Unbound
Nine Propositions, Which contain the grounds of the Wyoming Claim, on the State of Connecticut. [probably Connecticut: circa 1790.]
This broadside measures 6" x 9.5". Light wrinkles and faint marginal toning, mostly along the top margin. It makes a strong case for Connecticut's retention of the Wyoming Valley, enumerating nine propositions, i.e., justifications.
Some of those nine justifications were:
The territory was granted to Connecticut under its colonial Charter.
The area had long fallen under Connecticut laws and administration.
Units raised in the area were considered to be Connecticut troops during the Revolutionary War.
During the Revolutionary War, Connecticut settlers in the area suffered horrendous massacres by tribes allied with the British.
Survivors of the massacres who had been driven from their homes during the Revolutionary War returned to their properties once it was again safe to do so.
Following the establishment of the Northwest Territory, Connecticut retained its claim to the Western Reserve in Ohio which was on the same latitude as the Wyoming area of Pennsylvania.
The Wyoming Valley along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River had been disputed between settlers from Connecticut (Yankees) and Pennsylvania (Pennamites) since the late 1760s. In 1782, the Continental Congress decided that the Wyoming Valley belonged to Pennsylvania and the region's long-time Connecticut Yankee settlers had no claim to the land. Violence soon broke out as Pennamite forces (who held an advantage as the area's Connecticut militia had deployed eastward to fight the British) began to force the remaining 2,000 Connecticut settlers (mostly women and children) off their homesteads and into the woods where they starved and froze. When word of their eviction spread, armed soldiers from Connecticut and Vermont rushed to the region to counter the Pennamites, allowing the settlers to return to their farms.
In 1787, the Pennsylvania Assembly formally recognized the Connecticut settlers' rights to their lands, however, sporadic attacks upon them continued throughout the 1790s until the federal government formally declared that although the Connecticut settlers were henceforth citizens of Pennsylvania and retained full rights to their lands.
Although undated, the broadsides contents-which failed to sway Congress-indicate it was published following the establishment of the Northwest Territory in 1787, but before the federal decision of 1799.
(For more information, see Stewart's Blood in the Hills: A History of Violence in Appalachia, and "Connecticut Battles Pennsylvania in the Pennamite Wars" at the New England Historical Society online.
Scarce. At the time of listing, no similar broadsheets are for sale in the trade, only one is held by an institution, and the Rare Book Hub identifies none as ever coming up for auction. (Inventory #: 009863)
This broadside measures 6" x 9.5". Light wrinkles and faint marginal toning, mostly along the top margin. It makes a strong case for Connecticut's retention of the Wyoming Valley, enumerating nine propositions, i.e., justifications.
Some of those nine justifications were:
The territory was granted to Connecticut under its colonial Charter.
The area had long fallen under Connecticut laws and administration.
Units raised in the area were considered to be Connecticut troops during the Revolutionary War.
During the Revolutionary War, Connecticut settlers in the area suffered horrendous massacres by tribes allied with the British.
Survivors of the massacres who had been driven from their homes during the Revolutionary War returned to their properties once it was again safe to do so.
Following the establishment of the Northwest Territory, Connecticut retained its claim to the Western Reserve in Ohio which was on the same latitude as the Wyoming area of Pennsylvania.
The Wyoming Valley along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River had been disputed between settlers from Connecticut (Yankees) and Pennsylvania (Pennamites) since the late 1760s. In 1782, the Continental Congress decided that the Wyoming Valley belonged to Pennsylvania and the region's long-time Connecticut Yankee settlers had no claim to the land. Violence soon broke out as Pennamite forces (who held an advantage as the area's Connecticut militia had deployed eastward to fight the British) began to force the remaining 2,000 Connecticut settlers (mostly women and children) off their homesteads and into the woods where they starved and froze. When word of their eviction spread, armed soldiers from Connecticut and Vermont rushed to the region to counter the Pennamites, allowing the settlers to return to their farms.
In 1787, the Pennsylvania Assembly formally recognized the Connecticut settlers' rights to their lands, however, sporadic attacks upon them continued throughout the 1790s until the federal government formally declared that although the Connecticut settlers were henceforth citizens of Pennsylvania and retained full rights to their lands.
Although undated, the broadsides contents-which failed to sway Congress-indicate it was published following the establishment of the Northwest Territory in 1787, but before the federal decision of 1799.
(For more information, see Stewart's Blood in the Hills: A History of Violence in Appalachia, and "Connecticut Battles Pennsylvania in the Pennamite Wars" at the New England Historical Society online.
Scarce. At the time of listing, no similar broadsheets are for sale in the trade, only one is held by an institution, and the Rare Book Hub identifies none as ever coming up for auction. (Inventory #: 009863)
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