History isn’t always about grand battles or dramatic speeches — sometimes, it’s about the quiet but powerful moment when one flag comes down and another rises. That was the scene on Mackinac Island on September 1, 1796, when the British finally left Fort Mackinac, handing it over to the United States. The transfer marked the end of over a decade of lingering British control after the American Revolution.
The story begins much earlier. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 officially ended the Revolutionary War and ceded Mackinac Island to the newly formed United States. But the British didn’t pack up right away. In fact, they stayed for another 13 years, moving their troops and operations to nearby St. Joseph Island only after a chain of events on the frontier forced their hand.
1783-1796
The years between 1783 and 1796 were anything but peaceful in the Great Lakes region. While the war with Britain had ended, the fight for control of the Northwest Territory had just begun. The Western Confederacy — a powerful alliance of indigenous nations including the Miami, Shawnee, and Ojibwa — resisted the flood of settlers crossing the Appalachians. Backed with supplies from British forts like Mackinac, they scored decisive victories over early U.S. expeditions, including General Josiah Harmar’s defeat in 1790 and the devastating loss suffered by Major General Arthur St. Clair in 1791 — still one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history.
These setbacks led to a change in strategy. In 1792, President George Washington authorized the creation of a stronger standing army, the Legion of the United States, under Major General Anthony Wayne. In 1794, Wayne’s troops defeated a large indigenous force led by Blue Jacket at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, near present-day Toledo. The British, stationed at nearby Fort Miami, refused to open their gates to aid their allies, a turning point that helped lead to peace negotiations.
Treaty of Greenville
The following year, the Treaty of Greenville (August 3, 1795) ended the Northwest Indian War. The Western Confederacy ceded large portions of Ohio and parts of Michigan — including Mackinac and Bois Blanc Islands — to the United States in exchange for goods and annual payments. Around the same time, the Jay Treaty resolved lingering disputes with Britain, including their hold on Mackinac and Detroit.
And so, on September 1, 1796, British Lieutenant Andrew Foster signed the inventory of Fort Mackinac’s buildings and defensive works, his last act as commander. Major Henry Burbeck of the U.S. Army stepped forward, accepted the inventory, and ordered the Stars and Stripes to be raised. The Union Jack came down. The American flag went up. And Mackinac Island officially became part of the United States.
Today, the raising of the American flag on Mackinac Island in 1796 might seem like a small administrative detail. But it marked the closing chapter of British military presence in the Northwest Territory and set the stage for Michigan’s path toward becoming part of the United States. It was a quiet moment — but a deeply symbolic one — in the long, complicated story of American independence.
