Editing Midwestern United States (section)

=== American settlement ===
{{Main|American frontier#New Nation}}

[[File:United States land claims and cessions 1782-1802.png|thumb|The state cessions that eventually allowed for the creation of the territories north and southwest of the [[River Ohio]]]]
While French control ended in 1763 after their defeat in the Seven Years' War, most of the several hundred French settlers in small villages along the [[Mississippi River]] and its tributaries remained, and were not disturbed by the new British administration. By the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]], Spain was given [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Louisiana]]; the area west of the Mississippi. [[St. Louis]] and [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] in Missouri were the main towns, but there was little new settlement. France regained Louisiana from Spain in exchange for [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Tuscany]] by the terms of the [[Third Treaty of San Ildefonso|Treaty of San Ildefonso]] in 1800. Napoleon had lost interest in re-establishing a [[New France|French colonial empire in North America]] following the [[Haitian Revolution]] and together with the fact that France could not effectively defend [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]] from a possible British attack, he sold the territory to the United States in the [[Louisiana Purchase]] of 1803. Meanwhile, the British maintained forts and trading posts in U.S. territory, refusing to give them up until 1796 by the [[Jay Treaty]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Spencer|last=Tucker|title=Almanac of American Military History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TO2mx314ST0C&pg=PA427|year=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=427|isbn=9781598845303}}</ref> American settlement began either via routes over the Appalachian Mountains or through the waterways of the Great Lakes. [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]] (now [[Pittsburgh]]) at the source of the [[Ohio River]] became the main base for settlers moving into the Midwest. [[Marietta, Ohio]] in 1787 became the first settlement in Ohio, but not until the defeat of Native American tribes at the [[Battle of Fallen Timbers]] in 1794 was large-scale settlement possible. Large numbers also came north from Kentucky into southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.<ref>{{cite book|first= Beverley W. Jr.|last = Bond|title = The Foundations of Ohio|date =1941|chapter = 10|oclc = 2699306|location = Columbus |publisher = Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society|series = History of the State of Ohio|volume = 1}}</ref>

The region's fertile soil produced [[maize|corn]] and vegetables; most farmers were self-sufficient. They cut trees and claimed the land, then sold it to newcomers and then moved further west to repeat the process.<ref>Frederick Jackson Turner, ''The Frontier in American History'' (1921) pp 271-72.</ref>

==== Squatters ====
{{Main|Northwest Territory|Squatting in the United States}}

[[File:Northwest-territory-usa-1787.png|thumb|[[Northwest Territory]] 1787]]

Settlers without legal claims, called "squatters", had been moving into the Midwest for years before 1776. They pushed further and further down the Ohio River during the 1760s and 1770s and sometimes engaged in conflict with the Native Americans.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Winning the West with Words, Language and Conquest in the Lower Great Lakes|last=Buss|first=James|year=2011|pages=39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815|url=https://archive.org/details/middlegroundindi0000whit_d8e7|url-access=registration|last=White|first=Richard|year=1991|pages=[https://archive.org/details/middlegroundindi0000whit_d8e7/page/340 340]–341}}</ref> British officials were outraged. These squatters were characterized by British General [[Thomas Gage]] as "too Numerous, too Lawless, and Licentious ever to be restrained", and regarded them as "almost out of Reach of Law and government; Neither the Endeavors of Government, or Fear of Indians has kept them properly within Bounds."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815|url=https://archive.org/details/middlegroundindi0000whit_d8e7|url-access=registration|last=White|first=Richard|year=1991|pages=[https://archive.org/details/middlegroundindi0000whit_d8e7/page/340 340]}}</ref> The British had a long-standing goal of establishing a [[Indian barrier state|Native American buffer state]] in the American Midwest to resist American westward expansion.<ref>Dwight L. Smith, "A North American Neutral Indian Zone: Persistence of a British Idea" ''Northwest Ohio Quarterly'' 1989 61(2-4)|page=46-63</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Francis M. Carroll|title=A Good and Wise Measure: The Search for the Canadian-American Boundary, 1783–1842|url=https://archive.org/details/goodwisemeasures0000carr|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=U of Toronto Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/goodwisemeasures0000carr/page/24 24]|isbn=9780802083586}}</ref>

With victory in the American Revolution the new government considered evicting the squatters from areas that were now federally owned public lands.<ref>Alan Brown, "The Role of the Army in Western Settlement Josiah Harmar's Command, 1785-1790" ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 93#2  pp. 161-172. [https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/download/42499/42220 online]</ref> In 1785, soldiers under General [[Josiah Harmar]] were sent into the Ohio country to destroy the crops and burn down the homes of any squatters they found living there. But overall the federal policy was to move Indians to western lands (such as the [[Indian Territory]] in modern Oklahoma) and allow a very large numbers of farmers to replace a small number of hunters. Congress repeatedly debated how to legalize settlements. On the one hand, Whigs such as [[Henry Clay]] wanted the government to get maximum revenue and also wanted stable middle-class law-abiding settlements of the sort that supported towns (and bankers). Jacksonian Democrats such as [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]] wanted the support of poor farmers, who reproduced rapidly, had little cash, and were eager to acquire cheap land in the West. Democrats did not want a big government, and keeping revenues low helped that cause. Democrats avoided words like "squatter" and regarded "actual settlers" as those who gained title to land, settled on it, and then improved upon it by building a house, clearing the ground, and planting crops. A number of means facilitated the legal settlement of the territories in the Midwest: [[Speculation|land speculation]], [[Public domain (land)|federal public land auctions]], bounty [[land grant]]s in lieu of pay to military veterans, and, later, [[Preemption (land)|preemption rights]] for squatters. The "squatters" became "pioneers" and were increasingly able to purchase the lands on which they had settled for the minimum price thanks to various preemption acts and laws passed throughout the 1810s-1840s. In Washington, Jacksonian Democrats favored squatter rights while banker-oriented Whigs were opposed; the Democrats prevailed.<ref>Richard White, '' "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West'' (U  of Oklahoma Press, 1991) pp. 137-143.</ref><ref>On federal policy see  Benjamin Horace Hibbard, ''[[iarchive:historyofpublicl00hibb|A history of the public land policies]]'' (1924).</ref><ref>On the settlers and squatters, see Everett Dick, ''[[iarchive:lureoflandsocial0000dick|The Lure of the Land: A Social History of the Public Lands from the Articles of Confederation to the New Deal]]'' (U of Nebraska Press, 1970) pp 9-69.</ref><ref>Matthew Hill,  " 'They are not surpassed...by an equal number of citizens of any equal country in the world': squatter society in the American West", ''American Nineteenth Century History'', (2023), {{doi|10.1080/14664658.2022.2167296}}.</ref>

==== Native American wars ====
{{Main|American Indian Wars}}

In 1791, General [[Arthur St. Clair]] became commander of the [[United States Army]] and led a [[punitive expedition]] with two Regular Army regiments and some militia. Near modern-day [[Fort Recovery]], his force advanced to the location of Native American settlements near the headwaters of the [[Wabash River]], but on November 4 they were routed in battle by a tribal confederation led by [[Miami tribe|Miami]] Chief [[Little Turtle]] and Shawnee chief [[Blue Jacket]]. More than 600 soldiers and scores of women and children were killed in the battle, which has since borne the name "[[St. Clair's Defeat]]". It remains the greatest defeat of a U.S. Army by Native Americans.<ref>Leroy V. Eid, "American Indian Military Leadership: St. Clair's 1791 Defeat". ''Journal of Military History'' (1993) 57#1 pp. 71-88.</ref><ref>William O. Odo, "Destined for Defeat: an Analysis of the St. Clair Expedition of 1791". ''Northwest Ohio Quarterly'' (1993) 65#2 pp. 68-93.</ref><ref>John F. Winkler, ''Wabash 1791: St Clair's Defeat'' (Osprey Publishing, 2011)</ref>

The British demanded the establishment of a [[Indian barrier state|Native American barrier state]] at the [[Treaty of Ghent]] which ended the [[War of 1812]], but American negotiators rejected the idea because Britain had lost control of the region in the [[Battle of Lake Erie]] and the [[Battle of the Thames]] in 1813, where [[Tecumseh]] was killed by U.S. forces. The British then abandoned their Native American allies south of the lakes. The Native Americans ended being the main losers in the [[War of 1812]]. Apart from the short [[Black Hawk War]] of 1832, the days of Native American warfare east of the Mississippi River had ended.<ref>{{cite book|first=Blue|last=Clark|title=Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-REv0Se_aR8C&pg=PA317|year=2012|publisher=U of Oklahoma Press|page=317|isbn=9780806184616}}</ref>

==== Lewis and Clark ====
{{Main|Lewis and Clark Expedition}}

[[File:Louisiana Purchase.png|thumb|[[Louisiana Purchase]] 1803]]
In 1803, President [[Thomas Jefferson]] commissioned the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] that took place between May 1804 and September 1806. Launching from [[Camp Dubois]] in [[Illinois]], the goal was to explore the [[Louisiana Purchase]], and establish trade and U.S. sovereignty over the native peoples along the [[Missouri River]]. The Lewis and Clark Expedition established relations with more than two dozen indigenous nations west of the Missouri River.<ref>{{cite book|first=Harry W.|last= Fritz|year=2004|url=https://archive.org/details/lewisclarkexpedi00frit |url-access=registration|title=The Lewis and Clark Expedition|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=[https://archive.org/details/lewisclarkexpedi00frit/page/13 13]| isbn= 978-0-313-31661-6}}</ref>
The Expedition returned east to [[St. Louis]] in the spring of 1806.