USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Officially titled “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio, ” the Northwest Ordinance was adopted on July 13, 1787, by the Confederation Congress, the one-house legislature operating under the Articles of Confederation.

Detailed explanation-2: -Drafted by Massachusetts Delegates Rufus King and Nathan Dane, the 1787 ordinance sought to revise Thomas Jefferson’s 1784 ordinance by designating the territories as one district which fell under Congress’s jurisdiction.

Detailed explanation-3: -Also known as the Ordinance of 1787, the Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory, outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union, and guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen states.

Detailed explanation-4: -Provisions of the Northwest Ordinance presaged several provisions of the Constitution and the First Amendment and announced a prohibition of slavery in the states to be formed out of the territories.

Detailed explanation-5: -The first state created from the Northwest Territory was Ohio in 1803, and the remaining territory was renamed Indiana Territory. The other four states were Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A portion (about a third) of what later became Minnesota was also part of the territory.