ see Article 3 #11
- ^ Miller, Robert (July 2009). "Tecumseh". ResearchGate.
- ISBN 978-0-87195-387-2.
- ^ Hemenway Eric; Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. "Summer 1795: The Treaty of Greenville creates an uneasy peace". National Park Service. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ Heidler, David; Heidler, Jeanne T. "Courting Victory: British, Native and American alliances". National Park Service.
- ^ "Autumn 1811: The Battle of Tippecanoe". National Park Service.
- ^ "Treaties". Oklahoma State University Libraries Tribal Treaties Database.
- ^ "A special slice of Indiana with a unique history". Tribune-Star. October 5, 2014.
- ^ "Lewis and Clark—Indiana Connections". The Indiana Historian: 1. 2003 – via IN.gov.
- ^ "Fort Greenville (Ohio)". The Archaeological Conservancy. November 28, 2014.
- ^ Tikkanen, Amy. "Greenville". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ "Wayne, General Anthony". Detroit Historical Society.
- ^ "Capitol Ohio : The Treaty Of Greenville (Art Walk Series)". Ohio Statehouse.