Envisaging the West: Thomas Jefferson and the Roots of Lewis and Clark

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Indian nation or nations

An act for declaring and asserting the rights of this commonwealth, concerning purchasing lands from Indian natives. Virginia's revolutionary government claimed an "exclusive right of preemption" over all lands within the bounds of its "chartered territory," including the lands north and west of the Ohio River. Moreover, the act made null and void every land transaction between individuals and the various tribes of Indians, or grants from English crown to any individual within the commonwealth, transferring control of all such lands into the hands of the commonwealth.