Eastern Illinois University :: Past Tracker - Government

Treaties and National Legislation

This treaty, which was signed on 10 February 1763 by Great Britain, France and Spain, ended the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War in Europe). In the treaty, France gave up its claim to the territory east of the Mississippi including the Illinois Territory to Great Britain.

This proclamation was issued on 7 October 1763 by King George III of Great Britain. The purpose of it was to organize the country’s newly acquired territory in North America as well as to stabilize relations with the Native American tribes located in the territory. The proclamation hoped to accomplish this by regulating trade and settlement in all land west of the British colonies already established along the Atlantic Coast.

This treaty, which was signed on 3 September 1783 and later ratified by the United States Congress on 14 January 1784, ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America. Following the treaty, the United States claimed the region later known as the Northwest Territory despite a lingering British presence. This situation remained unresolved until after the War of 1812. Much of the disagreement stemmed from the fact that the Treaty of Paris guaranteed both Great Britain and the United States perpetual access to the Mississippi River in Article 8.

This act, passed on 1 March 1784, ceded the land northwest of the Ohio River (sometimes referred to as the Illinois Country) to the United States Federal Government. The area, which included parts of present day Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, had been occupied by Virginia during the Revolutionary War. By ceding the land, Virginia ultimately allowed for the creation of future states.

This ordinance was passed by the Continental Congress of the United States on 13 July 1787, under the Articles of Confederation. It created the Northwest Territory, establishing a precedent by which the United States could expand westward through the admission of new states. It also banned slavery within the territory, establishing the Ohio River as a natural boundary between future free and slave territories.

This act allowed for the creation of no more than five nor less than three states in the territory northwest of the Ohio River, known as the Northwest Territory.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This act passed by the Congress of the United States. Its intent was to ensure that the government of the territory west of the Ohio River was acting in accordance with the United States Constitution and to ensure that it maintained communication between the two entities.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This act established Kentucky as an independent state.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This treaty, which was signed at Fort Greenville, Ohio, on 3 August 1795, ended the Northwest Indian War between the United States and a coalition of Native American tribes consisting of the Wyandot, Delaware, Shawnee, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Miami, Wea, Kickapoo, and Kaskaskia tribes. In exchange for goods, the Native Americans agreed to turn over large portions of land located in modern day Ohio, as well as the future site of Chicago, Illinois.

The 19th Century

The Act of Congress, 7 May 1800

This act split the territory west of the Ohio River into two separate governments, to allow for the creation of the state of Ohio. The remaining territory, consisting of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and parts of Michigan and Minnesota, was known as the Indiana Territory.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This act divided the Indiana Territory into two separate governments and established the Illinois Territory, which encompassed Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Michigan and Minnesota. As with the Act of Congress 7 May 1800 the purpose of the Act was to allow for the creation of a new state, Indiana. The capital of the new territory was established in Kaskaskia, Illinois along the Mississippi River.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This act, also known as an Enabling Act, allowed the inhabitants of Illinois to draft a government constitution and apply for statehood.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This ordinance was adopted on 26 August 1818 in Kaskaskia, Illinois, by the same convention that drafted the State’s first Constitution. Through this act, the convention formally accepted all terms stipulated in the Act of Congress (18 April 1818) for Illinois’ entry into the Union.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

This resolution formally declared the admission of the state of Illinois into the Union.
Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross, ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871-2. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

Indian Removal Act, May 22, 1830 p. 411 / p. 412 (link to Library of Congress)

This act required all Native Americans to exchange their land east of the Mississippi River for land further west.