but the British had ceded any sovereignty over the land to the United States in the Treaty of Paris of 1783. The British were known for persuading Native Americans to fight for them and continued to do so. Although the British were reluctant to directly engage the United States, historian Reginald Horsman writes of their involvement in organizing Native American support, "The Indian Department at Detroit had done all within its power to bolster northwestern Indian resistance to American expansion. The agents had acted as organizers, advisers, and suppliers of the Indians, and they had made it possible for an Indian army to face Wayne." The United States formally organized the region in the Land Ordinance of 1785 and negotiated treaties allowing settlement, but the Northwestern Confederacy refused to acknowledge them. After the treaties, American settlers started to flood the region and set the foundation for manifest destiny. The Native Americans living in the region quickly became embroiled in conflicts after some support from the British while defending their land from American settlers. The skirmishes resulted with 1,500 deaths over a period of seven years. Interested in maintaining his interests in Georgia, Wayne wrote to President Washington in the spring of 1789 asking to "organize & discipline a Legionary Corps," writing that "Dignity, wealth, & Power" in the United States could only be achieved by the military. United States Secretary of War Henry Knox would agree with Wayne in July 1789 writing "the sword of the Republic only, is adequate to guard a due administration of Justice, and the preservation of the peace," believing that treaties with Native Americans were worthless. At a time of his life when Wayne experienced a shameful political and personal status, President Washington recalled Wayne from civilian life to lead an expedition in the British-led Northwest Indian War, with Wayne's continued bitterness towards Native Americans at the time of his appointment from his previous interactions. While historians generally agree that Wayne's negative attitude towards Native Americans impacted his actions during the Northwest Indian War, Wayne was also deeply motivated by his love for a young United States and the need to set the nation up for future success. In May of 1793, Wayne wrote to then Secretary of War Henry Knox, "Knowing the critical situation of our infant nation and feeling for the honor and reputation of the government which I shall support with my