Description:

(FRENCH & INDIAN WAR) PENNSYLVANIA INDIANS PETITION GOVERNOR DENNY IN 1758
Historically important A.Ms., 1p. 8" x 13", [Philadelphia, July 7, 1758, "The Memorial of the Freemen of the said Province" to Govenor William Denny relating to Indian affairs in the colony. The freeemen, including Joseph Galloway, Anthony Morris, William Callender, Anthony Benezet and others, reminde the Governor of promises made to the Indians regarding lands, and in particular terms of the Treaty of Easton (1858). Specifically, the signers are concerned with the release of "fellow subjects" being held by the Indians. In part: "...That divers of us yesterday present at the Conference between the Governor & the Indians...have seen the Minutes of what was said to them...& a Declaration of Satisfying the Allegheny Indians by repeating the particular Articles on which the peace was concluded last year at Easton...it appears from the Minutes of the Easton Treaty that a just & impartial Inquiry into the Grounds of the Complaints made by the Indians of Injustice done them...in the Purchase and Measuring their lands...was repeatedly urged by the Indians & declared to be the fundamental Article of the Peace...in strong clear & certain terms...We think it our Duty...to request the Governor to Consider the Reputation & Interest of our King...& the Obtaining the Release of our fellow Subjects now in Captivity is immediately concerned in our Convincing the Indians that everything which hath been solemnly promised by the Governor shall be faithfully performed...". With the scibal signatures of the thirty freedmen at bottom. Trimmed slightly at top, with a few marginal chips and mounting residue to verso, else very good. The Treaty of Easton specified that the Indian nations would not fight on the side of the French against the British in the current war. In return, Pennsylvania returned large blocks of land which the Iroquois had ceded a few years before; the British colonial governors would recognize Iroquois and other tribes'' rights to their hunting grounds; and they would refrain from establishing colonial settlements west of the Allegheny Mountains. In November, 1758 Governor Denny announced to the Pennsylvania Assembly that "a general peace was secured at Easton." This only facilitated Gen. John Forbes'' 1758 advance across southern Pennsylvania from Carlisle to the Forks, forcing the French to abandon Fort Duquesne and making possible the construction of Fort Pitt, a fortress designed to cement British supremacy in the region.

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April 18, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

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