Toledo War
Context of Toledo War
In 1835, Michigan had enough people settled to become a state in accordance with United States federal law, but statehood could not be granted because of a territorial dispute with Ohio over the Toledo Strip. The Toledo Strip stretched along the border of Michigan and Ohio from Lake Erie to Indiana with the city of Toledo inside of it. Ohio claimed the Toledo Strip, despite Michigan officially owning the land. The dispute caused both sides to pass legislation attempting to force the other side's capitulation. Both Ohio's Governor Robert Lucas and Michigan's Stevens Thomas Mason helped make criminal penalties for residents submitting to the opposing state. Militias were deployed for both states near Toledo, but there was hardly any interaction with each other. There was only one single military confrontation which ended without any casualties, with shots simply firing into the air.
In 1836, the House Judiciary Committee investigation reported that Michigan must give up the Toledo Strip to Ohio. In a compromise for losing the Toledo Strip, Michigan in return received what is now the Upper Peninsula. With compromise on the table, the people of Michigan met to discuss it. They held two conferences and in the second conference, Michigan agreed to the compromise with hopes they would be able to refute the ownership of the Toledo Strip. After that agreement, a bill was created in Washington D.C that officially made Michigan a state in the union. While at first, it did not seem to compare with the economic potential Toledo would have brought to Michigan, the Upper Peninsula would prove valuable to Michigan’s economy. By accruing the Upper Peninsula, Michigan acquired 9,000 square miles of unequaled mineral and timber land. This land contained resources that would be important for the lumber companies, and it allowed Michigan to have an impactful mining industry.
Letters to Stevens Thomas Mason, Michigan's Governor
Typed Letter from Lewis Cass to Stevens Thomas Mason, May 9, 1835
Lewis Cass, represented Michigan in the U.S. Senate, served as the Governor of Michigan, and was in the presidential cabinet at the time of writing this letter to Stevens Thomas Mason. Cass details that President Jackson urges for no violence to occur, and that Ohio's governor Lucas refused to give up claim for fear that Michigan would prosecute Ohians living in the area.
Handwritten Letter from Lewis Cass to Stevens Thomas Mason
In the original handwritten letter, Cass relays to Stevens Thomas Mason the President's position on the squabble over Toledo. Cass urgers Mason to await President Jackson's decision before taking any action.
Letter to Stevens Thomas Mason regarding the Toledo War
John Forsyth, the Secretary of State under President Jackson, writes to Stevens Thomas Mason addressing the dispute. Forsyth details both sides, explaining Ohio's claim to Mason in an effort to the detail the facts and push resolution.
Ceded land to Ohio
Ultimately Toledo went to Ohio, land that originally was inhabited by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and sold for less than its value. The Potawatomi tribes were forced west toward Kansas and Oklahoma as a result of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, leaving their original lands near Indiana and Ohio. Today the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is forced to only have rights to lands that are allotted by the government.
Map of the British and French Dominions in North America
1775 map of Michigan prior to Toledo land dispute. This map's boundaries is said to be the catalyst for the dispute.
1775 Map of Michigan and Ohio
This map compares the early map of 1755 against a modern map and shows the inaccurate locations of Toledo and the mouth of the Maumee River
Michigan. (with) Northwest Part of Michigan
Michigan after the end of the Toledo dispute, where Michigan received what is now the western Upper Peninsula, and ceded Toledo to Ohio.
Treaty and Letter locations
Search by area in Michigan, and outside the state, to see where treaties and letters were written, signed, and the land they are correlated with.