State of Virginia

Excerpt from "Virginia's Cession of Western Lands to the
United States"

Issued on December 20, 1783
Published in Documents of American History, edited by
Henry S. Commager, 1943

The meaning of "the West" changed constantly through America's early history as the population increased and moved farther from the Atlantic coast. In the 1600s, any land more than 100 miles from the Atlantic coast was "the West." By the 1780s, the West referred to land located between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River; in the South, the West meant land west of the Carolinas and Georgia, extending to the Mississippi. Under the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the treaty that ended the American Revolution, Britain withdrew its claim to these lands. Ownership and control of these western lands was one of the most confusing and controversial issues facing the new nation.

Most of the original colonies were established under charters. Charters were legal papers issued in Britain in the 1600s to individuals or groups of individuals for the purpose of establishing colonies in the New World, as Europeans at that time called North and South America. Charters granted specific pieces of land for each colony. For future expansion, several charters granted "sea to sea" land claims, which granted land west of the original colony all the way to the Pacific Ocean. When the colonies fought for and won independence from Britain, they became states. The states held on to their old colonial charter land claims.

Seven states held claims to western lands. Six of the seven—Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia—held claims based on charters. New York's claims did not come from a colonial charter, but from shaky treaties with the Iroquois Indians. The exact boundaries of the various claims were uncertain, and they often conflicted. For example, Connecticut's claims overlapped a portion of the claims held by Massachusetts. New York tried to claim land stretching from the Great Lakes south to Georgia, overlapping a portion of all the other states' claims. Virginia's colonial charter gave it land west of the state and also mentioned lands to the northwest. Therefore, Virginia claimed all the land west of the state boundary to the Mississippi River and northwest to Canada. Virginians also believed they had a solid claim to the Old Northwest, an area that included lands above the Ohio River, extending north to the Great Lakes, east to the Pennsylvania border, and west to the Mississippi River. They reasoned that it was a Virginian, General George Rogers Clark (1752–1818), who had secured the Old Northwest for America by driving British troops out of the region during the American Revolution (1775–83).

Overlapping and conflicting claims caused great confusion and jealousies. In addition to state land claims, officers and soldiers who had fought in the American Revolution had been promised land for their service, and speculators had purchased large sections of land from the government, which was trying to pay its war debts. Land speculators bought land cheaply and hoped to resell it at a large profit. However, sale of land with clear title, or uncontested ownership, was impossible unless all western land claims could be straightened out. Further, the six states without claims—New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania—demanded the land claims be ceded, or turned over, to the national government so that Congress could manage the land for the benefit of all thirteen original states.

In September 1780, before America had won its independence, Congress recommended that the states consider ceding their land. On October 10, 1780, Congress issued a resolution describing how it would manage western lands ceded to the government. The resolution indicated the land would be settled and then formed into republican states, meaning states governed by representatives elected by the people and for the benefit of the people. New York, whose land claims were largely unsupported, began the process in 1781 by ceding its claims to Congress. Connecticut also indicated it would turn over its claims.

The most influential state in the Confederation was Virginia. Virginia had strong western claims covering the largest amount of land. By January 1781, James Madison (1751–1836), a Virginia delegate to Congress, produced a plan for cession of Virginia's northwest land claims. However, Madison attached conditions to the cession that Congress did not accept. After almost three years of discussion, Congress and Virginia agreed on conditions of cession that were acceptable to both. Virginia's cession agreement provided a model for other states holding claims. When powerful Virginia ceded its land claims, all other states holding claims followed Virginia's lead.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from "Virginia's Cession of Western Lands to the United States":

• Virginia ceded to Congress all western land claims it held under its colonial charter, and the land it claimed in the northwest. It did so under the following five conditions. (1) The territory ceded would be arranged and formed into republican states and admitted to the union with the same rights of freedom and independence as existing states. (2) Virginia's costs in subduing the British and defending the land would be reimbursed by Congress. (3) All settlers of western lands who were citizens of Virginia would be ensured ownership of their land claims. (4) Lands not exceeding 150,000 acres would be set aside for General George Rogers Clark and the men who served under his command. (5) All land not reserved for citizens of Virginia or officers and soldiers would be given to the United States for the common good and for no other purpose.

Excerpt from "Virginia's Cession of Western Lands to the United States"

Sec. 1. Whereas the Congress of the United States did, by their act of the 6th day of September, in the year 1780, recommend to the several States in the Union ... aliberal cession to the UnitedStates of a portion of their respective claims for the common benefit of the Union:

Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty

Between 1783 and 1787, when the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation, the three most important documents produced included Virginia's Cession of Western Lands in 1783, the Land Ordinance of 1785, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. A fourth came from Virginia's legislature, just as the Cession had. The legislature passed the Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty (also referred to as the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom) on January 16, 1786. Historians regard this document as the most important step ever taken toward religious freedom in America. Religious freedom is the right of individuals to worship or not worship in whatever manner they choose.

In the 1600s, eleven of the thirteen colonies had an established religion or established church; each had chosen a single religion as the only acceptable form of worship for its residents. Each established church set rules for moral behavior in the colony, and each church was closely interwoven with the colonial government. Colonists were required to pay taxes to support the established church. By 1700, about 85 percent of colonists lived in colonies with an established church. The Congregational Church, founded by Puritans who broke away from the Church of England in the 1500s, was the established church in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, was the official church of eight colonies. It was stronger in some colonies, such as Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, but weaker in others, such as New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Georgia.

Between 1700 and 1783, dramatic changes occurred in the colonies. Populations exploded as new immigrants with many different religious beliefs came into the colonies. In the 1730s, traveling preachers, such as Methodist minister George Whitfield (1714–1770), went from colony to colony preaching their own brand of religion and winning over many colonists. This period is known as the First Great Awakening. Gradually religions other than the established church took hold in each colony. Colonists were proud to choose their own religion and resented paying taxes to support the established church. By the 1780s, all the colonies were engaged in heated debates about the meaning of religious freedom.

As of 1779, the Church of England was no longer Virginia's established church. The legislature decided the state should not have an established church. The question then arose over whether public taxes should be used to support churches. Many prominent Virginians argued that all Christian churches, those teaching that Jesus Christ was the son of God, should be made state religions and supported equally with the public's tax dollars. Virginians Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) and James Madison (1751–1836), both of whom would become presidents of the United States, believed differently. They thought that religious activities should be entirely voluntary, that religious belief and the choice of how to worship should be left to each individual. Neither supported taxing citizens to support any church. Jefferson supported the moral teachings of religion but steadfastly opposed any link between government and religion. Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty, and Madison skillfully orchestrated its passage in the Virginia legislature. The statute states that individuals are free to decide all religious matters for themselves—that religious freedom is a natural right. The following is an excerpt from the last two paragraphs of the statute.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled [forced] to frequent [attend] or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened [burdened to pay taxes] in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.... [W]e are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind....

The statute is still part of Virginia's constitution in the twenty-first century and has been copied by other states. It was also the basis for the religious clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights. Jefferson considered the Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty one of his three greatest accomplishments; writing the Declaration of Independence and founding the University of Virginia were the other two achievements of which he was most proud.

Sec. 2. And whereas thiscommonwealth did, on the 2d day of January, in the year 1781, yield to the Congress of the United States, for the benefit of the said States, all right, title, and claim which the said commonwealth had to the territory northwest of the river Ohio, subject to the conditionsannexed to the said act of cession:

Sec. 3. And whereas the United States in Congress assembled have, by their act of the 13th ofSeptember last, stipulated the terms on which they agreed to accept the cession of this State, should ... this State ... accept ..., in full confidence that Congress will, in justice to this State for the liberal cession she hath made, earnestly press upon the other States claiming large tracts of ... territory thepropriety of making cessions equally liberal for the common benefit and support of the Union:

Be it enacted by the general assembly,

That it shall and may be lawful for the delegates of this State to the Congress of the United States, ... to ... make over unto the United States, in Congress assembled, for the benefit of the said States, all right, title, and claim ... which this commonwealth hath to the territory or tract of country within the limits of the Virginiacharter ... and being to the northwest of the river Ohio, subject to the terms and conditions contained in the ... act of Congress of the 13th day of September last, that is to say: Upon condition that the territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into States, containing a suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit; and the States so formed shall be distinctrepublican States, and admitted members of the Federal Union, having the same rights ofsovereignty, freedom, and independence as the other States; that the necessary and reasonableexpences [sic] incurred by this State in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts or garrisons within and for the defence, or in acquiring any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be fullyreimbursed by the United States . ... That of the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of theKaskaskies, Saint Vincents and the neighboring villages, who haveprofessed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions andtitles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties. That a quantity, not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres, of land, promised by this State, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, now General, George Rogers Clark, and to the officers and soldiers of his regiment who marched with him when the posts of Kaskaskies and Saint Vincents werereduced, and to the officers and soldiers that have been sinceincorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off in one tract, the length of which not to exceed double thebreadth, in such place on the northwest side of the Ohio as a majority of the officers shall choose, and to be afterwards divided among the said officers and soldiers ... according to the law of Virginia. That in case the quantity of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of Cumberland River, and between Green River and Tennessee River, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops ... should ... prove insufficient for their legalbounties, the deficiency should be made up to the said troops in good lands, to be laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the river Ohio, in suchproportions as have beenengaged to them by the laws of Virginia. That all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for or appropriated to any of the before-mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers andsoldiers of the American Army, shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginiainclusive ... and shall be faithfully andbona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. ...

What happened next ...

Virginia completed cession of its claims in 1784. The five other states still holding claims followed Virginia's lead. Massachusetts ceded its claims in 1785, and Connecticut did the same in 1786. The Carolinas and Georgia were slower to cede. They had suffered greatly during the war, when crop production was severely disrupted. They hoped to sell their western lands to settlers and use the cash to rebuild and pay back war loans.

With constant pressure from Congress and little hope of securing their western lands, which were occupied by hostile Indians, the Southern states began to cede. In 1787, South Carolina ceded its narrow strip of land that ran to the Mississippi River. North Carolina ceded its Tennessee land in December 1789. Georgia, determined to profit from its land claims, actually sold the land to speculators twice, in 1795 and again in 1800. Both sales were withdrawn amid charges of bribery by Georgia legislatures. Georgia finally successfully ceded all its western lands to Congress in 1802.

On April 23, 1784, the Continental Congress approved a plan to organize governments in the western territories. Thomas Jefferson authored and proposed the original plan that Congress reworked and adopted as the Act of April 23, also known as the Ordinance of 1784. The act allowed the free males, meaning those not held as slaves, in each territory to establish a temporary government by adopting the constitution and laws of any of the original thirteen states. The act also required each territory to form a legislature. Any territory that reached a population of twenty thousand inhabitants could establish a permanent constitution and government. Each territory's government had to vow that the territory would always remain part of the United States, be subject to the Articles of Confederation and laws of Congress, help pay off the federal debt, and remain a republic. When a territory had as many free inhabitants as the least populous state of the original thirteen states, it could apply for statehood.

The Ordinance of 1784 did not provide a sufficiently detailed structure of government and was replaced in 1787 with the Northwest Ordinance, which outlined a specific process for attaining statehood.

Did you know ...

• All the original thirteen states had war debts, money owed on loans to fund the American Revolution. The six states that had no western land claims believed the other seven states would sell their western lands for profit and pay off debts. The six without claims had no way to readily pay off their debts and were therefore at an economic disadvantage. This was a principal reason for the six states demanding that all states turn over their claims for the common good.
• Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut all retained blocks of acreage from their western claims. They called these blocks "western reserves" and gave the land to their men who had served in the American Revolution.
• In 1784, Virginian Thomas Jefferson proposed several names for states that would be carved out of the Old Northwest. Three of his potential state names were Dolypotamia, Assenisippia, and Metropotamia.

Consider the following ...

• Predict what difficulties might have arisen if the seven states holding claims had refused to turn them over to Congress.
• After the American Revolution, the states were broke. They had no money to pay their soldiers. Under the cession plan, how did they reward or "pay" those who had served in the war?
• Why was it important to ensure that states carved from the western lands would be republics with all the rights and freedoms of the original states?

Liberal: Generous.

Cession: Surrendering.

Commonwealth: Democratic state.

Annexed: Attached.

September last: September 1783.

Stipulated: Listed.

Propriety: Appropriateness.

Make over: Provide.

Charter: A document issued by Britain defining rights, privileges, and land to be settled for the purpose of establishing colonies in the New World.

Republican: Governed by the consent of the people and for the benefit of the people through elected representatives.

Sovereignty: A government largely free from outside political control.

Expences incurred: Money spent.

Reimbursed: Paid back.

Kaskaskies, Saint Vincents: Settlements in the Northwest Territory.

Professed: Claimed.

Titles: Documents showing property ownership.

Reduced: Destroyed or captured.

Incorporated into: Joined with.

Breadth: Width.

Bounties: Rewards for military service.

Proportions: Amounts.

Engaged: Promised.

Inclusive: Included.

Bona fide: Genuinely.

For More Information

Books

Commager, Henry S., ed. Documents of American History. New York: F. S. Crofts and Company, 1943.

Feinberg, Barbara Silberdick. Articles of Confederation: The First Constitution of the United States. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books, 2002.

Ferling, John E. A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Foner, Eric. The Story of American Freedom. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.

Web Sites

Virginia Historical Society.http://www.vahistorical.org/ (accessed on June 29, 2005).