Name
Period
Date
Annotated Bibliography
Carter, Clarence Edwin, ed. The Territorial Papers of the United States. 26 Vols. Vols. 2 and 3: The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, 1787-1803. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1934.
A collection of primarily government sources from the period, including letters to and from Congress, the President, the Cabinet, settlers, and Indians. This is one of the main sources for primary source information on the settlement of the Northwest Territory, and crucial for understanding the actions and thoughts of Americans at the time.
Cayton, Andrew R. L. “‘Language Gives Way to Feeling’: Rhetoric, Republicanism, and Religion in Jeffersonian Ohio.” The Pursuit of Public Power: Political Culture in Ohio, 1787-1861. Ed. Jeffrey P. Brown and Andrew R. L. Cayton. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1994.
This essay, by a leading historian on this period of Ohio history, focuses on the relationship between political activity, ideology, and religion. In the essay Cayton highlights the use of rhetoric by Thomas Worthington, one of the key players in the push for statehood, and a central figure in this essay. Understanding Worthington’s motivations will be crucial for explaining his actions in creating the state of Ohio.
Jefferson, Thomas. Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, February 17, 1791, Report with Extracts on Northwest Territory. 15 Mar. 2000. Library of Congress. 10 Nov. 2003. <http://memory.loc.gov/master/mss/mtj/mtj1/013/0900/0997.jpg>.
A letter from Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, to President George Washington on current conditions of settlement and Indian relations, including a lengthy report on conditions in the Northwest Territory. Jefferson was one of the main architects of the NWO and this letter reflects his idea of how the Territory should be run.
Wood, Gordon S. “Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality and Deceit in the Eighteenth Century.” William and Mary Quarterly 39.2 (1982): 401-441.
Wood’s journal article describes the nature of historical understanding in early America, and the reliance on the idea of conspiracy to explain historical events. Wood focuses on how this historical interpretation affected the American Revolution, but it is also useful in understanding political behavior in Ohio, especially as Thomas Worthington and Arthur St. Clair accused each other of being part of a plot to undermine republican government in the Northwest.