Indiana (state)


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Counties
(click on the name of a county to see information specific to that location)
 
Adams County Franklin County
Allen County Fulton County
Bartholomew County Gibson County
Benton County Grant County
Blackford County Greene County
Boone County Hamilton County
Brown County Hancock County
Carroll County Harrison County
Cass County Hendricks County
Clark County Henry County
Clay County Howard County
Clinton County Huntington County
Crawford County Jackson County
Daviess County Jasper County
Dearborn County Jay County
Decatur County Jefferson County
De Kalb County Jennings County
Delaware County Johnson County
Dubois County Knox County
Elkhart County Kosciusko County
Fayette County La Porte County
Floyd County Lagrange County
Fountain County Lake County

 

State of Indiana
Lawrence County Ohio County Ripley County Union County
Madison County Orange County Rush County Vanderburgh County
Marion County Owen County St. Joseph County Vermillion County
Marshall County Parke County Scott County Vigo County
Martin County Perry County Shelby County Wabash County
Miami County Pike County Spencer County Warren County
Monroe County Porter County Starke County Warrick County
Montgomery County Posey County Steuben County Washington County
Morgan County Pulaski County Sullivan County Wayne County
Newton County Putnam County Switzerland County Wells County
Noble County Randolph County Tippecanoe County White County
    Tipton County Whitley County
 

See Also:
Territory Northwest of the River Ohio (1787-1800)
Indiana Territory (1800-1816)

  
 
Authority
(click on a title below to view laws involved in the formation or governance of the area)
  
1609The Second Charter to the Treasurer and Company, for Virginia, erecting them into a Corporation and Body Politic, and for the further enlargement and explanation of the privileges of said Company and First Colony of Virginia
  
1763The Definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship, between His Britannick Majesty, the Most Christian King, and the King of Spain. Concluded at Paris, the 10th Day of February 1763. To which, The King of Portugal acceded on the same Day
  
1783An act to authorize the delegates of this state in congress, to convey to the United States, in congress assembled, all the right of this commonwealth to the territory north westward of the river Ohio
  
1784Resolved, that so much of the territory ceded, or to be ceded by individual states, to the United States, as is already purchased, or shall be purchased, of the Indian inhabitants, and offered for sale by Congress...
  
1787An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States, North-west of the river Ohio
  
1800An act to divide the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio, into two separate governments
  
1802An Act to enable the people of the Eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes
  
1804An Act erecting Louisiana into two territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof
  
1805An Act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments
  
1805An Act further providing for the government of the district of Louisiana
  
1809An Act for dividing the Indiana Territory into two separate governments
  
1816An Act to enable the people of the Indiana territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states
  
1816Constitution of the State of Indiana
  
1851Constitution of the State of Indiana
  

 

Background
(general information on the area to put it in the context of history)

The Virginia Colony originally claimed the land of present-day Indiana through its Second Charter to the Treasurer and Company, for Virginia, erecting them into a Corporation and Body Politic, and for the further enlargement and explanation of the privileges of said Company and First Colony of Virginia, 1609 [click here for more information].

The claim to the northwest lands was later vacated in 1783 by the Act to authorize the delegates of this state in congress, to convey to the United States, in congress assembled, all the right of this commonwealth to the territory north westward of the river Ohio, 1783 [click here for more information].

At the time of the cessation of land by Virginia, a Federal committee suggested dividing the area into ten states in the Plan for the Temporary Government of the Western Territory, 1784 [click here for more information].

Three years later, the land of Illinois was organized into the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio under the An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States, North-west of the river Ohio, 1787 [click here for more information].

By the act approved May 7, 1800, to take effect on and after July 4 of that year, the "Territory northwest of the River Ohio" was divided into two parts, the eastern part to retain the old name, the western part to become the Territory of Indiana. The description of the boundary line between these two Territories is given in An act to divide the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio, into two separate governments [click here for more information] (2 Stat. 58) as follows:

"That from and after the fourth day of July next, all that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate Territory, and be called Indiana Territory.

That whenever that part of the territory of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent state, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line between such State and the Indiana Territory, anything in this act contained to the contrary notwithstanding."

The line from the Ohio River running northeastward to Fort Recovery was the boundary of an Indian cession established by the "Greenville treaty" of 1795 [click here for more information].

In the An Act to enable the people of the Eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes [click here for more information] provision was made for the addition to Indiana Territory of a triangular strip of land between Ohio and that Territory and of that part of the Territory northwest of the River Ohio north of the limits of the new State (Ohio) and east of Indiana (2 Stat. 173), as follows:

"All that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio heretofore included in the eastern division of said territory, and not included within the boundary herein prescribed for the said state, is hereby attached to and made a part of the Indiana territory."

The admission of Ohio as a State removed from Indiana Territory a narrow strip about 1 1/4 miles wide north of Fort Recovery.

On June 30, 1805 (2 Stat. 309), by An Act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments [click here for more information] approved January 11, 1805, the northeastern part of Indiana Territory was cut off and organized as Michigan Territory.

On March 1, 1809, by An Act for dividing the Indiana Territory into two separate governments [click here for more information] approved February 3, 1809, Indiana Territory was again divided, and the western part was organized as Illinois Territory (2 Stat. 514).

On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted as a State with the limits as given in the following extract from An Act to enable the people of the Indiana territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states [click here for more information] (3 Stat. 289), approved April 19, 1816, which have not since been changed: "the said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Bounded on the east, by the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio; on the South, by the river Ohio, from the mouth of the Great Miami River, to the mouth of the River Wabash; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash, from its mouth to a point where a due north line drawn from the town of Vincennes, would last touch the northwestern shore of the said river; and from thence by a due north line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of lake Michigan; on the north by the said east and west line until the same shall intersect the first-mentioned meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio."

A provision in this act required that the boundaries as therein described be ratified by a constitutional convention to be called; otherwise they would be fixed as described in article 5 of the ordinance of 1787. By ratifying them, June 29, 1816, Indiana missed an opportunity for including in its limits a considerably larger territory than it now has.

The north boundary of Indiana is parallel to and 10 miles north of the line which runs due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. A survey of this line was made in 1827 in accordance with An Act to authorize the President of the United States to ascertain and designate the northern boundary of the state of Indiana dated March 2 of that year. The original plat of the survey was filed in the surveyor general's office in Chillicothe, Ohio, and a copy in the General Land Office in Washington. The approximate latitude as determined in 1827 is 41°47'43" N., but measurements by the Geological Survey near the east end give the latitude as 41°45'33" N. The mark nearest Lake Michigan is in lat 41°45'36.07" N., long 86°46'03.36" W. Parts of this line were retraced in 1828, 1834, 1839, and 1842 by the General Land Office. The south boundary is the low-water line on the north side of the Ohio River.

 

Census
(click on a year below to view information on the population of the area)


To see information on a particular census, select a year from the table below.

DatePopulationChange
1800 (Federal)3287+264%
1807 (State Tax)------


Maps
(click on title below to see a contemporary map of the State)



 

Related Content
(the links below contain information related to this area)

A Resolution, 1806

WHEREAS the sheriffs of several counties in this territory failed to take in lists of the free male inhabitants of the counties as required by the twenty seventh section of the act passed last session, for levying and collecting a tax on land, and for other purposes.

An Act for Levying and Collecting a Tax on Land and for Other Purposes, 1805

Be it enacted by the Legislative Council and House of Representatives, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the courts to same, That on or before the first day of January next the courts of common pleas of the several counties within this territory be empowered, and they are hereby authorised and required to appoint an assessor and collector for the purposes herein after mentioned, each assessor or collector before they begin the exercise of the duties of their respective offices shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, before any judge of the court aforesaid of the county viz.

Resolution for admitting the state of Indiana into the Union, 1816

WHEREAS in pursuance of an act of Congress, passed on the nineteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, entitled " An act to enable the people of Indiana territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of that state into the union," the people of the said territory did, on the twenty-ninth day of June, in the present year, by a convention called for that purpose, form for themselves a constitution and state government, which constitution and state government, so formed, is republican, and in conformity with the principles of the articles of compact between the original states and the people and states in the territory north-west of the river Ohio, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven.

An Act to enable the people of the Indiana territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, 1816

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of the territory of Indiana be, and they are hereby authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper;and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the union upon the same footing with the original states, in all respects whatever.

An Act for dividing the Indiana Territory into two separate governments, 1809

Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, from and after the first day of March next, all that part of the Indiana Territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash river and Post Vincennes, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate Territory, and be called Illinois.

Second Census of the United States, Indiana Territory, 1800

Schedule of the whole number of Persons in the Indiana Territory

 

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