%278.  The New Territories; Ohio becomes a State.%—­The quieting of the Indians by Wayne in 1794, the opening of the Mississippi River to American trade by Spain in 1795, coupled with cheap lands and low taxes, caused another rush of population into the Ohio valley.  Between 1795 and 1800 so many came that the Northwest Territory was cut in twain and the new territory of Indiana was organized in 1800.  The acceptance by Spain in 1795 of 31 deg. north latitude as the boundary of the Floridas, gave the United States control of the greater part of old West Florida, which in 1798 was organized as the Mississippi Territory.  Hardly a year now elapsed without some marked sign of Western development.  In 1800 Congress, under the influence of William Henry Harrison, the first delegate from the Northwest Territory, made a radical change in its land policy.  Up to that time every settler must pay cash.  After 1800 he could buy on credit, pay in four annual installments, and west of the Muskingum River could purchase as little as 320 acres.  This credit system led to another rush into the Ohio valley, and so many people entered the Northwest Territory, that in 1803 the southern part of it was admitted into the Union as the state of Ohio.

[Illustration:  Cincinnati in 1810[1]]

[Footnote 1:  From an old print.]

In 1802 Georgia ceded her western lands, which were added to the Mississippi Territory.  From the Louisiana purchase there was organized in 1804 the territory of Orleans, and in 1805 the territory of Louisiana (see p. 247).  In 1805, also, the lower peninsula of Michigan was cut off from Indiana and organized as Michigan Territory.  In 1809 the territory of Illinois was organized (p. 247).  In 1812 the territory of Orleans became the state of Louisiana.

The third census showed that in 1810 the population of the United States was 7,200,000, and that of these over 1,000,000 were in the states and territories west of the Alleghanies.

%279.  Indian Troubles; Battle of Tippecanoe.%—­As the settlers north of the Ohio moved further westward, and as more came in, their farms and settlements touched the Indian boundary line.  In Indiana, where, save a strip sixty miles wide along the Ohio River, and a few patches scattered over the territory, every foot of soil was owned by the Indians, this crowding led to serious consequences.  The Indians first grew restive.  Then, under the lead of Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, they founded a league or confederacy against the whites, and built a town on Tippecanoe Creek, just where it enters the Wabash.  Finally, when Harrison, who was governor of Indiana Territory, bought the Indian rights to the Wabash valley, the confederacy refused to recognize the sale, and gave such signs of resistance that Harrison marched against them, and in 1811 fought the battle of Tippecanoe and burned the Indian village.  For a time it was thought the victory was as signal as that of Wayne.  But the Indians were soon back on the old site, and in our second war with Great Britain they sided with the British.