Editing Indiana Territory (section)

==Political issues==
[[File:William Henry Harrison by James Reid Lambdin, 1835.jpg|thumb|upright|[[William Henry Harrison]], the [[Governor of Indiana|1st Governor of Indiana Territory]] from 1801 to 1812, and the 9th [[President of the United States]]]]

The major political issue in Indiana's territorial history was [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]]; however, there were others, including Indian affairs, the formation of northern and western territories from portions of the Indiana Territory, concerns about the lack of territorial self-government and representation in Congress, and ongoing criticisms of Harrison's actions as territorial governor.<ref name=BR369-70>Barnhart and Riker, pp. 369–70.</ref><ref>Bigham, pp. 12–14.</ref>

Most of these issues were resolved before Indiana achieved statehood. The formations of the Michigan Territory and the Illinois Territory ended the debate about the territory's geographical size. In the second phase of territorial governance, the increasing democratization of the government shifted the authority initially placed in the hands of the territorial governor and a judicial council to a legislative branch of elected representatives and a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The debate over the issue of allowing slavery in the territory was settled in 1810; however, criticism of Governor Harrison continued, even after much of his authority was transferred to territorial legislators and judges.<ref name=BR369-70/>

===Slavery===
{{See also|History of slavery in Indiana}}

In December 1802 delegates from Indiana Territory's four counties passed a resolution in favor of a ten-year suspension of Article Six of the Northwest Ordinance, which prohibited slavery in the original Northwest Territory. They also petitioned Congress for the suspension in order to make the region more appealing to slave-holding settlers and ultimately make the territory economically viable by increasing its population. In addition, the petition requested that the slaves and their children brought into the territory during the suspension period should remain slaves even after the suspension ended. Benjamin Parke, a pro-slavery supporter who became the territory's first representative in Congress in 1805, carried the petition to Washington, D.C.; however, Congress failed to take action, leaving Harrison and the territorial judges to pursue other options.<ref>Barnhart and Riker, pp. 334–36.</ref><ref name = g21>Gresham, p. 21</ref>

In 1803 Harrison and the general court judges passed legislation that evaded the Ordinance of 1787 in order permit slavery in the Indiana Territory through the use of [[indentured servitude]] laws. The bill allowed adult slaves owned or purchased outside the territory to be brought into the territory and bound into service for fixed terms set by the slave owner.<ref>Terms of servitude for an adult slave could extend beyond the slave's life. Slaves under the age of fifteen were required to serve until they reached age thirty-five for males and thirty-two for females. Children born to slaves after they arrived in the territory were bound into service for thirty years for males and twenty-eight years for females. See: Barnhart and Riker, p. 348.</ref><ref name = g21/><ref>Dunn, p. 218</ref> After the territory was granted representation in Congress in 1805, Parke was able to get Congress to pass legislation to suspend Article Six for ten years, granting the territories covered under the ordinance the ability to legalize slavery in their territories.<ref>By the same act, Congress removed the General Court's legislative power, creating a legislative council to be elected by popular vote, enabling the Indiana Territory to enter the second phase of territorial government. See Dunn, p. 246</ref>

Harrison's attempts to allow slavery in the Indiana Territory caused a significant opposition from the [[Quakers]] who had settled in the eastern part of the territory. They responded by forming an anti-slavery party. Davis Floyd of Clark County was the only anti-slavery representative elected to the territory's House of Representatives in the 1805 election, but Harrison's measures to legalize slavery in the territory were blocked by the two representatives from St. Clair County, who refused to authorize slavery unless Harrison supported their request for a separate territory, which Harrison opposed.<ref>Dunn, pp. 249 and 298</ref><ref>Barnhart and Riker, p. 349.</ref>

In 1809, five years after Congress established the Michigan Territory, the St. Clair County settlers successfully petitioned Congress for the formation of a separate territory. Despite Harrison's disapproval, Congress approved the formation of the Illinois Territory from the western portion of the Indiana Territory, in addition to granting the inhabitants of the Indiana Territory the right to elect a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives and members of the territory's Legislative Council (upper house). Harrison, whose political power was reduced by these changes, found himself at odds with the territorial legislature when the anti-slavery party came to power after the 1809 elections. Voters promptly rebuffed many of his plans for slavery, and in 1810 the territorial legislature repealed the indenturing laws that Harrison and the judicial court had enacted in 1803.<ref>Dunn, p. 258</ref><ref>Barnhart and Riker, pp. 327 and 361.</ref>

===Relocating the seat of government===
The capital of the Indiana Territory remained in Vincennes from 1800 to 1813, when the territorial legislature moved it to [[Corydon, Indiana|Corydon]]. After the Illinois Territory was formed from the western portion of the Indiana Territory in 1809, Vincennes, which was initially situated in the center of the territory, was now on its far west edge. The territorial legislature was also becoming increasingly fearful that the outbreak of the War of 1812 could cause an attack on Vincennes, resulting in their decision to move the seat of government to a location closer to the territory's population center. In addition to Corydon, the towns of [[Madison, Indiana|Madison]], [[Lawrenceburg, Indiana|Lawrenceburg]], [[Vevay, Indiana|Vevay]], and [[Jeffersonville, Indiana|Jeffersonville]] were considered as potential sites for the new capital. On March 11, 1813, the territorial legislature selected Corydon as the new seat of government for the territory, effective May 1, 1813.<ref name=Gresham25>Gresham, p. 25</ref><ref name=T169-B17>{{cite book |author1=Robert M. Taylor Jr. |author2=Erroll Wayne Stevens |author3=Mary Ann Ponder |author4=Paul Brockman | title =Indiana: A New Historical Guide | publisher =Indiana Historical Society | year =1989 | location =Indianapolis | page =169 | isbn =0871950499}} Also: {{cite book | author=Ray E. Boomhower  | title =Destination Indiana: Travels Through Hoosier History | publisher =Indiana Historical Society | year =2000 | location =Indianapolis | page=17 | isbn =0871951479}}</ref>

Harrison favored Corydon, a town he had founded, named, and where he owned an [[Harrison Spring|estate]]. In 1813, after it was brought to the territorial legislature's attention that plans were underway to construct a new county courthouse in Corydon and the new building could also be used for its assemblies (a significant cost savings), the government made the decision to relocate the territorial capital to Corydon. Construction on the [[Corydon Historic District|capitol building]] began in 1814 and was nearly finished by 1816.<ref name=Gresham25/><ref name=T169-B17/>