OCR Text |
Show 13 the confederation should assume the responsibility for dealing with the tribes was an unsettled question, also there were such problems as the control of Indian trade and the purchase of their lands. These had presented many difficulties for the British government and were to prove themselves equally troublesome for the American Congress. With the first threat of war, commissioners were sent from the separate colonies to negotiate with the Indians. After all, this approach to the conduct of Indian relations was part of their colonial heritage, only recently interfered with by British representatives. Until 1779, the apparent need for some centralization was met by naming committees on Indian affairs. That function was later taken over more and more by the Board of War which depended on Washington to help develop the policy followed during the war years. Virginia passed an Act in 1779 declaring her: Exclusive right of pre-emption from the Indians, of all the lands within the limits of her own chartered territory, and that no person or persons whatsoever, have, or ever had, a right to purchase any lands within the same, from any Indian nation, except only persons duly authorized to make such purchases; formerly for the use and benefit of the colony, and lately for the commonwealth (7 Stat. 6). References to the involvement of particular colonies with Indian affairs in the Journals of the Continental Congress made it clear that the rights of states would tend to be surrendered to the Congress under protest. As the Confederation government attempted to establish its authority, the states guarded their powers jealously. As an example, New York claimed jurisdiction over the Six Nations (members of the Iroquois Confederacy), while the United States sought to make treaties with them as independent nations. |