Defense & Exploration of Territory

Abstract

With the victory of the Americans over the British in the Revolutionary War came a large amount of territory that many of the Founding Fathers knew barely anything about. That territory needed to explored, laid out for defense and for possible governance, and needed to be mapped for geographical purposes. The territory that would eventually become the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota had little but military forts and a large number of Native Americans. Very little was known about this area, and thus Secretary of War Henry Knox, one of President George Washington’s most trusted military advisors, believed something must be done to explore the area. Meanwhile, the few citizens that did live in the area, and those that might migrate to the area, must be protected. In the last half of the letter written by Henry Knox, he outlines his course of action for settlement, development, and other necessary tasks for the area