British Designs on the Old Southwest: Foreign Intrigue on the Florida Frontier, 1783-1803

It is widely recognized that for years after the American Revolution Britain played an important role in the affairs of the Old Northwest. In spite of the peace treaty’s provisions, she continued to occupy military posts ceded to the United States. Using these posts as centers, Canadian traders continued to monopolize most of the Indian commerce north of the Ohio, and the Indians in this vast region still looked to Detroit, Niagara, and Quebec, rather than to New York, Pittsburgh, or Philadelphia for commercial and political leadership. In theory the Old Northwest was an integral part of the United States; in fact from 1783 until the mid-1790s this region was actually dominated by Britain’s Indian allies. After ceding the Northwest posts in the Jay Treaty, and after Anthony Wayne’s victory over the Indians, Britain’s influence waned in the area, though it revived just before and during the War of 1812