Prior to the arrival of Europeans, a number of First Nations and Inuit nations occupied the area that became the Northwest Territories. Settlement was through several means: squatters, direct U.S. government land sales to settlers, sales of tracts of land to land companies, and state sales of land to veterans in the Virginia Military District and Connecticut Western Reserve. The first U.S. military garrisons in the territory were Fort Patrick Henry, Vincennes, Indiana (1779), Fort Clark at Falls of the Ohio, Indiana (1783), and Fort Harmar in Ohio (1785).

the pending state of Ohio) had a population, excluding Indians, of over 45,000, and Indiana Territory, a population of about 5,600.

First Nations groups include the Beaver, Chipewyan, Dogrib, Nahanni, Sekani, Slavey, and Yellowknives.

The western border of Pennsylvania, previously assumed to run in a north by northeast zigzag, was resolved in 1780 by the Continental Congress. Further details may exist on the Please expand the article to include this information. At its inception the Territory was a vast wilderness sparsely populated by Indians including the Initially, the Territory was governed by martial law under a governor and three judges, but as population increased, a legislature, the Territorial General Assembly, was formed. It became true in Indiana after the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811; by 1813 Battle of the Thames where Tecumseh was defeated and killed, the frontier had essentially moved to west of the Mississippi.

Settlements in states other than Ohio after 1800 are part of the History of Indiana Territory.

Wayne was commissioned to form a new army of 5120 professional soldiers, dubbed the "Legion of the United States". Part of the vast domain ceded by Great Britain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Northwest Territory encompassed the area west of Pennsylvania, east of the Mississippi River, and north of the Ohio River to the border with British Canada. William O. Odo, "Destined for Defeat: an Analysis of the St. Clair Expedition of 1791." Conflicts between settlers and Native American inhabitants of the Territory resulted in the The Northwest Territory included all the then-owned land of the United States west of Integration of the Northwest Territory into a political unit, and settlement, depended on three factors: relinquishment by the British, extinguishment of states' claims west of the Appalachians, and usurpation or purchase of lands from the Indians. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.

It covered all of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as the northeastern part of Minnesota. NORTHWEST TERRITORY. Northwest Territory. The Mason–Dixon line was extended westward to a point five degrees of longitude (about 260 miles) from the Delaware River and the western boundary extended to run due north from the western-most extent of the Mason–Dixon line to the 43rd parallel. Get kids back-to-school ready with Expedition: Learn!

There they were joined by the Kentucky Militia under Major General Sporadic westward emigrant settlements had already resumed late in the warThe Continental Congress' title to the lands north of the Ohio River was derived from the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, and the cessions of four states. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.

An ACT to divide the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio, into two separate governments