Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1760-1775; 1763-1764; 1765; and 1766.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1766-1768.
The Townshend Duties.
The Circular Letter of Massachusetts.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1766-1767; and 1767-1768.

{2375}

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1766-1771.
The insurrection of the Regulators.
Battle of Alamance.

Complaints of official extortion, which were loud in several
of the colonies at about the same period, led to serious
results in North Carolina. "Complaints were most rife in the
middle counties, a very barren portion of the province, with a
population generally poor and ignorant. These people
complained, and not without reason—for the poor and ignorant
are ever most exposed to oppression—not only that excessive
fees were extorted, but that the sheriffs collected taxes of
which they rendered no account. They seem also to have held
the courts and lawyers—indeed, the whole system for the
collection of debts —in great detestation. Presently, under
the name of 'Regulators,' borrowed from South Carolina, they
formed associations which not only refused the payment of
taxes, but assaulted the persons and property of lawyers,
judges, sheriffs, and other obnoxious individuals, and even
proceeded so far as to break up the sessions of the courts.
The common name of Regulators designated, in the two
Carolinas, combinations composed of different materials, and
having different objects in view. The Assembly of the province
took decided ground against them, and even expelled one of
their leaders, who had been elected a member. After
negotiations and delays, and broken promises to keep the
peace, Governor Tryon, at the head of a body of volunteers,
marched into the disaffected counties. The Regulators
assembled in arms, and an action was fought at Alamance, on
the Haw, near the head waters of Cape Fear River, in which
some 200 were left dead upon the field. Out of a large number
taken prisoners, six were executed for high treason. Though
the Regulators submitted, they continued to entertain a deadly
hatred against the militia of the lower counties, which had
taken part against them. Tryon was presently removed from
North Carolina to New York. His successor, Joseph Martin,
anxious to strengthen himself against the growing discontents
of the province, promised to redress the grievances, and
sedulously cultivated the good will of the Regulators, and
with such success that they became, in the end, staunch
supporters of the royal authority."

_R. Hildreth,
History of the United States,
chapter 29 (volume 2). _

ALSO IN:
_F. X. Martin,
History of North Carolina,
chapters 7-8._

_J. H. Wheeler,
History of North Carolina,
chapter 8._

_F. L. Hawks,
Battle of the Alamance
(Revised History of North Carolina)._

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1768-1774.
Opening events of the Revolution.

See BOSTON: A. D. 1768, to 1773;
and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1770, to 1774.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1769-1772.
The first settlement of Tennessee.
The Watauga Association.

See TENNESSEE: A. D. 1769-1772.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1775.
The beginning of the War of the American Revolution.
Lexington.
Concord.
Action on the news.
Ticonderoga.
The Siege of Boston.
Bunker Hill.
The Second Continental Congress.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1775.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1775 (May).
The Mecklenburg Declaration.

"It has been strenuously claimed and denied that, at a meeting
of the people of Mecklenburg County, in North Carolina, on May
20, 1775, resolutions were passed declaring their independence
of Great Britain. The facts in the case appear to be these:—On
the 31st of May, 1775, the people of this county did pass
resolutions quite abreast of the public sentiment of that
time, but not venturing on the field of independency further
than to say that these resolutions were to remain in force
till Great Britain resigned its pretensions. These resolutions
were well written, attracted notice, and were copied into the
leading newspapers of the colonies, North and South, and can
be found in various later works (Lossing's 'Field-Book,' ii,
619, etc.). A copy of the 'South Carolina Gazette' containing
them was sent by Governor Wright, of Georgia, to Lord
Dartmouth, and was found by Bancroft in the State Paper
Office, while in the Sparks MSS. (no. lvi) is the record of a
copy sent to the home government by Governor Martin of North
Carolina, with a letter dated June 30, 1775. Of these
resolutions there is no doubt (Frothingham's 'Rise of the
Republic,' 422). In 1793, or earlier, some of the actors in
the proceeding, apparently ignorant that the record of these
resolutions had been preserved in the newspapers, endeavored
to supply them from memory, unconsciously intermingling some
of the phraseology of the Declaration of July 4th, in
Congress, which gave them the tone of a pronounced
independency. Probably through another dimness of memory they
affixed the date of May 20, 1775, to them. These were first
printed in the 'Raleigh Register,' April 30, 1819. They are
found to resemble in some respects the now known resolves of
May 31st, as well as the national Declaration in a few
phrases. In 1829 Martin printed them, much altered, in his
'North Carolina' (ii, 272) but it is not known where this copy
came from. In 1831 the State printed the text of the 1819
copy, and fortified it with recollections and certificates of
persons affirming that they were present when the resolutions
were passed on the 20th."

_J. Winsor,
Note in Narrative and Critical History of America,
volume 6, page 256._

"We are inclined to conjecture that there was a popular
meeting at Charlottetown on the 19th and 20th of May, where
discussion was had on the subject of independence, and
probably some more or less explicit understanding arrived at,
which became the basis of the committee's action on the 31st.
If so, we make no doubt that J. McN. Alexander was secretary
of that meeting. He, probably, in that case, recorded the
proceedings, and among them some resolution or resolutions in
regard to the propriety of throwing off the British yoke. … It
was in attempting to remember the records of that meeting,
destroyed by fire, that John McN. Alexander, then an old man,
fell into the errors" which led him, in 1800, to certify, as
Secretary, a copy of the document called the Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence.

_H. S. Randall,
Life of Jefferson,
volume 3, appendix 2._

ALSO IN:
_W. A. Graham,
Address on the Mecklenburg Declaration, 1875._

_F. L. Hawks,
The Mecklenburg Declaration
(Revised History of Georgia)._

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1775-1776.
The arming of the loyalist Highlanders
and their defeat at Moore's Creek.
The first colony vote for independence.

"North Carolina was the first colony to act as a unit in favor
of independence. It was the fourth in importance of the United
Colonies. Its Provincial Congress had organized the militia,
and vested the public authority in a provincial council for
the whole colony, committees of safety for the districts, and
county and town committees. A large portion of the people were
adherents of the crown,—among them a body of Highland
emigrants, and most of the party of regulators. Governor
Martin represented, not without grounds, that, if these
loyalists were supported by a British force, the colony might
be gained to the royal side.
{2376}
The loyalists were also numerous in Georgia and South
Carolina. Hence it was determined by the King to send an
expedition to the Southern Colonies in the winter, to restore
the royal authority. This was put under the command of Sir
Henry Clinton, and ordered to rendezvous at Cape Fear. 'I am
clear,' wrote George III., 'the first attempt should be made
on North Carolina, as the Highland settlers are said to be
well inclined.' Commissions were issued to men of influence
among them, one being Allan McDonald, the husband of the
chivalrous Flora McDonald, who became famous by romantic
devotion to Prince Charles Edward. Donald McDonald was
appointed the commander. These officers, under the direction
of the governor, after much secret consultation, enrolled
about 1,500 men. The popular leaders, however, were informed
of their designs. The militia were summoned, and took the
field under Colonel James Moore. At length, when Sir Henry
Clinton was expected at Cape Fear, General McDonald erected
the royal standard at Cross Creek, now Fayetteville, and moved
forward to join Clinton. Colonel Moore ordered parties of the
militia to take post at Moore's Creek Bridge, over which
McDonald would be obliged to pass. Colonel Richard Caswell was
at the head of one of these parties: hence the force here was
under his command: and this place on the 27th of February
[1776] became a famous battle-field. The Provincials were
victorious. They captured a great quantity of military
supplies, nearly 900 men, and their commander. This was the
Lexington and Concord of that region. The newspapers
circulated the details of this brilliant result. The spirit of
the Whigs run high. … A strong force was soon ready and
anxious to meet Clinton. Amidst these scenes, the people
elected delegates to a Provincial Congress, which met, on the
4th of April [1776], at Halifax. … Attempts were made to
ascertain the sense of the people on independence. … The
subject was referred to a committee, of which Cornelius
Harnett was the chairman. They reported an elaborate preamble
… and a resolution to empower the delegates in the General
Congress 'to concur with the delegates in the other colonies
in declaring independency and forming foreign
alliances,—reserving to the colony the sole and exclusive
right of forming a constitution and laws for it,' also 'of
appointing delegates in a general representation of the
colonies for such purposes as might be agreed upon.' This was
unanimously adopted on the 12th of April. Thus the popular
party carried North Carolina as a unit in favor of
independence, when the colonies, from New England to Virginia,
were in solid array against it. The example was warmly
welcomed by the patriots, and commended for imitation."

_R. Frothingham,
The Rise of the Republic,
chapter 11._

ALSO IN:
_J. W. Moore,
History of North Carolina,
volume 1, chapter 10._

_D. L. Swain,
British Invasion of North Carolina in 1776
(Revised History of North Carolina)._

See, also, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A: D. 1776 (JUNE).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1776.
Annexation of the Watauga settlements (Tennessee).

See TENNESSEE: A. D. 1776-1784.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1776-1780.
Independence declared.
Adoption of State Constitution.
The war in the North.
British conquest of Georgia.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776, to 1780.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1780-1783.
The war in the South.
Greene's campaign.
King's Mountain.
The Cowpens.
Guilford Court House.
Hobkirk's Hill.
Eutaw Springs.
Yorktown.
Peace.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1780, to 1783.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1784.
Revolt of the Tennessee settlements
against their cession to Congress.

See TENNESSEE: A. D. 1776-1784.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1785-1788.
The state of Franklin organized by the Tennessee settlers.
Its brief and troubled history.

See TENNESSEE: A. D. 1785; and 1785-1796.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1786.
Importation of Negroes discouraged.

See SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1776-1808.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1787~1789.
Formation and adoption of the Federal Constitution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1787; and 1787-1789.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1790.
Renewed cession of western Territory (Tennessee)
to the United States.

See TENNESSEE: A. D. 1785-1796;
also, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1781-1786.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1861 (January-May).
The difficult dragging of the state into Secession.

"A large majority of the people of North Carolina were opposed
to secession. They did not regard it as a constitutional
right. They were equally opposed to a separation from the
Union in resentment of the election of Mr. Lincoln. But the
Governor, John W. Ellis, was in full sympathy with the
secessionists. He spared no pains to bring the state into line
with South Carolina [which had passed her ordinance of
Secession December 20, 1860.]

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1860 (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER).

The legislature met on the 20th of November. The governor, in
his message, recommended that the legislature should invite a
conference with the Southern States, or send delegates to them
for the purpose of securing their co-operation. He also
recommended the reorganization of the militia, and the call of
a state convention. Bills were introduced for the purpose of
carrying these measures into effect. … On the 30th of January,
a bill for calling a state convention was passed. It provided
that no secession ordinance, nor one connecting the state with
the Southern Confederacy, would be valid until it should be
ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of the state.
The vote of the people was appointed to take place on the 28th
of February. The delegates were elected on the day named. A
large majority of them were Unionists. But, at the same time,
the convention itself was voted down. The vote for a
convention was 46,671; against a convention, 47,333. The
majority against it was 662. This majority against a
convention, however, was no criterion of popular sentiment in
regard to secession. The true test was the votes received,
respectively, by the Union and secession delegates. The former
received a majority of nearly 30,000. But the indefatigable
governor was not to be balked by the popular dislike for
secession. The legislature was called together in extra
session on May 1. On the same day they voted to have another
election for delegates to a state convention on the 13th of
the month. The election took place accordingly, and the
delegates convened on the 20th. On the following day the
secession ordinance was adopted, and the Confederate
Constitution ratified. To save time, and avoid further
obstructions, the question of popular approval was taken for
granted."

_S. S. Cox,
Three Decades of Federal Legislation,
pages 119-120._

ALSO IN:
_J. W. Moore,
History of North Carolina,
volume 2, chapter 5._

See, also, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1861 (MARCH-APRIL).

{2377}

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1861 (April).
Governor Ellis' reply to President Lincoln's call for troops.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (APRIL)
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S CALL TO ARMS.

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1861 (August).
Hatteras Inlet taken by the Union forces.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1861 (AUGUST: NORTH CAROLINA).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1862 (January-April).
Capture of Roanoke Island, Newbern and Beaufort
by the Union forces.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1862 (JANUARY-APRIL: NORTH CAROLINA).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1862 (May).
Appointment of a Military Governor.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D.1862 (MARCH-JUNE).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1864 (April-May).
Exploits of the ram Albemarle.
Confederate capture of Plymouth.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1864 (APRIL-MAY: NORTH CAROLINA).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1864 (October).
Destruction of the ram Albemarle.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1864 (OCTOBER: NORTH CAROLINA).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1864-1865 (December-January).
The capture of Fort Fisher.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1864-1865 (DECEMBER-JANUARY:

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1865 (February-March).
Sherman's March.
The Battle of Bentonsville.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1865 (FEBRUARY-MARCH: THE CAROLINAS).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1865 (February-March).
Federal occupation of Wilmington.
Battle of Kinston.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1865 (FEBRUARY-MARCH: NORTH CAROLINA).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1865 (May).
Provisional government under
President Johnson's Plan of Reconstruction.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (MAY-JULY).

NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1865-1868.
Reconstruction.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1865 (MAY-JULY), and after, to 1868-1870.

----------NORTH CAROLINA: End--------

NORTH DAKOTA:
Admission to the Union (1889).

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1889-1890.

NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1866.

NORTH RIVER, The.

See SOUTH RIVER.

NORTHAMPTON, Battle of.

One of the battles in the English civil wars of the 15th
century called the Wars of the Roses, fought July 10, 1460.
The royalist party (Lancastrians) were signally defeated, King
Henry VI. taken prisoner, and Queen Margaret driven in flight
to the north.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1455-1471.

NORTHAMPTON, Peace of.

See SCOTLAND: A. D. 1328.

NORTHBROOK, LORD, The Indian administration of.

See INDIA: A. D. 1862-1876.

NORTHEASTERN BOUNDARY QUESTION, Settlement of the.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1842.

NORTHERN CIRCARS, OR SIRKARS.

See INDIA: A. D. 1758-1761.

NORTHERN MARITIME LEAGUE, The.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1802.

NORTHMEN.

See NORMANS.

----------NORTHUMBRIA: Start--------

NORTHUMBRIA, Kingdom of.

The northernmost of the kingdoms formed by the Angles in
Britain in the 6th century. It embraced the two kingdoms of
Bernicia and Deira, sometimes ruled by separate princes,
sometimes united, as Northumbria, under one, and extending
from the Humber to the Forth.

See ENGLAND: IA. D. 547-633.

NORTHUMBRIA: 10-11th Centuries.
Lothian joined to Scotland.

See SCOTLAND: 10-11th CENTURIES.

----------NORTHUMBRIA: End--------

NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY.

See CANADA: A. D. 1869-1873.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES OF CANADA.

"The North West Territories comprise all lands [of the
Dominion of Canada] not within the limits of any province or
of the District of Keewatin. The area of the Territories is
about 3,000,000 square miles or four times as great as the
area of all the provinces together. The Territories were ceded
to Canada by an Order in Council dated the 24th June 1870. …

See CANADA: A. D. 1869-1873.

The southern portion of the territories between Manitoba and
British Columbia has been formed into four provisional
districts, viz. Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and
Athabasca. By the Dominion Act 38 Vie. c. 49 executive and
legislative powers were conferred on a Lieutenant-Governor and
a Council of five members subject to instructions given by
Order in Council or by the Canadian Secretary of State."

_J. E. C. Munro,
The Constitution of Canada,
chapter 2._

----------NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Start--------

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Old.

"This northwestern land lay between the Mississippi, the Ohio,
and the Great Lakes. It now constitutes five of our large
States and part of a sixth [namely, western Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan]. But when
independence was declared it was quite as much a foreign
territory, considered from the standpoint of the old thirteen
colonies, as Florida or Canada; the difference was that,
whereas during the war we failed in our attempts to conquer
Florida and Canada, we succeeded in conquering the Northwest.
The Northwest formed no part of our country as it originally
stood; it had no portion in the declaration of independence.
It did not revolt; it was conquered. … We made our first
important conquest during the Revolution itself."

_T. Roosevelt,
The Winning of the West,
volume 1, pages 32-33._

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1673-1751.
Early French exploration and occupation.

See CANADA: A. D. 1634-1673; 16611-1687; 1700-1735;
also ILLINOIS: A. D. 1700-1750; and 1751.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1748-1763.
Struggle of the French and English for possession.

See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1748-1754, 1754, 1755;
and CANADA: A. D. 1758.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1763.
Cession to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris.
Possession taken.

See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES;
and ILLINOIS: A. D. 1765.

{2378}

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1763.
The king's proclamation excluding settlers, and reserving
the whole interior of the continent for the Indians.

"On the 7th of October, 1763, George III. issued a
proclamation, providing for four new governments or colonies,
namely: Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada [the
latter embracing 'the island of that name, together with the
Grenadines, and the islands of Dominico, St. Vincent and
'Tobago'], and defining their boundaries. The limits of Quebec
did not vary materially from those of the present province of
that name, and those of East and West Florida comprised the
present State of Florida and the country north of the Gulf of
Mexico to the parallel of 31° latitude. It will be seen that
no provision was made for the government of nine tenths of the
new territory acquired by the Treaty of Paris, and the
omission was not an oversight, but was intentional. The
purpose was to reserve as crown lands the Northwest territory,
the region north of the great lakes, and the country between
the Alleghanies and the Mississippi, and to exclude them from
settlement by the American colonies. They were left, for the
time being, to the undisputed possession of the savage tribes.
The king's 'loving subjects' were forbidden making purchases
of land from the Indians, or forming any settlements 'westward
of the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea from the
West and Northwest,' 'and all persons who have wilfully or
inadvertently seated themselves upon any lands' west of this
limit were warned 'forthwith to remove themselves from such
settlements.' Certain reasons for this policy were assigned in
the proclamation, such as, 'preventing irregularities in the
future, and that the Indians may be convinced of our justice,'
etc.; but the real explanation appears in the Report of the
Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, in 1772, on the
petition of Thomas Walpole and others for a grant of land on
the Ohio. The report was drawn by Lord Hillsborough, the
president of the board. The report states: 'We take leave to
remind your lordships of that principle which was adopted by
this Board, and approved and confirmed by his Majesty,
immediately after the Treaty of Paris, viz.: the confining the
western extent of settlements to such a distance from the
sea-coasts as that those settlements should lie within reach
of the trade and commerce of this kingdom, … and also of the
exercise of that authority and jurisdiction which was
conceived to be necessary for the preservation of the colonies
in a due subordination to, and dependence upon, the mother
country. And these we apprehend to have been the two capital
objects of his Majesty's proclamation of the 7th of October,
1763. … The great object of colonizing upon the continent of
North America has been to improve and extend the commerce,
navigation, and manufactures of this kingdom. … It does appear
to us that the extension of the fur trade depends entirely
upon the Indians being undisturbed in the possession of their
hunting-grounds, and that all colonizing does in its nature,
and must in its consequences, operate to the prejudice of that
branch of commerce. … Let the Savages enjoy their deserts in
quiet. Were they driven from their forests the peltry-trade
would decrease.' … Such in clear and specific terms was the
cold and selfish policy which the British crown and its
ministers habitually pursued towards the American colonies;
and in a few years it changed loyalty into hate, and brought
on the American Revolution."

_W. F. Poole,
The West, from 1763 to 1783
(Narrative and Critical History of America,
volume 6, chapter 9)._

"The king's proclamation [of 1763] shows that, in the
construction put upon the treaty by the crown authorities, the
ceded territory was a new acquisition by conquest. The
proclamation was the formal appropriation of it as the king's
domain, embracing all the country west of the heads or sources
of the rivers falling into the Atlantic."

_R. King,
Ohio,
chapter 5._

The text of the Proclamation of 1763 is in

_Force's
American Archives,
series 4, volume 1, page 172._

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1763-1764.
Pontiac's War.

See PONTIAC'S WAR.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1765-1768.
The Indian Treaties of German Flats and Fort Stanwix.
Boundary arrangement with the Six Nations.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765-1768.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1774.
The territorial claims of Virginia.
Lord Dunmore's War.

See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1774;
also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1781-1786.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1774.
Embraced in the Province of Quebec.

See CANADA: A. D. 1763-1774.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1778-1779.
Its conquest from the British by the Virginian General Clark,
and its organization under the jurisdiction of Virginia.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1778-1779 CLARK'S CONQUEST.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1781-1786.
Cession of the conflicting territorial claims of the States
to the United States.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1781-1786.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA:A. D. 1784.
Jefferson's plan for new States.

"The condition of the northwestern territory had long been
under the consideration of the House [the Congress of the
Confederation]. Several committees had been appointed, and
several schemes listened to, for laying out new States, but it
was not till the middle of April [1784], that a resolution
was finally reached. One plan was to divide the ceded and
purchased lands into seventeen States. Eight of these were to
lie between the banks of the Mississippi and a north and south
line through the falls of the Ohio. Eight more were to be
marked out between this line and a second one parallel to it,
and passing through the western bank of the mouth of the Great
Kanawha. What remained was to form the seventeenth State. But
few supporters were found for the measure, and a committee,
over which Jefferson presided, was ordered to place before
Congress a new scheme of division. Chase and Howe assisted
him; and the three devised a plan whereby the prairie-lands
were to be parted out among ten new States. The divisions then
marked down have utterly disappeared, and the names given to
them become so forgotten that nine tenths of the population
which has, in our time, covered the whole region with wealthy
cities and prosperous villages, and turned it from a waste to
a garden, have never in their lives heard the words
pronounced. Some were borrowed from the Latin and some from
the Greek; while others were Latinized forms of the names the
Indians had given to the rivers. The States were to be, as far
as possible, two degrees of latitude in width and arranged in
three tiers. The Mississippi and a meridian through the falls
of the Ohio included the western tier. The meridian through
the falls of the Ohio and a second through the mouth of the
Great Kanawha were the boundaries of the middle tier. Between
this and the Pennsylvania West Line lay the third tier. That
vast tract stretching from the 45th parallel of latitude to
the Lake of the Woods, and dense with forests of pine, of
hickory, and of oak, they called Sylvania.
{2379}
It was the northern State of the western tier. To the long
tongue of land separating the water of Michigan from the
waters of Erie and Huron they gave the name Cherronesus. A
narrow strip, not more than two degrees of latitude in width,
and stretching from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, was
called Michigania. As marked down on their rude maps,
Michigania lay under Sylvania, in the very heart of what is
now Wisconsin. South of this to the 41st parallel of latitude
was Assenisipia, a name derived from Assenisipi, the Indian
title of the river now called the Rock. Eastward, along the
shore of Lake Erie, the country was named Metropotamia. It
took the name Mother of Rivers from the belief that within its
boundary were the fountains of many rivers, the Muskingum, the
two Miamis of Ohio, the Wabash, the Illinois, the Sandusky,
and the Miami of the Lake. That part of Illinois between the
39th and 41st parallels was called, from the river which
waters it, Illinoia. On to the east was Saratoga, and beyond
this lay Washington, a broad and level tract shut in by the
Ohio river, the waters of the lake, and the boundaries of
Pennsylvania. Under Illinoia and Saratoga, and stretching
along the Ohio, was the ninth State. Within its confines the
waters of the Wabash, the Sawane, the Tanissee, the Illinois,
and the Ohio were mingled with the waters of the Mississippi
and Missouri. The committee therefore judged that a fitting
name would be Polypotamia. Pelisipia was the tenth State. It
lay to the east of Polypotamia, and was named from Pelisipi, a
term the Cherokees often applied to the river Ohio. At the
same time that the boundaries of the new States were defined,
a code of laws was drawn up which should serve as a
constitution for each State, till 20,000 free inhabitants
acquired the right of self-government. The code was in no wise
a remarkable performance, yet there were among its articles
two which cannot be passed by in silence. One provided for the
abolition of slavery after the year 1800. The other announced
that no one holding an hereditary title should ever become a
citizen of the new States. Each was struck out by the House.
Yet each is deserving of notice. The one because it was the
first attempt at a national condemnation of slavery, the other
because it was a public expression of the dread with which our
ancestors beheld the growth of the Society of the Cincinnati."

_J. B. McMaster,
History of the People of the United States,
chapter 2 (volume 1)._

The report of Jefferson's committee "was recommitted to the
same committee on the 17th of March, and a new one was
submitted on the 22d of the same month. The second report
agreed in substance with the first. The principal difference
was the omission of the paragraph giving names to the States to
be formed out of the Western Territory." After striking out the
clauses prohibiting slavery after the year 1800 and denying
citizenship to all persons holding hereditary titles, the
Congress adopted the report, April 23, 1784. "Thus the
substance of the report of Mr. Jefferson of a plan for the
government of the Western Territory (without restrictions as to
slavery) became a law, and remained so during 1784 to 1787,
when these resolutions were repealed in terms by the passage of
the ordinance for the government of the 'Territory of the
United States northwest of the river Ohio.'"

_T. Donaldson,
The Public Domain: its History,
pages 148-149._

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1786-1788.
The Ohio Company of Revolutionary soldiers and
their land purchase.
The settlement at Marietta.

"The Revolutionary War had hardly closed before thousands of
the disbanded officers and soldiers were looking anxiously to
the Western lands for new homes, or for means of repairing
their shattered fortunes. In June, 1783, a strong memorial was
sent to Congress asking a grant of the lands between the Ohio
and Lake Erie. Those who lived in the South were fortunate in
having immediate access to the lands of Kentucky, Tennessee,
and the back parts of Georgia. The strife in Congress over the
lands of the Northwest delayed the surveys and the bounties so
long that the soldiers of the North almost lost hope."
Finally, there "was a meeting of officers and soldiers,
chiefly of the Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut
lines, at Boston, March 1, 1786, when they formed a new Ohio
Company for the purchase and settlement of Western lands, in
shares of $1,000. General Putnam [Rufus], General Samuel H.
Parsons, and the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, were made the
directors, and selected for their purchase the lands on the
Ohio River situated on both sides of the Muskingum, and
immediately west of the Seven Ranges. The treasury board in
those days were the commissioners of public lands, but with no
powers to enter into absolute sales unless such were approved
by Congress. Weeks and months were lost in waiting for a
quorum of that body to assemble. This was effected on the 11th
of July, and Dr. Cutler, deputed by his colleagues, was in
attendance, but was constantly baffled in pursuing his
objects. … The members were disposed to insert conditions
which were not satisfactory to the Ohio Company. But the
doctor carried his point by formally intimating that he should
retire, and seek better terms with some of the States, which
were offering their lands at half the price Congress was to
receive. The grant to the Ohio Company, upon the terms
proposed, was voted by Congress, and the contract formally
signed October 27, 1787, by the treasury board, and by Dr.
Cutler and Winthrop Sargent, as agents of the Ohio Company.
Two companies, including surveyors, boat-builders, carpenters,
smiths, farmers and laborers, 48 persons in all, with their
outfit, were sent forward in the following months of December
and January, under General Putnam as leader and
superintendent. They united in February on the Youghiogheny
River and constructed boats. … Embarking with their stores
they descended the Ohio, and on the 7th of April, 1788, landed
at the Muskingum. On the upper point, opposite Fort Harmar,
they founded their town, which at Boston had first been named
Adelphia. At the first meeting of the directors, held on the
ground July 2d, the name of Marietta was adopted, in honor of
the French Queen Marie Antoinette, and compounded of the first
and last syllables."

_R. King,
Ohio,
chapter 8._

ALSO IN:
_W. P. and J. P. Cutler,
Life, Journals and Correspondence
of Reverend Manasseh Cutler,
volume 1, chapters 4-7 and 9._

_C. M. Walker,
History of Athens County, Ohio,
chapter 2._

{2380}

NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF USA: A. D. 1787.
The great Ordinance for its government.
Perpetual Exclusion of Slavery.

"Congress at intervals discussed the future of this great
domain, but for a while little progress was made except to
establish that Congress could divide the territory as might
seem best. Nathan Dane came forward with a motion for a
committee to plan some temporary scheme of government. A
committee on this point reported (May 10, 1786) that the
number of States should be from two to five, to be admitted as
States according to Jefferson's proposition, but the question
of slavery in them was left open. Nothing definite was done
till a committee—Johnson of Connecticut, Pinckney of South
Carolina, Smith of New York, Dane of Massachusetts, and Henry
of Maryland—reported on April 26, 1787, 'An ordinance for the
government of the Western territory,' and after various
amendments it was fairly transcribed for a third reading, May
10th. Further consideration was now delayed until July. It was
at this point that Manasseh Cutler appeared in New York,
commissioned to buy land for the Ohio Company in the region
whose future was to be determined by this ordinance, and it
was very likely, in part, by his influence that those features
of the perfected ordinance as passed five days later, and
which has given it its general fame, were introduced. On July
9th the bill was referred to a new committee, of which a
majority were Southern men, Carrington of Virginia taking the
chairmanship from Johnson; Dane and Smith were retained, but
Richard Henry Lee and Kean of South Carolina supplanted
Pinckney and Henry. This change was made to secure the
Southern support; on the other hand, acquiescence in the
wishes of Northern purchasers of lands was essential in any
business outcome of the movement. 'Up to this time,' says
Poole, 'there were no articles of compact in the bill, no
anti-slavery clause, nothing about liberty of conscience or of
the press, the right of habeas corpus, or of trial by jury, or
the equal distribution of estates. The clause that, "religion,
morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and
the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education
shall be forever encouraged," was not there.' These omissions
were the New England ideas, which had long before this been
engrafted on the Constitution of Massachusetts. This new
committee reported the bill, embodying all these provisions
except the anti-slavery clause, on the 11th, and the next day
this and other amendments were made. On the 13th, but one
voice was raised against the bill on its final passage, and
that came from Yates of New York. Poole intimates that it was
the promise of the governorship of the territory under the
ordinance which induced St. Clair, then President of Congress,
to lend it his countenance. The promise, if such it was, was
fulfilled, and St. Clair became the first governor."

_J. Winsor and E. Channing,
Territorial Acquisitions and Divisions
(Narrative and Critical History of America,
volume 7, appendix)._

ALSO IN:
_B. A. Hinsdale,
The Old Northwest,
chapter 15._

_W. F. Poole,
Doctor Cutler and the Ordinance of 1787
(North American Review, April, 1876._

_W. P. and J. P. Cutler,
Life of Manasseh Cutler,
volume 1, chapter 8._

_J. P. Dunn, Jr.,
Indiana,
chapter 5._

_T. Donaldson,
The Public Domain,
pages 149-159._

_J. A. Barrett,
Evolution of the Ordinance of 1787
(University of Nebraska, Seminary Papers, 1891)._

_J. P. Dunn, editor,
Slavery Petitions
(Indiana Historical Society,
volume 2, number 12)._

See, also,
EDUCATION, MODERN: AMERICA.: A. D. 1785-1880.

The following is the text of the "Ordinance for the Government
of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River
Ohio," commonly known as the "Ordinance of 1787":

"Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled,
That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary
government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided
into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the
opinion of Congress, make it expedient. Be it ordained by the
authority aforesaid, That the estates, both of resident and
non-resident proprietors in the said territory, dying
intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among, their
children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal
parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to
take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among
them: And where there shall be no children or descendants,
then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and,
among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or
sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them,
their deceased parents' share; and there shall, in no case, be
a distinction between kindred of the whole and half-blood;
saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate her third
part of the real estate for life, and one-third part of the
personal estate; and this law, relative to descents and dower,
shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of
the district. And, until the governor and judges shall adopt
laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory
may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and
sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be (being of full
age,) and attested by three witnesses; and real estates may be
conveyed by lease and release, or, bargain and sale, signed,
sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age, in
whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses,
provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be
acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be
recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts, and
registers shall be appointed for that purpose: and personal
property may be transferred by delivery; saving, however to
the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the
Kaskaskias, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages who
have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia,
their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to
the descent and conveyance of property. Be it ordained by the
authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed, from time
to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall
continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner
revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the district, and have
a freehold estate therein in 1,000 acres of land, while in the
exercise of his office. There shall be appointed, from time to
time, by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall
continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked; he
shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate
therein in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of his
office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and
laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the
district, and the proceedings of the governor in his Executive
department; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and
proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary of Congress:
{2381}
There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three
judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a
common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have
each therein a freehold estate in, 500 acres of land while in
the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall
continue in force during good behavior. The governor and
judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the
district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil,
as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of
the district, and report them to Congress from time to time:
which laws shall be in force in the district until the
organization of the General Assembly therein, unless
disapproved of by Congress; but, afterwards, the legislature
shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief
of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the
same below the rank of general officers; all general Officers
shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. Previous to
the organization of the General Assembly, the governor shall
appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in each
county or township, as he shall find necessary for the
preservation of the peace and good order in the same: After
the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties
of the magistrates and other civil officers, shall be
regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all
magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise
directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary
government, be appointed by the governor. For the prevention
of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall
have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution
of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper
divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as
circumstances may require, to layout the parts of the district
in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into
counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations
as may thereafter be made by the legislature. So soon as there
shall be 5,000 free male inhabitants of full age in the
district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they
shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect
representatives from their counties or townships to represent
them in the General Assembly: Provided, That, for every 500
free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and
so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants,
shall the right of representation increase, until the number
of representatives shall amount to 25; after which, the number
and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the
legislature: Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified
to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen
of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in
the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district
three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his
own right, in fee simple, 200 acres of land within the same:
Provided, also, That a freehold in 50 acres of land in the
district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and
being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two
years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify
a man as an elector of a representative. The representatives
thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years; and, in
case of the death of a representative, or removal from office,
the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for
which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve
for the residue of the term. The General Assembly, or
Legislature, shall consist of the governor, legislative
council, and a house of representatives. The legislative
council shall consist of five members, to continue in office
five years, unless sooner removed by Congress; any three of
whom to be a quorum: and the members of the council shall be
nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As
soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall
appoint a time and place for them to meet together; and, when
met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the
district, and each possessed of a freehold in 500 acres of
land, and return their names to Congress; five of whom
Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid;
and, whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death
or removal from office, the house of representatives shall
nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for such
vacancy, and return their names to Congress; one of whom
Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the
term. And every five years, four months at least before the
expiration of the time of service of the members of council,
the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as
aforesaid, and return their names to Congress; five of whom
Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of
the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the
governor, legislative council, and house of representatives,
shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good
government of the district, not repugnant to the principles
and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And
all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a
majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for
his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be
of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power
to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the General Assembly, when,
in his opinion, it shall be expedient. The governor, judges,
legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as
Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or
affirmation of fidelity and of office; the governor before the
President of Congress, and all other officers before the
governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the
district, the council and house assembled in one room, shall
have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to
Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of
debating but not of voting during this temporary government.
And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and
religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these
republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix
and establish those principles as the basis of all laws,
constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall
be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the
establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and
for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an
equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as
may be consistent with the general interest: It is hereby
ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the
following articles shall be considered as articles of compact
between the original States and the people and States in the
said territory and forever remain unalterable, unless by
common consent, to wit:

{2382}

Article 1st.
No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly
manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of
worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.

Article 2d.
The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled
to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial
by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in
the legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the
course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable,
unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident
or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no
cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall
be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of
his peers or the law of the land: and, should the public
exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to
take any person's property, or to demand his particular
services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And,
in the just preservation of rights and property, it is
understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or
have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner
whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or
engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.

Article 3d.
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means
of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good
faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their
lands and property shall never be taken from them without
their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty,
they shall never be invaded or, disturbed, unless in just and
lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in
justice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made for
preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace
and friendship with them.

Article 4th.
The said territory, and the States which may be formed
therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of
the United States of America, subject to the Articles of
Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be
constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of
the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto.
The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be
subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be
contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of
government, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to
the same common rule and measure by which apportionments
thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes, for
paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the
authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or
districts, or new States, as in the original States, within
the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress
assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new States,
shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by
the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any
regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title
in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be
imposed on lands the property of the United States: and, in no
case, shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than
residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi
and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same,
shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the
inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the
United States, and those of any other States that may be
admitted into the Confederacy, without any tax, impost, or
duty, therefor.

Article 5th.
There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than
three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the
States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession,
and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as
follows, to wit: The Western State in the said territory,
shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash
rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St.
Vincent's, due North, to the territorial line between the
United States and Canada; and, by the said territorial line,
to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State
shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post
Vincent's, to the Ohio: by the Ohio, by a direct line, drawn
due North from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said
territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The
Eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct
line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line:
Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared,
that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so
far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it
expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States
in that part of the said territory which lies North of an East
and West line drawn through the Southerly bend or extreme of
Lake Michigan. And, whenever any of the said States shall have
60,000 free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted,
by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on
an equal footing with the original States in all respects
whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent
constitution and State government: Provided, the constitution
and government so to be formed, shall be republican, and in
conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and,
so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of
the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier
period, and when there may be a less number of free
inhabitants in the State than 60,000.

Article 6th.
There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in
the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of
crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted:
Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from
whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the
original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and
conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as
aforesaid. Be It ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the
resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject
of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed and
declared null and void. Done by the United States, in Congress
assembled, the 13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787,
and of their sovereignty and independence the twelfth."

{2383}

NORTHWEST TERRITORY: A. D. 1788-1802.
Extinguished by divisions.
Creation of the Territory of Indiana and the State of Ohio.