Why did the British continue to occupy forts in the old northwest?
To monopolize the fur trade. What did the British agree to as a result of Jays Treaty? Evacuate its forts on American soil, cease harassing American ships, and permit trade with the Indians. The year 1794 brought a crisis in America’s relations with Britain. For a decade, Britain had refused to evacuate forts in the Old Northwest as promised in the treaty ending the Revolution. Control of those forts impeded white settlement of the Great Lakes region and allowed the British to monopolize the fur trade. Frontiersmen believed that British officials at those posts sold firearms to Native Americans and incited uprisings against white settlers. War appeared imminent when British warships stopped 300 American ships carrying food supplies to France and to France’s overseas possessions, seized their cargoes, and forced seamen suspected of deserting from British ships into the British navy. Washington acted decisively to end the crisis. After Anthony Wayne’s soldiers overwhelmed Indians at the
