Harrison and Tenskwatawa

I. Harrison Rules Indiana

A. Harrison's Early life

1. Virginia boyhood--The Harrisons were one of Virginia's elite families and close friends of the Washingtons. The Declaration of Independence bears the signature of William's father, Benjamin, who served three terms as governor of Virginia. Harrison's mother, Elizabeth Bassett Harrison, hailed from one of the colony's earliest and most prestigious families. It is likely that some of Harrison's memories were of his parents talking about General Washington and his marathon struggle against England. After all, the family plantation lay just thirty miles from Yorktown, at the base of the peninsula where Washington trapped Cornwallis's army in the battle that sealed the British fate in the Revolutionary War. Doubtless the eight-year-old boy hailed the passing Continental troops, stared in awe at the great man leading them, thrilled at the news of the siege of Yorktown, and celebrated when word came of the British surrender.

2. Primogeniture--Harrison was the youngest of seven children, which under the laws and customs of the day limited his prospects. A family's property usually went to the eldest son, with younger male siblings entering the military, clergy, or trade. It was plain to Harrison early in life that he would have to learn self-sufficiency. It was equally plain he was ambitious. The boy enjoyed a solid education—tutored at home, then three years at Hampden-Sydney College in Hanover County, Virginia. Benjamin Harrison wanted his youngest child to be a doctor and sent him to Philadelphia to study under the tutelage of renowned physician Benjamin Rush. In 1791, however, Harrison's father died, leaving virtually all his estate to his older brothers. Short of money and not enthusiastic about a career in medicine, the young man quickly left medical school to pursue the military career he had always wanted.

B. Rapid Rise in the Military--Virtually all of Harrison's life, there had been armed conflict somewhere in America—the Revolution, skirmishes with Native Americans, land disputes with the Spanish and French. The military offered an opportunity for a bright, aspiring young man to make a name for himself. Soon after leaving medical studies, Harrison used his family's connections with the Lee and Washington families to procure an officer's rank in an infantry division. The eighteen-year-old Harrison rounded up about eighty thrill-seekers and troublemakers off Philadelphia's streets, talked them into signing enlistment papers, and marched them to his assigned post, Fort Washington in the Northwest Territory.

1. Wayne's aide-de-camp--The young man had entered the army as an ensign, the lowest officer's rank, but he made a strong impression and quickly won promotion to lieutenant. The fort's commander, General Anthony Wayne, made the handsome, polished Harrison his aide after a little more than a year of service there. Wayne commanded Fort Washington, near present-day Cincinnati—an installation established to protect settlers against Native Americans and the British agents who incited them. By 1794, matters had reached the boiling point, and General Wayne readied the fort for a large-scale assault by Indian forces. Harrison fought bravely and well, winning a citation from General Wayne for his valor: "I must add the name of my faithful and gallant Aide-de-camp . . . Lieutenant Harrison, who . . . rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction . . . conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory." The rousing victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers ended the strong Native American presence in that part of the Northwest Territory, opening it for colonization. After Wayne's death in 1795, Captain Harrison took command of Fort Washington.

C. Harrison Moves Into Politics--Newcomers to the area near Fort Washington included twenty-year-old Anna Symmes. Her father had just been appointed judge for the region. Anna was quickly smitten by the handsome young officer, but her father disapproved, thinking his daughter could make a richer match elsewhere. The young couple waited until Anna's father had to travel to another part of the territory; when he did, they found a justice of the peace and eloped. When Judge Symmes returned and learned of the marriage, he shouted at Harrison, "How, sir, do you intend to support my daughter?" The soldier coolly replied, "Sir, my sword is my means of support."

1. Military Career Ends--For Harrison, the marriage was politically astute. The Symmes family had inside connections with the local land speculators, something the new son-in-law exploited. By 1798, Captain Harrison saw the army as a career dead end and resigned his commission. His father-in-law still saw little in Harrison to be impressed with, writing a friend, "He can neither bleed, plead, nor preach, and if he could plow I should be satisfied." Finally, the judge used his contacts in Washington. The new President, John Adams, named Harrison secretary of the Northwest Territory. In 1799, the territory could send a delegate to the United States Congress for the first time, and Harrison was elected to fill the post. He played expertly to the voters by reforming land-buying policies allowing only large purchases. These enabled cash-strapped settlers to buy smaller lots on four-year installment plans.


2. Territorial Governor--By 1800, the Harrisons had three of what would eventually be ten children, although only four would live to see their father in the White House. That year the Northwest Territory split into what were known as the Ohio and Indiana Territories, and President Adams named Harrison governor of the latter. This region was comprised of what would later be all or sections of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Harrison built a palatial home he called "Grouseland" near his headquarters in Vincennes. The home came to be a political focal point for the territory, frequently hosting officials, friends, and meetings with Native Americans.

a. Harrison the Autocrat--as Territorial Governor, Harrison brooked little dissent. In the early years of his term in office, he had no territorial legislature to deal with. As the Indiana Territory became more populous (the Indiana Territory at this time included the present states of Indiana and Illinois), Harrison was able to maintain control by fixing elections, and using the patronage and economic powers of his office to ensure a compliant legislature. Eventually, dissatisfaction with Harrison's autocratic rule led people in the western part of the territory to petition to become a separate territory--and eventually the state of Illinois.

3. Governor and Land-Grabber--William Henry Harrison served as governor of the Indiana Territory for twelve years. He speculated in land, invested in two mill enterprises, and had a reputation as an honest administrator. To his credit, he was instrumental in improving the roads and other infrastructure in the region. However, the primary task charged to him by Presidents Adams and Jefferson was to secure legal claims to as much territorial land from Native Americans as possible.
To many Native Americans of that era, the idea of owning land was a completely alien concept. To claim sole right to a plot of land seemed as absurd as claiming sole right to the air. Harrison took advantage of the Indians' communal approach to territory. The governor pushed through seven treaties with Indians from 1802 through 1805, most shamefully exploitative of Native American poverty, corrupt leadership, or inability to hold liquor. This culminated in late 1805 with a massive, largely fraudulent landgrab of 51 million acres. Harrison and his aides warmly received five minor chiefs from the Sac tribe, softened them up with alcohol, then persuaded them to sign away one-third of modern Illinois, as well as sizable chunks of Wisconsin and Missouri, for one penny per two hundred acres.

II. United States Foreign Relations
 

A. France--Relations between the US and France remained cordial after the American Revolution, and even after the French Revolution--particularly when Thomas Jefferson, a francophile, was president. The relationship cooled somewhat, however, when Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, as many perceived him as betraying the spirit of the Revolution. The prowess of the French military under Bonaparte's leadership also created a great deal of tension in Europe, particularly with the British, who feared the result of France becoming a greater continental power.
 
B. Great Britain--while many British elites were convinced that the United States would collapse given enough time, they were unwilling to spend much money or effort causing this inevitability to speed up. Events on the European continent were much more worrisome to the British government than the goings on in North America--although the idle threats of a US invasion of Canada were of some concern.

1. Impressment of sailors--the naval power that Great Britain possessed is what allowed the country to remain the premier global power--but to maintain that superiority, the Royal Navy required around 30,000 sailors a year. To maintain that "recruitment" pace, Royal naval officers often had to resort to what we would today term "extra-legal" methods (indeed, many people at the time claimed these methods were extra-legal), by claiming any sailor or British citizen currently sailing was liable to impressment, or serving involuntarily, in the Royal British Navy.

2. Jefferson's Embargo--in 1807, with the impressment crisis at its height, Jefferson responded to the crisis by closing all US ports to all foreign trade, relying (once again) upon his vision of the self-sufficient yeoman farmer, who would raise the crops that his family needed, and to provide himself and his neighbors with goods to trade, as well.

a. Embargo is a failure--this vision did not, of course, actually work. Americans gained goods clandestinely from merchants in Canada, and from other places, as well.

b. The Embargo and Indian Relations--America traders were but at a disadvantage because of this embargo, since they had far fewer goods to trade with Native Americans for animal pelts--and drove many natives to turn once again to British traders from Canada. Ironically, Jefferson's embargo also strengthened the hand of the Shawnee Prophet; with fewer trade goods obtainable, the temptation to trade with the Americans was greatly reduced, and it became easier to trod the path required by the Great Spirit. It also appeared to many Americans that the natives were doing more than merely trading with the British, and were instead plotting with the British to prevent further American expansion.