 They used the ancient overland and waterborne trade routes of the First Nations, while providing superior tools and weapons in exchange for valuable furs.Following the American Revolution, Great Britain ceded portions of the Province of Quebec to the newly independent United States of America.By an ordinance of the Congress of the United States passed in July 13, 1787, under the Articles of Confederation, the whole of the territory of the United States lying northwest of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, though still occupied by the British, was organized as the Northwest Territory.