Battle of Fallen Timbers - Background

Background

The Ohio River boundary line established with Britain by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 recognized certain lands as belonging to the Native American nations. After the American Revolution, however, the United States maintained that the Indian nations no longer owned the lands in the Ohio area, citing an article in the Treaty of Paris of 1783 in which Britain agreed to cede the lands owned by indigenous nations. Native Americans rejected the notion that the British or Americans could dispose of their tribal lands without their consent. They said they did not have a representative at the Treaty negotiations, did not sign the treaty, and did not recognize its giving away rights to their lands. As American settlers began moving into the Ohio territory in increasing numbers, the Indians viewed them as unwanted intruders. The United States government insisted that it had the right to seize the lands, which had been conquered in battle and agreed to by the Treaty of Paris.

The Western Confederacy, an alliance of Native American nations, was formed to fight to retain their traditional lands. It achieved several victories over United States military forces in 1790 and 1791, alarming the administration of President George Washington. Washington realized that the settlers were to blame for much of the violence; nevertheless, he made preparations to defeat the alliance as the battles became more serious. In 1792, Washington ordered Revolutionary War hero General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to build and lead a new army to crush resistance to American settlement. Wayne could see that previous campaigns had failed because of poor training and discipline. He had time to train his volunteers, since peace negotiations were undertaken in the summer of 1793.

Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket and Delaware (Lenape) leader Buckongahelas, encouraged by their previous victories and the hope of continued British support, argued for a return to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768. They rejected the subsequent treaties, which they had never been consulted on, that ceded the land north of the Ohio River to the United States. A faction led by the influential Mohawk leader Joseph Brant attempted to negotiate a compromise, but Blue Jacket would accept nothing less than an Ohio River boundary, which the United States refused to concede. The American government thus fought a war over the possession of the Ohio area Indian land under the direction of Secretary of War Henry Knox.