Excerpt from The Old Northwest, Vol. 1: With a View of the Thirteen Colonies as Constituted by the Royal Charters Save New England alone, there is no section Oi the United States embracing several States that is so distinct an historical unit, and that so readily yields to historical treat ment, as the Old Northwest. It is the part of the gteat West first discovered and colonized by the French. It was the occasion Of the final struggle for dominion between France and England in North America. It was the thea tre Of one Of the most brilliant and far-reaching military ex ploits Of the Revolution. The disposition to be made Of it at the close Of the Revolution is the most important territo rial question treated in the history Of American diplomacy. After the war, the Northwest began to assume a constantly increasing importance in the national history. It is the origi nal public domain, and the part Of the West first colonized under the authority Of the National Government. It was the first and the most important Territory ever organized by Congress. It is the only part of the United States ever under a secondary constitution like the Ordinance Of 1787. N 0 other equal part of the Union has made in one hundred years such progress along the characteristic lines of American development. Moreover, the Northwest has stood in very important relations to questions Of great national and inter national importance, as the use and ownership of the Missis. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.