Vandalia (colony)

{{Other uses|Vandalia (disambiguation)}} [[Image:Vandalia01.png|right|300px]] '''Vandalia''' was the name of a proposed [[British colonization of the Americas|British colony in North America]] (Anderson 1979:375). The colony was located south of the [[Ohio River]], primarily in what is now the [[United States|U.S.]] states of [[West Virginia]] and eastern [[Kentucky]]. Although Vandalia never functioned formally, some pioneers did settle there, whose numbers were adequate to propose (unsuccessfully) that Vandalia receive statehood as [[Westsylvania]] when the US became independent. ==History== [[File:Kitfry-1-.jpg|thumb|1755 Fry-Jefferson map showing earlier established colonial borders before the [[French And Indian War]].]] In the 18th century, [[British people|British]] land speculators attempted to colonize the [[Ohio Valley]] a number of times, most notably in 1748 when the [[George II of Great Britain|British Crown]] granted a petition of the [[Ohio Company]] for 200,000 acres (800 km²) near the "[[Forks of the Ohio]]" (present-day [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]). The outbreak of the [[French and Indian War]] (1754–63) and [[Pontiac's Rebellion]] (1763–66) delayed colonization in the region. After Pontiac's Rebellion, merchants who had lost goods in the war formed a group known as the "suffering traders", later known as the Indiana Company. At the [[Treaty of Fort Stanwix]] (1768), the "suffering traders" — most notably [[Samuel Wharton]] and [[William Trent]] — received a grant of land (the "Indiana Grant") along the Ohio River from the [[Iroquois]] as restitution for their losses. When Wharton and Trent went to England in 1769 to have their grant confirmed, they combined forces with the Ohio Company to form a new consortium known as the Grand Ohio Company or the Walpole Company. The Grand Ohio Company eventually received an even larger grant than the Indiana Grant. A new colony was planned, initially called "Pittsylvania" (Wright 1988:212) but later known as Vandalia, in honor of [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte]] (1744–1818), who was thought to be descended from the [[Vandals]]. Opposition from rival interest groups and the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–83) prevented Vandalia from coming into existence. During the war, some settlers in the region petitioned the American [[Second Continental Congress|Continental Congress]] to recognize a new province to be known as [[Westsylvania]], which had approximately the same borders as the earlier Vandalia proposal. Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed the region, however, and blocked recognition of a new state. == Biblio == *Alvord, Clarence W. ''The Mississippi Valley in British Politics'', vol. 1. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur Clark, 1917. *Steeley, James V., "Old Hanna's Town and the Westward Movement, 1768 - 1787: Vandalia the Proposed 14th American Colony", ''Westmoreland History'', Spring 2009, pp. 20–26, published by Westmoreland County Historical Society *Wright, Esmond, '' 'Franklin of Philadelphia' '', Harvard University Press, 1988 - Biography & Autobiography - 404 pages, reprint, illustrated. ISBN: 0674318102, 9780674318106 ==External links== *[http://www.backstoryradio.org/2009/03/how-did-west-virginia-get-its-name/ "How did West Virginia get its name?" radio piece] *[http://www.wvculture.org/HISTORY/journal_wvh/wvh40-4.html "Vandalia: The First West Virginia?"] {{coord missing|Kentucky}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Vandalia (Colony)}}