Treaty of Fort Stanwix
Enacted in 1784
Reprinted on Oneida Indian Nation (Web site)
The United States agrees to give Native Americans control of the western territory
"The Oneida and Tuscarora nations shall be secured in the possession of the lands on which they are settled."
The flow of European emigrants to the United States that started in the early seventeenth century created constant pressure to acquire more land for farming in areas occupied by Native Americans. A long series of treaties, or formal agreements, were negotiated by the Native Americans on one side and the British or American governments on the other in an effort to avoid conflict. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 is one example of an American promise to protect native lands from further takeovers by Europeans. Likewise, it also stands as an example of yet another treaty that was ignored by European settlers and never enforced by either the British or the U.S. government. For the arriving Europeans, the paper meant nothing compared with the opportunity to own land. Pushing out Native Americans was viewed as simply a necessary part of European migration to North America.
From 1754 to 1763, the British and the British colonists fought a war against France—the French and Indian War (1754–63; known in Europe as the Seven Years' War)—allied with several tribes of Native Americans, for domination over North America.
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