In a time and place where personal coalitions were more influential than parties, Edwards led one of the two main factions in frontier Illinois politics.

On its second day in session, the Illinois General Assembly elected Edwards to the U.S. Senate, where conflict with rivals damaged him politically.

Thomas Ford writes that he continued to dress like an 18th-century gentleman long after such fashions had gone out of style, and that his public speaking was marked by showy eloquence.

In the meantime, Territorial Secretary Nathaniel Pope, a cousin of Edwards, had to assume the powers of acting governor, creating Illinois' first counties and appointing officials to form the new government.

Along with his family, Edwards brought a number of slaves, whom he did not free even though the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had made slavery illegal in the territory.

[13] At first Edwards tried to avoid partisanship but soon found that faction was an inevitable result of his power to appoint officials and distribute government jobs.

[17] Throughout Edwards' three terms as governor, he showed a willingness to surrender his own considerable powers in order to expand participatory government in the Illinois Territory.

[19] In 1812, Edwards successfully persuaded Congress to modify a provision of the 1787 Ordinance limiting voting rights to freeholders of 50 acres (20 ha) of land.

[20] In April, Edwards held a referendum on moving to second-grade government, allowing the people of Illinois to elect a legislature and a non-voting delegate to Congress.

[22] This action was the result of tensions that were created from a brutal murder that occurred on June 2, 1811, at a settlement cabin two miles northeast of Pocahontas, Illinois.

[23] Governor Edwards acted quickly to attempt to maintain peace, ordering the militia to “erect a chain of block houses in advance of the settlements at about twenty miles from each other commencing on the bank of the Illinois River, and a sufficient force to be distributed among them, with orders to scout from one to another every day.” The most prominent of these new blockhouses was constructed during the summer of 1812 by Colonel William Russell and named Camp Edwards in honor of the Governor, although it would commonly be known as Fort Russell.

Governor Edwards spent considerable time at the fort, and while he was the commander-in-chief of the militia, he had very little military expertise or Native American knowledge.

[24] The declaration of war and the Battle of Fort Dearborn in 1812 convinced Edwards that Potawatomi and Kickapoo in the territory were preparing to launch a major attack on the southern settlements.

Edwards estimated there were no more than 2,000 adult white males between the Mississippi and Wabash Rivers, while there were more than 1,000 Native tribesmen able to assemble at Peoria in a matter of days.

[25] In his capacity as commander in chief, Edwards gathered 350 mounted rangers and volunteers near Edwardsville and personally led an expedition north to Peoria.

These included Nathaniel W. Pope, territorial secretary, Benjamin Stephenson, Thomas Carlin, future Illinois Governor, and William, Elias, and Nelson Rector.

After crossing into Logan County, Edwards’ army encountered two deserted Kickapoo villages near present-day Salt Creek, formerly known as the Saline Fork of the Sangamon River.

[27] The village the army was preparing to attack was recently developed at the head of Peoria Lake and inhabited by Piankashaw and Kickapoo Natives likely led by Chief Pemwatome.

Edwards’ army seized eighty horses, some recently stolen from Saint Clair County, silver ornaments, 200 brass kettles, guns, and six scalps believed to belong to the women and children of the settler O’Neal family from Missouri.

The attack angered both the Peoria villagers and the U.S. government because it had been carried out against Native Americans loyal to Black Partridge and Gomo, two leaders who had not joined Tecumseh's War and were considered friendly to U.S. interests.

[29] In 1813, Illinois and Missouri militia joined a force of United States infantry under Benjamin Howard to drive all Native American villagers away from Peoria and establish Fort Clark.

During his nine years as territorial governor, Edwards made a good deal of money through several profitable ventures, including farming, land speculation, and investment in sawmills, grist mills, and stores.

[33] In December 1817, Edwards, responding to a movement for statehood led by his ally Daniel Pope Cook, recommended to the legislature that Illinois apply for admission to the Union.

He voted against a law reducing prices for federal land, which made both Edwards and Representative Daniel Pope Cook targets of criticism at home.

Jacksonians deeply resented Edwards' ally Cook, who had voted against Jackson when the presidential election of 1824 was decided in the House of Representatives.

As a campaign issue, Edwards focused on Illinois' dire financial situation, blaming Sloo and Hubbard and other legislators for it.

In his inaugural address Edwards undiplomatically attacked bank officials and politicians alike, accusing them of fraud and perjury.

The Winnebago War, fought between white settlers and members of the Ho-Chunk tribe, broke out in Wisconsin (then part of the Michigan Territory) but spread to the lead-mining region around Galena.

[54] After the war, Edwards urged the federal government to remove the remaining Native Americans from northern Illinois, claiming that their presence violated "the rights of a sovereign and independent state", and hinting that he might dispatch the militia again to force them out.

[55] The federal government applied diplomatic pressure, and on July 29, 1829, the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe ceded 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2) of northern land to the State of Illinois; the Winnebago made a cession in August.