The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Territory Settling The

11/3/2015

The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Territory

Settling the Public Domain • The Articles of Confederation did not give congress the power to tax

• In order to get Articles of Confed ratified, states that claimed western lands ceded them to the government

• Allowed the National Government sold public lands in the west to raise revenue

• One of the issues of the Confederation Congress was how to deal with the sale and settlement of the public lands

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Land Ordinance of 1785 • Provided an orderly procedure to sell lands north of Ohio River

• Divided territory into townships  6 miles x 6 miles square

• Opportunity to a lot of land cheap

• Some land was reserved for Revolutionary War veterans

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 6 13 14 15 16 17 18 miles 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 6 miles A A – Half-section = 320 acres Land sold for B – Quarter-section = 160 acres $1 per acre C C – Half-quarter section = 80 acres B D – Quarter-quarter section = 40 acres D D

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Northwest Ordinance A Process for National Expansion

• Passed in 1787, it created a government for the Northwest Territory – Land north of Ohio River & west of Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River

• Provided an organized method for expanding the nation into new territories and bringing those territories into the union as new states

• New States would come into Union with all rights & privileges of original 13 states

• Set a precedent that new states would have equal status to old states

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Section 1 • Northwest Territory was to be divided into at least 3 but no more than 5 states

Section 2 • 3-step process to achieve statehood Could petition for statehood – At first territory would be ruled by a governor, secretary and 3 judges appointed by Congress

– When adult male population reached 5,000 they elect territorial legislature and a territorial delegate to Congress

– When TOTAL population reached 60,000 they could apply for statehood

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Northwest Ordinance (1787) Section 3 • Created a Bill of rights for settlers

• Slavery would not be allowed in the Northwest territory – Insured that northern states would be free territory

• Protected freedom of religion

• Ensured trial by jury