Confederacies

 I. The American Confederation

A. Articles of Confederation-The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The need for a stronger Federal government soon became apparent and eventually led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789.


1. Taxation--The Confederation Congress had no power to directly tax the American people (a power the Constitution didn't get until 1913, when the 16th Amendment was ratified.


2. Raising Money--The only way government had to raise money was to sell land in the west. But this in turn cost money, either to "purchase" land from native peoples, or to fund military adventures to facilitate taking land from native peoples.


B. Waiting for the American Collapse--although the British had agreed in the Paris Treaty to turn over all forts south of the Great Lakes to the Americans, they remained in most of these forts because it looked like the US government was going to collapse--and the British would be able to resume trade with native peoples.

II. The Native Confederacy


A. Brownstown Council (1786)--Leaders from native villages from throughout the pays d'en haut met at the Huron/Petun village. The leading speaker was Joseph Brant, a Seneca who had been educated in England. Brant called for a cessation of land sales by natives to Americans unless all native groups agreed to the sale. This stand was later undermined by the Huron, who attempted to make a deal with the Americans in order negotiate a settlement with them; the Americans only presented the same deal that had earlier been turned down by the Council, so this attempt in fact only increased tensions.


1. "Eating from the same bowl with a single spoon"--Brant's characterization of the council's conception of native ownership of land conveyed a much closer connection between native peoples than had been the case previously.

2. Shift to Kekionga--a Miami village where the St. Joseph and St. Mary's Rivers form the Maumee, near present-day Fort Wayne. Kekionga became the center of the confederation movement. Both a band of Delaware and the Shawnee had encamped nearby. Kekionga was therefore excellently situated to facilitate communication and trade networks, and far enough removed from much white settlement that, it was hoped, that those peoples living there would be able to permanently remain.


B. White settlements--although the American government feebly attempted to half white migration into the pays d'en haut, they were no more successful at it then the British had been. Settlement in areas that had not already been ceded by the natives caused a great deal of tension and violence, resulting in numerous "raiding parties" where each side attempted to out-atrocity the other in an orgy of gruesome killings.

C. Harmar's Campaign-In 1790, Josiah Harmar, commander of the American army in the Northwest Territory, was stationed at Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati). Henry Knox, the Secretary of War, ordered Harmar to end the threat of Indian attack in western Ohio. Harmar marched from Fort Washington with 320 regular soldiers and roughly 1,100 militiamen -- primarily from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The militiamen were poorly trained. Many did not know how to load and fire a musket; several others did not even have a gun. Harmar was determined to destroy the native villages near modern-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. He intended to attack the Miami Indians, the Shawnee Indians, and the Delaware Indians, along with other natives located in western Ohio.

   The natives fled their villages as Harmar's army approached. The Americans burned several villages, but the Indians regrouped. On October 20, the natives, led by Little Turtle, of the Miami Indians, attacked a detachment from Harmar's army led by Colonel John Hardin. Hardin's force consisted of several hundred militiamen and a few regular soldiers. Hardin led his men into an ambush. Most of the militiamen fled the battle without even firing a shot. The regular soldiers put up a brief resistance, but the natives killed most of them. Some of the retreating militiamen did not stop until they crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. Harmar sent out another detachment after Little Turtle's warriors two days later. Once again, the natives inflicted heavy casualties upon the Americans. Harmar immediately retreated to the safety of Fort Washington. He had lost 183 men killed or missing in his campaign. It became known as Harmar's Defeat. In 1791, the United States army convened a court-martial against Harmar. He was accused him of wrongdoing during the campaign, including being drunk on duty. The court-martial exonerated him of all charges, but Harmar retired from the army on January 1, 1792.

   Harmar's actions in western Ohio only heightened tensions between the white settlers and the Indians. Following Harmar's defeat, native attacks against settlers increased. In 1791, Arthur St. Clair led another campaign against the natives in western Ohio, hoping to succeed where Harmar had failed.

D. St. Clair's Campaign (1791)-St. Clair's Defeat was a major confrontation between the armed forces of the United States and the Native Americans of the Northwest Territory. It was the worst defeat of the United States Army at the hands of Native Americans.

   To protect settlers and to force the Indians to abide by the Treaty of Fort Harmar, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, ordered the construction of forts in what is now western Ohio. St. Clair moved against the Indians living near present-day Ft. Wayne Indiana, in September 1791. His men left Fort Washington, near Cincinnati, on September 17. The men marched twenty miles in two days and then built Fort Hamilton. St. Clair's army then advanced forty-five miles northward, where his men built Fort Jefferson. Leading primarily untrained militiamen, St. Clair faced problems with desertion from the beginning of his campaign. Although it was still early fall, his men faced cold temperatures, rain and snowfall. St. Clair also had a difficult time keeping his soldiers supplied with food. His men became demoralized. Despite these problems, St. Clair continued to advance against the Miami Indians. By November 3, his men had arrived on the banks of the Wabash River, near some of the Miami villages.

  Little Turtle led his warriors against the Americans on the morning of November 4. Many of the militiamen under St. Clair immediately fled. St. Clair led the regular soldiers in a bayonet charge. St. Clair had two horses shot out from under him. Several bullets passed through his clothing and one took off a lock of his hair. The Indians surrounded the Americans camp. After three hours of fighting, the remaining American soldiers fought through the Indians and began a lengthy retreat. The survivors reached Fort Jefferson late that afternoon and evening. With limited quantities of food and supplies at Fort Jefferson, St. Clair ordered his forces to Fort Washington. Of the 1,400 men who served under St. Clair, 623 soldiers were killed and another 258 wounded. One of the survivors stated, "The ground was literally covered with the dead." The Indians had soundly defeated St. Clair's army.

   President George Washington demanded that St. Clair resign from the army. St. Clair did so on April 7, 1792, but remained governor of the Northwest Territory. He still faced problems with the natives. In 1794, Washington dispatched General Anthony Wayne to succeed where St. Clair had failed. Wayne defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794. In 1795, most natives in modern-day Ohio signed the Treaty of Greeneville, relinquishing all of their land holdings in Ohio except what is now the northwestern corner of the state.

E. Battle of Fallen Timbers-The Battle of Fallen Timbers was a decisive victory by the Legion of the United States led by General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne over a confederacy of native Americans led by Miami Chief Little Turtle opened the Northwest Territory for white settlement, later leading to Ohio’s statehood in 1803.

   Wayne was the commander of the legion of the United States at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. He was born in Pennsylvania on January 1, 1745. After growing up in Waynesborough, Pennsylvania Anthony Wayne was commissioned a colonel and assisted General Benedict Arnold in his retreat from Quebec. He held various positions with the Continental Army and even shared the long winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge with General George Washington. Wayne was recalled an s a major general by Washington in 1792 to lead the Legion of the United States against the Native American forces in Ohio and Indiana. Wayne’s troops defeated the Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which led to the Wayne’s Treaty of Greenville in 1795. This opened the Northwest Territory to white settlement. A year later ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne died on December 15, 1796.

Michikinikwa or Little Turtle was born in 1752 near Fort Wayne in Little Turtle Village. As a young warrior, he participated in defense of his village in 1780. He later led a small confederation of Native American tribes in defeating federal army forces in 1790 and 1791. Michikinikwa urged people to seek peace prior to the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, where his forces were defeated by Anthony Wayne. He later died in Fort Wayne on July 14, 1812. Other partners of Michikinikwa during the Battle of Fallen Timbers were Tecumseh, Chief Blue Jacket and Chief Bukongahelas.