South Carolina. In , South Carolina gave up its claim to a narrow strip of land running from its western boundary to the Mississippi River. A portion of this claim was added to northern Georgia and the remainder was ceded to the central government. Georgia, possessor of the weakest claim to western lands, held out the longest. The area that later became Alabama and Mississippi were given up in , which completed the process of surrender.
The ceding of western lands by the states was accompanied by a series of laws passed by the Articles Congress to organize the areas and prepare them for statehood.
These measures included the Ordinance of , the Ordinance of , and the Great Northwest Ordinance in The surrounding territories not controlled by the states or central government belonged at various times to Britain, France, and Spain. These lands changed hands with some frequency in response to diplomatic efforts aimed at settling European wars: Louisiana , a name applied generally to the lands west of the Mississippi River, had passed from Britain to Spain following the Seven Years' War , but reverted to Spain after American independence Florida also passed from one European power to another.
France gave up its claim to Florida to Britain in following the Seven Years' War , but Spain ended up with the territory as a consolation prize having failed to secure Gibraltar at the end of the American War of Independence in And although the land seemed rich, it was difficult to prepare for planting.
The grass roots were thick and strong. They did not break apart easily. The weather also was a problem. Sometimes months would pass without rain, and the crops would die.
Winters were bitterly cold. They did not expect an easy life. And as time passed, they found solutions to most of the problems of farming on the Great Plains. Railroads were built across the west. They brought wood for homes. Wood and coal for fuel. Technology solved many of the problems. New equipment was invented for digging deep wells. Better pumps were built to raise the water to the surface.
Some of the pumps used windmills for power. That was the year "barbed wire" was invented. The sharp metal barbs tore the skin of the men who stretched it along fence tops. But they prevented cattle from pushing over the fences and destroying crops.
New farm equipment was invented. This included a plow that could break up the grassland of the plains. And farmers learned techniques for farming in dry weather. A farmer could get wood to build his house. But he had to buy the wood and pay the railroad to bring it west. To farm the plains, he needed barbed wire for fences, and plows and other new equipment. All these things cost money. So a plains farmer had to grow crops that were in big demand.
He usually put all his efforts into producing just one or two crops. There was enough rain. Huge crops of wheat and corn were produced. Much of the grain was sold in Europe and farmers got good prices. We can accomodate requests for additional information and removal of information.
Click here. We specialise in institution subscriptions, providing unlimited access for all students of signed up courses. To learn how we can support your institution below. Western Land Claims —90 quantity. Another source of controversy involved the governance of the western territories. No one yet knew whether the western lands would remain part of the United States or form a separate confederation or whether any states created out of the West would be equal to the original states.
Thomas Jefferson in proposed that the Northwest Territories be divided into ten units and that any one of them could become a state as soon as its population equalled that of the smallest existing state. Many Easterners opposed this proposal, fearing that western states would quickly dominate Congress. In , Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance, which provided a model for the organization of future territories. The ordinance gave Congress the power to divide the area into three to five separate territories.
Congress would appoint a governor, a secretary, and three judges to govern each territory. When a territory had free adult males, it could send a non-voting member to Congress and choose a territorial legislature whose enactments had to be approved by the Congressionally-appointed governor. Once a territory had 60, free inhabitants, it could apply for admission as a state, with all the rights of the existing states. The Northwest Ordinance guaranteed residents' property rights as well as other rights such as trial by jury and freedom of religion.
It also prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory. From the outset, the issue of slavery in the western territories was a major source of controversy. When North Carolina and Georgia ceded their western lands to the federal government, they stipulated that slavery be permitted in any territories made out of those lands.
In , Jefferson offered a proposal to prohibit slavery in any new state after The Continental Congress defeated this measure by a single vote. Just six years later, in stark contrast, Congress omitted any mention of slavery when it set up territorial governments in the Southwest. Even though the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Ordinance seems clear, it must be emphasized that this provision did not affect slaves already living in the territory and did not prevent some slaveholders from bringing slaves into Indiana and Illinois territories.
In parts of the Old Northwest, there was strong pressure for slavery. In , a convention in Indiana Territory asked Congress to allow slaves to be brought into the region.
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