P
treaty to provide for educational assistance to an In-
dian tribe. In the 19th century, such provisions will
become commonplace as the United States increas-
ingly uses federally employed teachers to aid its efforts
to assimilate Indians into white society.
1795August 3
Ohio tribes sign the Treaty
of Greenville.
Nearly a year after the end of Little Turtle’s War
(see entry for AUGUST 20, 1794), more than 1,000
representatives from the Shawnee, Lenni Lenape
“Elder Brother [the United
States]... You have told your
younger brothers [the Indi-
ans] that the British imposed
falsehoods on us when they
said the United States wished
to take our lands from us, and
that the United States had no
such designs. You pointed out
to us the [proposed] bound-
ary line... [which] takes in
the great and best part of
your brothers’ hunting ground.
Therefore, your younger broth-
ers are of [the] opinion you
take too much of their land
away and confine the hunting of
our young men within the lim-
its too contracted.”
—Miami rebel leader Little Turtle
during the negotiation of the
Treaty of Greenville(Delaware), Ottawa, Wyandot, Ojibway, Kickapoo,
Potawatomi, Miami, and several smaller tribes come
together for a treaty council at Fort Greenville, in
what is now Ohio. The Indians recognize the need
to negotiate with the United States as their British
allies began to withdraw from their lands by the
terms of Jay’s Treaty (see entry for NOVEMBER 19,
1794).
In the treaty negotiated at Greenville, the
tribes cede 25,000 square miles constituting much
of present-day Ohio. In return, the United States
sets boundaries of a large territory for the tribes and
guarantees that it will not allow white settlers to cross
its borders. The Indians, however, are compelled to
allow federal soldiers to occupy 16 posts through-
out these lands. Most of the important leaders of the
groups in attendance (including Little Turtle) sign
the Treaty of Greenville. Among the few who refuse
is a young Shawnee man named Tecumseh, who
soon will take Little Turtle’s place as the most pow-
erful Indian confederacy leader (see entry for 1808).October 27Pinckney’s Treaty gives Americans
unrestricted access to the Mississippi River.
The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of
San Lorenzo, also known as Pinckney’s Treaty,
after U.S. negotiator Thomas Pinckney. The treaty
gives the United States the right to navigate the
Mississippi freely, which will allow whites to travel
more easily into the Indian lands to the west of the
river. The agreement also sets the U.S. southern
border at the 31st parallel. This provision brings
the majority of the territory of the Creek, Chero-
kee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw under the control of
the United States.1796The United States establishes the
factory system.
To regulate trade with Indians, Congress creates
the factory system, by which the U.S. government