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The Landmark Laws

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After the Revolutionary War a steady stream of settlers moved across the Appalachian Mountains and into the lands which came to be known as the Old Southwest and the Old Northwest.

In the Old Southwest there was difficulty between the settlers and the seaboard states which claimed the land. The settlers claimed that the states were too far away to give them adequate representation or protection. The settlers had followed the Cumberland and TennesseeRivers after crossing the Appalachians by means of the Cumberland Gap. These people settled the areas known as Tennessee and Kentucky. They were brave and independent people who fought the Indians on the frontier, as well as the control of their land by “mothering states” across the mountains.

When the Old Northwest was opening, another problem arose. This land had been turned over to the federal government as one of the conditions of ratification of the Constitution. It became the responsibility of the Federal government to regulate the affairs of this land. Settlers were eager to move into the Old Northwest but wanted to know what the land would cost and how much protection they would have.

Two of the most important laws ever written were passed to answer these questions.

The Ordinance of 1785 provided that the Old Northwest would be surveyed and broken into blocks of land which were to be sold. A block of land was called a township; each township contained thirty-six square miles.Thirty-six sections, each containing one square mile, or six hundred and forty acres, formed one township. A section could be subdivided into half-sections, quarter-sections, or even smaller fractional parts. The land was to be sold at public auction with the minimum price being two dollars per acre. This price eventually dropped to one dollar per acre. The law provided that the money from the sale of section number 16 must be used for the support of public education.

Since few people were able to pay six hundred and forty dollars for a section of land, land companies were organized. These land companies bought up the land and resold it to the farmers on a time payment arrangement. Once this problem was settled, the people wanted to know what kind of government the western lands would have.

The Northwest Ordinance or the Ordinance of 1787 provided the answer. The land north of the Ohio River was to be called the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Ordinance made provisions for the government of territorial lands. In gradual steps these territories could achieve full statehood. There were to be no more than five nor fewer than three states made from the land in the Northwest Territory. The steps for becoming a state were:

  1. Once organized as a territory, the Congress would appoint a governor, a secretary and 3 judges
  2. When the territory’s population reached 5,000 free adult males, it could elect a bicameral legislature and send non-voting representatives to Congress
  3. When a territory reached a population of 60,000, it could apply to Congress to become a state by submitting a constitution
  4. All new states would be on an “equal footing” with the old states

In addition to the provisions for statehood this ordinance guaranteed a number of freedoms to settlers. These included freedom of religion, fair treatment of the Indians, full rights of liberty and property, and the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory. In addition to these, provision was made for the encouragement of education.

Many of the provisions of the ordinances of 1785 and 1787 were the work of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s concern for freedom of religion and the containment of slavery can be found in parts of both these laws.

These two ordinances have been called two of the most important laws ever passed, since they set the pattern for most of the states which have come into the Union.

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  1. What were the main provisions of the Northwest Ordinance of 1785? What was its purpose?
  1. What are the steps for becoming a state according to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?
  1. Explain this statement: “These laws were the biggest stars in the darkness of the Articles of Confederation.”
  1. What rights and liberties were guaranteed in the Northwest Ordinance?

Locate and label the following on the map below.

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  • The Mississippi River
  • The Ohio River
  • The Appalachian Mountains
  • The states created from the Northwest Territory
  • The states of the “Old Southwest”

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