Treaty of Fort Pitt

The United States was planning to attack the British fort at Detroit, and Lenape assistance was essential for success.

In exchange, the United States promised "articles of clothing, utensils and implements of war" and to build a fort in Delaware country "for the better security of the old men, women and children... whilst their warriors are engaged against the common enemy."

Although not part of the signed treaty, the commissioners pointed out the American alliance with France and intended that the Lenape would become active allies in the war against the British.

According to historian Jessica Choppin Rooney, the treaty highlights that there was a possibility for an American state that was not purely governed by Anglo-American white settlers:in the earliest years of nation building, some people in the United States imagined a union that included polities distinct from those of Anglo-America and instead rooted in their own local precedent, history, and culture, making space for diverse communities, including Indigenous polities and Catholic Quebec.

[5]According to Daniel K. Richter in Facing East from Indian Country, the Lenape perceived the agreement "merely as free passage" of revolutionary troops and the building of a protective fort to defend white settlers.

[6] The American leaders intended to use the fort for offensive campaigns and wrote into the treaty that the Lenape would attack their native neighbors.

[8] Its design was created by Susan Gamble, as part of the Artistic Infusion Program, and engraved by Phebe Hemphill.