The Northwest Ordinance established clear processes for acquiring, settling and organizing western lands, while legitimizing the powers of the United States government. The Ordinance solidified federal power early in the ratification era by establishing Congress as the only authority controlling territories held by the United States. Further, the fact that the ordinance banned slavery in the territory asserted the supremacy of the new federal government to decide issues that generated sectional tensions.
The prohibition of slavery in the territory, combined with ratification of the Constitution, effectively set up the conditions to suppress conflict over western expansion and the place of slavery in the territories until Missouri, the first state carved out of the Louisiana Purchase, applied for statehood.
Slavery was fully protected in the original states, excepting those which abandoned the institution when they drafted new state constitutions during the Revolutionary War.
It was demonstrably clear that the states carved from the Northwest Territory would not be slave states. That the ordinance prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude was not as controversial as it might appear in the context of American history.
Previous editions of the ordinance aimed to gradually end slavery in the territories. The version was supported by Thomas Jefferson and influential members of Congress; their hope was that slavery and involuntary servitude would slowly fade away as the nation grew and settlers moved west.
The Northwest Ordinance was a highly technical piece of legislation designed to bring order to a process the U. George Washington held substantial tracts of land; in fact, these lands were a considerable portion of his personal wealth by the time he became president. Thus, the ordinance protected the claims of those speculators who were able to verify their holdings. All three land ordinances defined the processes for settling western lands, though the version was the most detailed, specifying the population needed to become a state, for example.
The ordinance also explained how townships were to be laid out and the formula for distributing town lots to settlers. In addition to solving many frontier problems, the Northwest Ordinance of was critically important in the context of the Constitutional Convention.
The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office; the governor before the president of congress, and all other officers before the Governor.
As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating but not of voting during this temporary government.
And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest: It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said territory and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:.
No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law.
All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; and, should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preser-vation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same.
And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three nor more than five States. And, whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government: Provided, the constitution and government so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
Considered one of the most important legislative acts of the Confederation Congress, the Northwest Ordinance also protected civil liberties and outlawed slavery in the new territories.
Search this Guide Search. Northwest Ordinance: Primary Documents in American History Adopted on July 13, , the Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory and outlined a process for admitting new states. This guide compiles Library of Congress digital materials, external websites, and a print bibliography.
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