Five Nations at Fort George, New York (1722)
In 1722 at Albany, New York, Virginia and the Five Nations agreed to a Potomac and Blue Ridge boundary for travel and war parties.
Treaties and agreements
The United States made hundreds of agreements with Native nations. Many traded land for promises.
Each page shows what was agreed, what happened to the land, which promises were broken, and who is defending those rights today.
Begin with where you live What courts and Congress did with them
A few places to begin
Find a treaty
Search 405 treaties and agreements by name, nation, place or year.
405 agreements in the record
In date orderFive Nations at Albany, New York (1726)
In 1726 at Albany, three Five Nations groups granted the British king their beaver-hunting land and a 60-mile strip, asking his protection.
Six Nations with Virginia and Maryland at Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1744)
At Lancaster in 1744, Six Nations deputies gave up Maryland claims for 300 pounds and signed a Virginia deed for goods and gold.
Extracts from the Treaty with the Indians at Loggstown [Logstown] (1752)
At Logstown in June 1752, Ohio-country Indian leaders confirmed the 1744 Lancaster deed and promised not to molest British settlers southeast of the Ohio.
Extracts from the Treaty at Albany with the Six Nations (1754)
At the 1754 Albany Congress, colonial delegates met the Six Nations and debated a union of colonies; Indian speakers raised land complaints.
Six Nations at Fort Pitt (1760)
At Fort Pitt in 1760, a British general told the Six Nations and others he would not take their lands, only build forts.
Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768), Crown boundary line
In November 1768 at Fort Stanwix the Six Nations ceded to the British Crown more than 27 million acres in the Ohio Valley, fixing a new colonial boundary.
Treaty with the Delawares (Treaty of Fort Pitt), 1778
In 1778 the Delaware agreed to let U.S. troops cross their country and join the war, and the United States guaranteed their territorial rights.
Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784), Six Nations
In 1784 the Six Nations gave up claims west of a Fort Stanwix boundary and handed over hostages; a council later rejected the treaty.
Treaty of Fort McIntosh, 1785
At Fort McIntosh in 1785 four nations accepted U.S. protection and a boundary and acknowledged U.S. title to lands outside it.
Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokee, 1785
At Hopewell in 1785 the Cherokee accepted U.S. protection and a boundary for their hunting grounds, but settlers soon moved into that land.
Treaty of Hopewell with the Choctaw, 1786
At Hopewell in 1786 the Choctaw accepted U.S. protection, a boundary for their lands, and three U.S. trading-post tracts.
Treaty of Hopewell with the Chickasaw, 1786
At Hopewell in 1786 the Chickasaw accepted U.S. protection and a boundary for their lands, with one trading post reserved at Muscle Shoals.
Treaty of Fort Finney (Mouth of the Great Miami) with the Shawnee, 1786
In 1786 the Shawnee gave hostages, acknowledged U.S. sovereignty over British-ceded lands, and were allotted land to live and hunt on.
Treaty of Fort Harmar with the Wyandot and allied nations, 1789
At Fort Harmar in 1789 several nations renewed the Fort McIntosh boundary after Governor St. Clair reportedly threatened to attack them.
Six Nations at Fort Harmar (1789)
At Fort Harmar in January 1789, Six Nations leaders renewed the Fort Stanwix boundary and yielded claims west of it for $3,000 in goods.
Treaty of New York with the Creeks, 1790
In New York in 1790 the Creek accepted U.S. protection and a Georgia boundary and ceded Oconee land; six articles were kept secret.
Treaty of Holston with the Cherokee, 1791
At Holston in 1791 the Cherokee ceded land east of the Clinch River for a $1,000 yearly payment and accepted U.S. trade control.
Five Nations Agreement at Philadelphia (1792)
In 1792 the United States promised the Five Nations $1,500 a year for clothing, farm animals and tools, in one signed article.
Six Nations at New York (1793)
A 1793 National Archives item copies New York's Six Nations land deeds, including a 1785 Oneida and Tuscarora sale of about 300,000 acres.
Cherokee at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1794)
In 1794 the United States and Cherokee leaders reaffirmed the Holston treaty boundaries and raised the yearly goods payment to $5,000.
Treaty of Canandaigua (Pickering Treaty), 1794, Six Nations
At Canandaigua the United States acknowledged Six Nations land in New York, with Seneca boundaries, a road right and annual goods.
Treaty with the Oneida, Tuscarora, and Stockbridge, 1794
In 1794 the United States promised the Oneida, Tuscarora and Stockbridge $5,000, mills and a church to repay wartime loyalty.
Treaty of Greenville, 1795
At Greenville, after a U.S. army victory, twelve nations ceded most of present Ohio and post sites for goods.
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After the treaties, the law
Courts and Congress decided what these promises came to mean: when a treaty right still holds, when Congress could override it, and what is owed when land is taken. The law pages explain 104 court cases, 52 laws and the doctrines they built, each in plain words.
Read the lawWhy there is no single count of treaties
The National Archives series of ratified Indian treaties holds 368 federal-era treaties (375 counting seven British-era items). Other counts include different kinds of documents. This collection includes treaties, unratified instruments, agreements, and orders, each with its own status and sources.