After gaining independence, the United States faced the challenge of how to grow as a country while staying true to its founding principles. The Northwest Ordinances, passed by the Confederation Congress in 1784, 1785, and 1787, offered a plan for turning western territories into fully equal states. These laws set important rules for land ownership, statehood, and civil rights in new parts of the country.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1784, written by Thomas Jefferson, introduced the idea that new states should enter the Union as equals. The 1785 ordinance organized land into townships to be sold and surveyed, helping raise money and bring order to western expansion. The most influential law, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, created a process for forming new state governments, banned slavery in the Northwest Territory, and guaranteed freedoms like religion, trial by jury, and public education.

Activity: After reading about the Ordinances of 1784, 1785, and 1787, write one well-organized paragraph answering the following question. How did the Northwest Ordinances show that the United States was committed to self-government, equal statehood, and protecting individual rights?

Northwest Ordinances (1784, 1785, 1787)

The Northwest Ordinances were a series of laws passed by the Confederation Congress that set rules for governing and expanding the United States into new western territories. Together, these laws helped define how the nation would grow and how new states would be added, all while maintaining the principles of self-government and individual rights.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1784, written by Thomas Jefferson, proposed that new territories could eventually become states on equal footing with the original thirteen. It introduced the idea that expansion should not create colonies or subordinate areas but instead produce full members of the Union.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1785 focused on organizing and selling land. It created a system for surveying western lands and dividing them into square townships. This system helped pay off national debt and brought order to land distribution for private ownership.

The most notable historically is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which officially established a process for creating new states. It applied to the territory that would become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. It guaranteed that new states would have the same rights and powers as the original ones. This law also protected key civil liberties within those territories, including freedom of religion, trial by jury, public education, and prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory

The inclusion of individual rights in a territorial law was groundbreaking. It showed that civil liberties were not just for the original states—they were national values that would guide the country’s expansion. The ordinance also required that territorial governments be created through representative assemblies, reinforcing the principle of localized self-government. The Northwest Ordinances ensured that America would grow through equal statehood, not conquest or colonialism. They extended core principles, individual rights, republican government, and public education, into every new part of the country. They laid the foundation for a union of states governed by shared values and laws.

Links:
Primary Source: Northwest Ordinance (1787)
Video Summary: Northwest Ordinance

This map shows the expansion of the U.S.: