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The Early American Republic and the Colonization of the Northwest Territory

Settler Colonial Aspirations and Ideology

  • The Jefferson-Hartley map (1784) and the Northwest Ordinance reflected U.S. settler colonial goals to erase Native presence and convert indigenous lands into public domain.

  • This vision was rooted in John Locke's "state of nature" theory, which posited that Native peoples lived without organized government or private property, thus not having established "dominion." This justified land claims by "right of discovery."

  • Settler colonialism aims to eliminate indigenous populations and replace them with settlers, fundamentally ending the colonial project; this was the U.S. aspiration.

Reality of U.S. Expansion and Indigenous Resistance

  • The U.S. entered the Northwest Territory as a colonial power, not an expanding settler colony in an "unsettled wilderness," facing a powerful confederacy of Native nations.

  • Early military campaigns by Generals Harmar (1790) and St. Clair (1791) against the confederacy resulted in significant U.S. defeats.

  • General Anthony Wayne's victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794) was greatly aided by the Jay Treaty, which ended British support for the Native confederacy.

The Treaty of Greenville (1795)

  • Ended the Northwest Indian War and established the treaty process for U.S. expansion.

  • Native nations ceded extensive lands in what would become Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

  • The treaty included annual payments (annuities) of $20,000$ in cash and $9,500$ in goods, which became a tool for U.S. financial and political leverage.

  • It stipulated that Native lands could only be sold to the United States.

  • Established U.S. as a colonial power, with Native nations acknowledging U.S. protection and becoming politically subordinate.

Enduring Colonial Relationship

  • South of the Greenville boundary, land cessions led to rapid white settlement, often via Indian Removal or assimilation policies.

  • North of the boundary (Michigan, Wisconsin), the Anishinaabeg maintained their presence but were subjected to a debilitating colonial relationship through successive treaties and exploitative annuity systems where non-Native individuals often claimed up to 90%.

  • The U.S. has operated as a colonial power since its inception; the narrative of a "nation of immigrants" without an Indigenous population is historically inaccurate and acts as an erasure of Native peoples.