An organization of speculators in 1786 who used depreciated currency and securities to acquire large amounts of Ohio land. They were indirectly responsible for the passage of the Ordinance of 1787, establishing a political basis for Westward expansion.
The Ohio Company, more formally known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a land speculation company organized for the colonization of the Ohio Country.
Formation
In the mid 18th century, many within the British Empire viewed the Ohio River Valley, a region west of the Appalachian Mountains thinly populated by American Indians, as a source of potential wealth.
In 1747, a number of influential men organized the Ohio Company of Virginia in order to capitalize on these opportunities. The Ohio Company was composed of Virginians, including Thomas Lee and two brothers of George Washington, Lawrence Washington (who succeeded to the management upon the death of Lee) and Augustine Washington, Jr., as well as Englishmen, including the Duke of Bedford and John Hanbury, a wealthy London merchant.
In 1748, the British Crown approved the Ohio Company's petition for a grant of 200,000 acres (800 km²) near the "forks" of the Ohio River (present Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
French and Indian War
In 1750, the Ohio Company hired Christopher Gist, a skillful woodsman and surveyor, to explore the Ohio Valley in order to identify lands for potential settlement. Upon the basis of his report, the Ohio Company settled in an area in Western Pennsylvania and present-day West Virginia.
The Ohio Valley was also claimed by France, however, as it was nominally part of the vast territory of New France. Additionally, the Ohio River watershed provided a vital link between Canada and French Louisiana. To forestall British expansion, in 1753 the French began constructing a series of forts in the Ohio Valley. Robert Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia as well as a shareholder of the Ohio Company, responded by sending a military unit under the command of George Washington to the region, which led to the outbreak of the French and Indian War. The war and its sequel, Pontiac's Rebellion, prevented the Ohio Company from fulfilling its obligation to establish settlements.
Grand Ohio Company
Ultimately, the Ohio Company was merged in the Grand Ohio Company, also known as the Walpole Company or the Vandalia Company, an organization in which Benjamin Franklin was interested. In 1772, the Grand Ohio Company received from the British government a grant of a large tract lying along the southern bank of the Ohio as far west as the mouth of the Scioto River.
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