Northwest Ordinances

Three US Congressional acts 1784-87 setting out procedures for the sale and settlement of lands still occupied by American Indians. The lands, making up the Northwest Territory, lay between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. They were to be formed into townships and sold at a minimum of $1 per acre. The sales revenue was the first significant source of income for the new federal government. The most important act was the Ordinance of 1787, which guaranteed freedom of religion for settlers, and prohibited slavery in the territory.

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Ordinance of 1784, which divided the territory into self-governing districts that could eventually apply for statehood. The Ordinance of 1785 formed the land into townships of 10 sq km/6 sq mi, that could be purchased for upwards of $1 per acre. The Ordinance of 1787, which replaced the Ordinance of 1784, set up the structure for government in the lands and for their eventual admission into the Union as states. It also forbade slavery and guaranteed civil liberties such as the right to a fair trial and freedom of religious worship, as well as fair treatment of the American Indians living there.

The Northwest Territory was eventually incorporated into the Union as the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.