Who Owns What?

Even after the defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War, the frontier warfare between the pioneers and the Indians continued.  Besides the Indians, Spain held claims in the Mississippi country and the British still held Detroit and other forts in the Old Northwest.

France at this time was America's ally, but wanted to keep America from becoming a sovereign nation who might one day take over the whole continent.  France wanted to divide the United States up between Spain in the south, and England in the northwest - even reserving most of the middle southeast for strictly Indian country.

The colonists on the other hand negotiated with England who agreed to yield its territories in exchange for goodwill - at least on paper.  Eventually America claimed Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and the land north of the Ohio River.

On January 14, 1784, the Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris and the United States
officially became a sovereign nation at peace with the world.

There were problems with the newly acquired territories.  By 1780 Kentucky had 45,000 settlers, Tennessee about 10,000.  Neither region was up for statehood, in fact Kentucky was part of Virginia and Tennessee was part of North Carolina.

Rule by the "eastern elite" who were far less interested in protecting settlements from Indians and more interested in securing vast wilderness land grants, was resented by the settlers.  The easterners complained that frontier people were mostly paupers who contributed little to tax revenues.

The truth was far more complex...as we will see next time.
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On This Day in Pioneer History: On November 2,1902, engineer Andrew Riker delivers the first four-cylinder, gas-powered Locomobile—a $4,000, 12-horsepower Model C—to a buyer in New York City.