Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787, creating the Northwest Territory.
The Confederation Congress passed the law for lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. The territory included areas that later became states such as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as part of Minnesota.
The ordinance created a process for governing territories and admitting new states. It established that at least three and no more than five states could eventually be formed from the region. A territory could seek statehood after reaching 60,000 free inhabitants, and new states would enter on an equal footing with the original states.
The law also included protections involving religious freedom, jury trials, education, and contracts. Article 6 prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, although the ordinance did not end slavery elsewhere. The First Congress reaffirmed the measure in 1789.