<P> The Northwest Territory, which consisted of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, was the battleground for conflict between the Native American Nations and the United States . The British Empire had ceded the area to the United States in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, both sides ignoring the fact that the land was already inhabited by various Native American nations . These included the Miami, Winnebago, Shawnee, Fox, Sauk, Kickapoo, Delaware and Wyandot . Some warriors, who had left their nations of origin, followed Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet and the brother of Tecumseh . Tenskwatawa had a vision of purifying his society by expelling the "children of the Evil Spirit": the American settlers . The Indians wanted to create their own state in the Northwest to end the American threat forever as it became clear that the Americans wanted all of the land in the Old Northwest for themselves . Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh formed a confederation of numerous tribes to block American expansion . The British saw the Native American nations as valuable allies and a buffer to its Canadian colonies and provided arms . Attacks on American settlers in the Northwest further aggravated tensions between Britain and the United States . Raiding grew more common in 1810 and 1811; Westerners in Congress found the raids intolerable and wanted them permanently ended . British policy towards the Indians of the Northwest was torn between the desire to keep the Americans fighting in the Northwest, and to preserve a region that provided rich profits for Canadian fur traders, versus the fear that too much support for the Indians would cause a war with the United States . Through Tecumseh's plans for an Indian state in the Northwest would benefit British North America by making it more defensible, at the same time, the defeats suffered by Tecumseh's confederation had the British leery of going too far to support what was probably a losing cause . In the months running up to the war, British diplomats attempted to defuse tensions on the frontier . </P> <P> The confederation's raids, and its very existence, hindered American expansion into rich farmlands in the Northwest Territory . Pratt writes: </P> <P> There is ample proof that the British authorities did all in their power to hold or win the allegiance of the Indians of the Northwest with the expectation of using them as allies in the event of war . Indian allegiance could be held only by gifts, and to an Indian no gift was as acceptable as a lethal weapon . Guns and ammunition, tomahawks and scalping knives were dealt out with some liberality by British agents . </P> <P> However, according to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the "land - hungry frontiersmen", with "no doubt that their troubles with the Native Americans were the result of British intrigue", exacerbated the problem by "(circulating stories) after every Native American raid of British Army muskets and equipment being found on the field". Thus, "the westerners were convinced that their problems could best be solved by forcing the British out of Canada". </P>

Who do you think were the heroes of the war of 1812