Northwest Ordinances summary

Learn about the purpose of the Northwest Ordinance

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Northwest Territory 1785–87The Northwest Territory, created by the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, with the Ohio Company of Associates' purchase (c. 1787) and township schemes.

Northwest Ordinances, (1784, 1785, 1787)Measures enacted by the U.S. Congress for the division and settlement of the Northwest Territory, the frontier region extending north of the Ohio River to the Great Lakes and west of Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River. The original ordinance, written by Thomas Jefferson, divided the territory into self-governing districts and set population requirements for statehood. The final ordinance, written partly by Rufus King, set land-grant sizes and prices, provided public land for schools, outlawed slavery, and guaranteed civil liberties. It established the principle of admitting new states on equal terms with the original 13 states.

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Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

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United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the