Papers Relating to an Act of the Assembly of the Province of New-York: For encouragement of the Indian trade, &c. and for prohibiting the selling of Indian goods to the French, viz. of Canada

In Short

This volume brings together petitions, legislative reports, treaty council minutes, and constitutional charters that defined the early eighteenth-century American frontier. Opening with a dispute over New York's 1720 law prohibiting the sale of Indian trade goods to the French in Canada, the text broadens into diplomatic proceedings between colonial governors and the Six Nations of the Iroquois, concluding with foundational documents of Pennsylvania. It endures as a raw, firsthand record of how commercial appetite, imperial rivalry, and Indigenous diplomacy shaped the continent's political geography long before the American Revolution.

The Story

The volume opens with a commercial crisis. In 1720, the Assembly of the Province of New-York passes an act forbidding the sale of European goods—specifically heavy wool "strouds"—to French traders in Canada. London merchants quickly petition the King in Council to repeal the law, claiming it destroys their export trade and alienates native groups. The Board of Trade investigates, gathering counter-arguments from colonial administrators like Cadwallader Colden. Colden demonstrates that French traders rely entirely on British goods to sustain their fur trade, and that forcing Indian nations to trade directly at Albany strengthens British alliances while undercutting French influence.

The focus then shifts from trade policy to the practical administration of frontier diplomacy. Extensive council minutes detail formal treaties held at Lancaster and Albany between the governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, and the sachems of the Six Nations. Speeches by Native leaders like Canassatego and Tachanuntia reveal a complex geopolitical landscape: the Iroquois navigate severe famines, manage territorial disputes, and leverage their military importance against competing French and British overtures. Land deeds are negotiated and executed, covenant chains are symbolically brightened, and alliances are forged against French encroachment.

The narrative arc culminates in the structural foundations built to govern these newly claimed lands. The text incorporates the royal charter granted to William Penn, followed by his Frame of the Government and original laws for Pennsylvania. These documents establish legal frameworks—guaranteeing jury trials, modest court fees, and clear land titles—designed to maintain order among European settlers while managing an ever-expanding borderland.

Together, these collected papers trace a deliberate arc from trade dispute to alliance-building, and finally to institutional statecraft, charting how the British Empire attempted to consolidate its hold over mid-Atlantic North America.

How It Unfolds

The trade embargo contested London merchants petition the King against New York's trade restriction, arguing that stopping the supply of goods to Canada ruins British commerce and weakens ties with native partners.

The colonial counter-argument Cadwallader Colden and the New York Council present detailed economic reports, proving that direct trade at Albany offers lower prices, undermines French forts, and cements the Iroquois alliance.

Diplomacy at the treaty council Governors and Six Nations sachems gather in Lancaster, exchanging wampum strings and formal speeches to settle land claims, address frontier famines, and negotiate military neutrality amid threats of a French war.

Extending the covenant chain Colonial representatives meet with the River Indians and Iroquois at Albany, presenting war belts to secure their alliance and military support for a planned expedition against Canada.

Framing a colonial government The compilation closes with King Charles II's charter to William Penn and Penn's subsequent frame of government, laying down administrative statutes, court procedures, and property laws for the expanding province.

The People

• Cadwallader Colden: A prominent New York official and scholar who defends the colony's trade embargo. He advocates for direct commercial routes to the Great Lakes to supplant French economic dominance.
• Canassatego: Speaker for the Six Nations at the Lancaster treaties. He forcefully defends Iroquois territorial rights, manages internal crises like Seneca famines, and skillfully plays British and French interests against one another while maintaining allegiance to the British.
• Governor George Thomas: Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania who presides over key treaty councils. He seeks to secure the western frontier by funding presents, settling land disputes, and urging neighboring colonies to maintain goodwill with Native allies.
• Conrad Weiser: The official provincial interpreter whose fluency in Native languages and customs makes him the essential diplomatic bridge between colonial authorities and the Six Nations.
• William Penn: The Quaker proprietor of Pennsylvania whose royal charter and governance frameworks establish the judicial and civic laws intended to bring order to the colony.

In Its Own Voice

"The reverse of this is exactly true, in the Opinion of our Five Nations; who in all their publick Treaties with This Government, have represented against this Trade, as The Building the French Forts with English Strouds..."

— The Committee of Council of New-York responds to London merchants, defending the prohibition of sales to Canada.

"The Governor of Canada talks a great deal, but ten of his Words do not go so far as one of yours.----We do not look towards them; we look towards you; and you may depend on our Assistance."

— The Iroquois speaker Canassatego reassures colonial governors of the Six Nations' loyalty during council talks.

"That all Pleadings, Processes, and Records in Court shall be short, and in English, and in an ordinary and plain Character, that they may be understood, and Justice speedily administred."

— Clause VII of the laws agreed upon in England for the governance of Pennsylvania.

What It's Really About

The collection explores the direct relationship between commerce, diplomacy, and sovereign power on the early American frontier. Beneath the economic arguments over trade prohibitions lies a fierce competition for geopolitical dominance over North America. The documents reveal that European empire-building was deeply dependent on Indian diplomacy; British authority could not expand through military force or land grants alone, but required constant negotiation, trade incentives, and formal treaty alliances with powerful Indigenous confederacies like the Six Nations.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers an unfiltered, primary-source view of colonial history as it was negotiated in real time. Rather than a polished retrospective narrative, the reader receives the actual transcripts of heated merchant petitions, transcribed speeches from Native leaders, and original legislative text.

The reading experience requires some patience. The prose reflects eighteenth-century legal and administrative style, filled with archaic capitalization, formal salutations, and dense procedural details. Yet for those interested in early American history, the rewards are substantial. The treaty council transcripts, in particular, preserve the vivid rhetoric, political sophistication, and strategic intelligence of Indigenous leaders like Canassatego. It is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand how economics, law, and native diplomacy intersected to shape the early American borderlands.

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