1809 land treaty between the United States government and several Native American peoples
This treaty transferred nearly 30 million acres of Native American land to the U.S. and directly provoked Tecumseh's War.
Key Facts
- Acres ceded
- 29,719,530 acres
- Primary negotiating tribe
- Lenape (Delaware)
- U.S. negotiator
- Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison
- Excluded tribe
- Shawnee
- Conflict triggered
- Tecumseh's War
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Rapid settler expansion into Indiana and Illinois territories created pressure on the U.S. government to acquire more Native American land. Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison sought to open additional acreage for settlement, focusing negotiations on the Lenape and allied tribes while deliberately excluding the Shawnee, who had been asked to vacate the area by Miami War Chief Little Turtle.
In 1809, Harrison negotiated the Treaty of Fort Wayne with the Lenape and other tribes, securing the cession of approximately 29,719,530 acres of Native American territory. The agreement, also known as the Ten O'clock Line Treaty or the Twelve Mile Line Treaty, transferred this vast tract to benefit settlers of Illinois and Indiana.
Shawnee leader Tecumseh rejected the treaty's legitimacy and, together with other dissenting tribesmen, launched armed resistance against the United States in what became known as Tecumseh's War. The conflict represented one of the most significant Native American military responses to American territorial expansion in the early nineteenth century.
Political Outcome
Native American tribes ceded approximately 29.7 million acres to the United States for settler expansion into Indiana and Illinois.
Native American tribes held territorial control over lands in Indiana and Illinois
United States government gained legal title to nearly 30 million acres, displacing tribal sovereignty