Northwest Ordinance

The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, and also known as the Freedom Ordinance) was an act of the Continental Congress of the United States passed on July 13, 1787 under the Articles of Confederation. The primary effect of the ordinance was the creation of the Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region around the Great Lakes north and west of the Ohio River. On August 7, 1789, the U.S. Congress affirmed the Ordinance with slight modifications under the Constitution.

Related Topics:
Continental Congress - United States - July 13 - 1787 - Articles of Confederation - Northwest Territory - Organized territory - Great Lakes - Ohio River - August 7 - 1789 - U.S. Congress - Constitution

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Arguably the single most important piece of legislation passed by the Continental Congress other than the Declaration of Independence, it established the precedents by which the United States would expand westward across North America by the admission of new states, rather than by the expansion of existing states. The banning of slavery in the territory had the effect of establishing the Ohio River as the boundary between free and slave territory in the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. This division helped set the stage for the balancing act between free and slave states that was the basis of the most critical political question in American politics in the 19th century until the Civil War.

Related Topics:
Declaration of Independence - North America - State - Slavery - Appalachian Mountains - Mississippi River - Free - Slave state - 19th century - Civil War

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