USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The minimum land sale was set at one square mile (640 acres), and the minimum price per acre was $1. (Congress hoped to refill the treasury by land sales in this region, but the requirement of $640 in cash eliminated many potential buyers.) One section in each township was to be set aside for a school.

Detailed explanation-2: -A bill of rights protecting religious freedom, the right to a writ of habeas corpus, the benefit of trial by jury, and other individual rights; in addition the ordinance encouraged education and forbade slavery.

Detailed explanation-3: -After gaining independence from Great Britain, one of the many contentious issues facing the United States were competing claims to western lands. These lands were generally referred to as the Northwest Territory and included the current states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.

Detailed explanation-4: -Three years later, the Northwest Ordinance proposed that three to five new states be created from the Northwest Territory. Instead of adopting the legal constructs of an existing state, each territory would have an appointed governor and council.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.