Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumWestward Migration, Frontier Conflicts, and Border Treaties

"To coerce the Indians, and to drive them from their lands... would be an option that is both expensive and unjust. The United States, instead of waging an expensive war of extirpation, should establish a system of justice and humanity towards the Native inhabitants, purchasing their lands through formal treaties rather than seizing them by conquest."
— Henry Knox, Secretary of War, report to President George Washington, 1789

Which of the following developments in the 1790s most directly contradicted the policy toward Native Americans advocated by Knox in the excerpt?

  1. A
    The inability of the federal government to raise taxes to support military defense on the frontier under the Articles of Confederation.
  2. B
    The implementation of Federalist policies that permanently banned westward migration to preserve the eastern labor force for manufacturing.
  3. The deployment of federal military forces to defeat the Western Confederacy in the Ohio Country.Answer
  4. D
    The efforts of Democratic-Republicans to block the annexation of western territories in order to limit the expansion of slavery.

Answer

The deployment of federal military forces to defeat the Western Confederacy in the Ohio Country.
The correct option is correct because Knox explicitly argued against using military force ('coercion') and conquest to acquire Native American lands, suggesting instead a system of treaties and purchases. The deployment of federal military forces to engage and defeat the Western Confederacy in the Northwest Indian War (culminating in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794) directly contradicted this recommendation by using military defeat to force land concessions in the Treaty of Greenville.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus to identify Secretary of War Henry Knox's proposed policy.
Knox advocates for acquiring Native American lands through peaceful purchase and treaties rather than conquest or military coercion.
To understand the baseline policy advocated in the excerpt.
2
Recall historical events of the 1790s concerning Native Americans in the Northwest Territory.
The Washington administration deployed federal troops under General Anthony Wayne, defeating the Western Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, leading to forced land cessions in the Treaty of Greenville.
To find the event that directly contradicted Knox's peaceful proposal.
3
Evaluate the options to identify which development represents a contradiction of Knox's policy and falls in the correct timeframe.
The option describing the deployment of federal military forces to defeat the Western Confederacy in the Ohio Country directly contradicts Knox's advice against military coercion.
To select the correct historical development.

Key Concept

Federal frontier policy, military conflict with Native Americans, and the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution.
Rate this question

Topics

Westward Migration, Frontier Conflicts, and Border Treaties

More questions from this topic