ss
than four thousand acres could be purchased.(160)

In 1800, two hundred and sixty-eight inhabitants of Illinois, chiefly
French, petitioned Congress that Indian titles to land in the southern
part of Illinois might be extinguished and the land offered for sale; that
tracts of land at the distance of a day's journey from each other, lying
between Vincennes and the Illinois settlements, might be ceded to such
persons as would keep taverns, and that one or two garrisons might be
stationed in Illinois. The petitioners state that the Kaskaskia tribe of
Indians numbered not more than fifteen members and that their title to
land could be easily extinguished; that not enough land is open to
settlement to admit a population sufficient to support ordinary county
establishments; that roads are much needed, and that many of the
inhabitants are crossing the Mississippi with their slaves. The petition
was not considered.(161)

A new factor now appears in the forces affecting Illinois settlement. The
Northwest Territory having advanced to the second grade of territorial
government, in December, 1799, its delegate took his seat in Congress. The
step was an important one for the struggling colony. Before this time such
petitions as were prepared by inhabitants of the territory for the
consideration of Congress had been subjected to all the vicissitudes of
being addressed to some public officer or of being confided to some member
of Congress who represented a different portion of the country. Up to this
time the public lands could only be bought in tracts of four thousand
acres. Largely through the influence of the delegate from the Northwest
Territory, a bill was passed which authorized the sale of sections and
half-sections. In consequence, emigration soon began to flow rapidly into
Ohio. Land in Illinois was not yet offered for sale, but this bill is
important because the policy of offering land in smaller tracts was to
continue.(162)

The territorial delegate was also active in procuring the passage of a
bill for the division of the Northwest Territory. While the bill was
pending, a petition from Illinois, praying for the division and for the
establishment of such a government in the western part as was provided for
by the Ordinance of 1787, was presented. The act for division was signed
by the President on May 7, 1800; it formed Indiana Territory, with
Vincennes as its capital.(163)

The propositions made by a convention of r