An agreement, finalized in 1795, established a definitive boundary line between United States territory and Native American lands in the Northwest Territory. Native American tribes, following their defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, ceded vast tracts of land in what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan to the U.S. government. This agreement formalized a new relationship of land ownership and governance.
This agreement was significant because it marked a formal acknowledgment by the United States of Native American land claims, even while simultaneously diminishing those claims substantially. It brought a temporary cessation of hostilities in the Northwest Territory, facilitating westward expansion by American settlers. The establishment of clearly defined boundaries, though often violated later, provided a framework for interaction between the U.S. and Native American tribes in the region.
