Beschreibung:

Plain Facts: being an examination into the Rights of the Indian Nations of America to their respective countries; and a Vindication of the Grant, from the Six United Nations of Indians, to the Proprietors of Indiana, against the Decision of the Legislature of Virginia, together with Authentic Documents, proving that the Territory, Westward of the Allegheny Mountain never belonged to Virginia.
Philadelphia: R. Aitken, 1781. 164, [1] pp., 8vo (174 x 112 mm). Early plain wrappers. Housed in a morocco-backed clamshell box. Condition : minor foxing, trimmed. Provenance : Edmund Randolph (signature on title). rare pamphlet reviewing the indiana company’s claims to west virginia, from the library of edmund randolph. Losses suffered by a group of Pennsylvania traders during Pontiac’s Rebellion resulted in their compensation with Indian deeds to land south of the Ohio River. Proposed to the British Parliament as a new colony named Vandalia, the degradation of pre-Revolution relations ended the attempt. However, several leading members of the proposed colony, including Pennsylvanians Samuel Wharton, William Trent, Joseph Galloway and Benjamin Franklin formed the Indiana Company in 1775 and began soliciting shareholders and settlers to the region. At roughly the same time, however, Virginia laid claim to the entire region west of their border to the Pacific Ocean. In 1779, the Indiana Company petitioned the Viriginia Legislature to confirm their rights to the land based on their deeds from the Indians. Instead, that body decided to invalidate all deeds for land purchased from the Indians and specifically declared the Indiana Company’s claim as null and void. This pamphlet was issued by Wharton in 1781 to review the above facts and continue to present his case for their rights to the region. “The first twenty-five pages of this gem of frontier history are a remarkable summary of land claims in America” (Siebert). Although Virginia would cede much of its western lands to Congress in 1784, the areas claimed by the Indiana Company would continue to be unresolved. In 1793 a lawsuit was initiated in the Supreme Court (Hollingsworth v Virginia) but that case floundered there for almost a decade and in the end the Indiana Company shareholders received neither land nor compensation. The provenance of this copy is significant, belonging to jurist , Virginia Governor and later U. S. Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Although Virginian, Randolph was an early supporter of the Company and even argued their case before the Legislature in 1779. Evans 17437; Field 1224; Howes W307; Sabin 63221; Siebert Sale 538; Streeter Sale 1302.