The Northwest Ordinance was enacted in 1787, establishing a process for governing and admitting territories north of the Ohio River.
The ordinance created a territorial government and described how a territory could progress toward statehood. It allowed Congress to appoint a governor and judges initially, then permitted a territory to form a legislature once its population reached a specified threshold. A territory could eventually apply for admission as a state on equal footing with the existing states.
The measure also organized land in the Northwest Territory and prohibited slavery there. Its civil-liberties provisions protected religious freedom, trial by jury, and education. The territory later provided land that became states including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The Northwest Ordinance is often confused with the Land Ordinance of 1785. The earlier law focused primarily on surveying and selling western land, while the 1787 ordinance established territorial government and a path to statehood.