The Confederation Congress and the Creation of the American Trans-Appalachian Settlement Policy
By Michael Allen
In 1783, immediately following the Revolutionary War, thousands of American pioneers began to settle in the Trans-Appalachian West. Between 1783 and 1787, the Confederation Congress passed numerous laws to govern certain activities. This study of the creation of the first American western policy forms a microcosm through which to view the ongoing course of the American Revolution.