The Northwest Ordinance, officially called An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, was passed by the Congress of the Confederation on July 13, 1787. This law created the Northwest Territory, the first organized area of land in the United States between British North America and the Great Lakes to the north and the Ohio River to the south. The western edge of the territory was the upper Mississippi River, and Pennsylvania formed its eastern edge.
In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, Great Britain gave the region to the United States. However, the Congress of the Confederation had many challenges in controlling the land, including settlers moving into the Ohio Valley without permission, resistance from Native American groups, British military posts still in the area, and a lack of money in the U.S. treasury. The Northwest Ordinance improved and replaced earlier laws, such as the Land Ordinance of 1784, which said states would eventually be created in the region, and the Land Ordinance of 1785, which outlined how land would be sold to private citizens. The 1787 law provided a plan for developing and settling the territory but did not include a strong central government to carry it out. This changed in 1789, when the U.S. federal government was formed. The First Congress confirmed the 1787 law and updated it slightly in the Northwest Ordinance of 1789.
This law was one of the most important actions taken by the Congress of the Confederation. It set an example for how the federal government would take control and expand westward by adding new states, rather than expanding existing states under the Articles of Confederation. It also established rules for managing public lands owned by the government. In the 1850 Supreme Court case Strader v. Graham, the court recognized the Northwest Ordinance of 1789 as constitutional within the Northwest Territory but did not apply it to states once they joined the Union.
The law banned slavery in the territory, which helped make the Ohio River the dividing line between slave states and free states from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. This division extended the Mason–Dixon line and influenced later debates about slavery in the 1800s until the American Civil War.
Background
The territory was taken by Great Britain from France after Britain won the Seven Years' War and the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Britain controlled the Ohio Country, which was the eastern part of the area. However, a few months later, King George III banned all settlements in the region through the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The British government tried to limit the Thirteen Colonies to land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. This rule caused tension among colonists who wanted to move west. In 1774, Britain added the region to its Province of Quebec. After the American Revolutionary War and the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the United States claimed the territory and the lands south of Ohio. Overlapping and conflicting claims by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia, which dated back to colonial times, complicated the situation. The British remained active in some border areas until after the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812.
The region had long been wanted by American settlers for expansion. The U.S. federal government allowed settlers to move into the area after Britain was defeated. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson, a delegate from Virginia, suggested that states give up their claims to land west of the Appalachian Mountains. He proposed dividing the area into ten new states. Jefferson’s idea was based on earlier plans from 1776 and discussions about the Articles of Confederation. He gave names to the new states: Cherronesus, Sylvania, Assenisipia, Illinoia, Metropotamia, Polypotamia, Pelisipia, Washington, Michigania, and Saratoga. The Congress of the Confederation changed Jefferson’s plan and passed it as the Land Ordinance of 1784. This law set the example for the Northwest Ordinance, which was created three years later.
The 1784 ordinance faced criticism from George Washington in 1785 and James Monroe in 1786. Monroe persuaded Congress to review the plan, and a committee recommended canceling the proposed state boundaries. Other politicians questioned how the ordinance planned to organize governments in new states and worried that small states might weaken the power of existing states in Congress. Other issues, like states south of the Ohio River being unwilling to give up their land claims, led to a narrower focus on the territory’s boundaries.
In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was passed in New York. It showed the influence of Thomas Jefferson. The law required dividing the territory into townships in a grid pattern. This would allow the land to be sold to individuals and land companies after it was surveyed. This plan aimed to create new income for the federal government and provide an organized way for future settlers to move into the area.
Effects
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 created the idea of fee simple ownership, meaning land could be owned forever with the right to sell or give it away. This was called the "first guarantee of freedom of contract in the United States."
The ordinance passed after states gave up their claims to unsettled lands, which were then handed over to the federal government as the public domain. The territories were managed directly by Congress, with the goal of eventually creating new states. This was a new idea because, under the Articles of Confederation, states had more control over their own lands. The law also set rules for future use of rivers and transportation routes, saying they would remain free for all people to use without taxes. Article 4 stated: "The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor."
The main goal of the ordinance was to create new states from the Northwest Territory. It required that at least three but no more than five states be formed, and once a territory had 60,000 people, it could join the Union as a state equal to the original thirteen. Ohio became the first state in 1803, and the remaining land was later called the Indiana Territory. Other states created from the territory included Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Part of what became Minnesota was also part of the Northwest Territory.
The 1787 ordinance supported education by saying, "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." This followed the 1785 ordinance, which required towns to set aside land to fund public schools. In 1786, Manasseh Cutler, who helped create the Ohio Company, worked with Congress to let Revolutionary War veterans buy land in the Northwest Territory. Cutler also helped draft the 1787 ordinance and made deals with Congress members to support its passage. He changed the role of the provisional governor from being elected to appointed, allowing the president of Congress, Arthur St. Clair, to take the position.
In 1797, settlers from Marietta chose Athens as a site for a school. The school was originally named American Western University but never opened. Ohio University was later established in 1804, one year after Ohio joined the Union. The first students enrolled in 1809, and the first graduates received bachelor’s degrees in 1815.
Before a territory had 5,000 free male residents, it had a simple government with a governor, secretary, and three judges, all appointed by Congress. The governor, who served three years and was given 1,000 acres of land, was in charge of the militia and helped create laws. The secretary, who served four years and received 500 acres of land, kept records and sent copies of laws to Congress. The three judges, who could serve indefinitely, helped create laws and made court decisions.
When a territory reached 5,000 free male residents, it could elect representatives to a territorial assembly. Each 500 free males would elect one representative, up to 25 total. Congress would later decide how many representatives each area had. To be a representative, a person had to be a U.S. citizen for at least three years or live in the territory for three years and own at least 200 acres of land. Representatives served two-year terms, and if one left, a new person would be elected to finish their term.
The Northwest Ordinance included rights similar to those in the Bill of Rights, such as the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and protection from unfair punishment. It also guaranteed the right to habeas corpus, which ensures people can challenge unlawful imprisonment. The law banned slavery in the Northwest Territory but included a rule requiring the return of runaway slaves. An attempt to allow limited slavery in Ohio in 1802 was stopped by Ephraim Cutler, who represented Marietta.
In the 1820s, some tried to legalize slavery in Illinois and Indiana, but efforts failed. However, an "indentured servant" law allowed some slaveholders to bring people who could not be bought or sold. Southern states supported this law because they wanted to avoid competition with the Northwest Territory over crops like tobacco, which required slave labor. This law also helped balance political power between free and slave states.
The Thirteenth Amendment, passed in 1865, officially ended slavery in the United States.