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At the end of the American Revolution, Britain ceded the Northwest Territory to the US as one of the terms of the Treaty of Paris.

I stumbled across a very interesting statement on Wikipedia that says:

Despite the treaty, the British kept forts and policies there that supported the Natives in the Northwest Territories. President George Washington directed the United States Army to halt the hostilities between the Natives and settlers and enforce U.S. sovereignty over the territory.

What forts did the British keep in the Northwest Territory?

(And did the United States then seize British-controlled forts by force of arms?)

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    It's not the Northwest Territory, but I know that the British did not abandon Fort Mackinac, Michigan post-Revolution. In fact, I don't believe they abandoned it (or actually Fort Michimilimak, Michigan,) until the War of 1812.
    – CGCampbell
    Sep 14, 2014 at 3:58
  • This is like how the US Civil War started. Sep 30, 2021 at 18:44

1 Answer 1

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Great Britain retained six forts in the Great Lakes region after the Treaty of Paris. They remained in British hands until the United States acquired them peacefully through diplomatic means.

The ones located within the Northwest Territory were:

In addition, Britain controlled these forts in modern New York:

All of these forts were ceded to the United States by the Jay Treaty in 1796. However, several of them were reoccupied by British troops during the War of 1812.

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    The US sent several expeditions against the British-armed and supplied Indians in North Indiana and Ohio, suffering the largest defeat in US History in Indian Warfare in the process, before finally driving the Indians right up to the gates of Ft Miamis. I wouldn't call this peaceful means at all.
    – Oldcat
    Sep 15, 2014 at 22:03
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    @Oldcat And I wouldn't call the US subjugation of Native Americans relevant to OP's question of whether the US took British forts by force, either.
    – Semaphore
    Sep 16, 2014 at 4:08

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