Wednesday, June 17, 2015

May 7: Indiana Territory

On this date in History ... May 7, 1800:

A bill is passed to divide the Northwest Territory and the Indiana Territory is created. The capital was Vincennes, the oldest settlement in Indiana territory, and William Henry Harrison, who would become the 9th President of the United States, was made governor of the Territory less than a week later.  

After Ohio, Michigan and Illinois were formed (in 1803, 1805, and 1809), various areas in Indiana, particularly those near the Michigan line and in Wayne County, by the Ohio line, wrote to the government protested the distance of Vincennes from the rest of the people which made it difficult to conduct business with travel times so far.  In 1813, the capital was moved to Corydon.  After a few years, complaints about the distance again surfaced. It was decided in 1820 to move the capital to a more central location and in 1821, the city of Indianapolis was founded just for this purpose.


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