Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance governing U.S. territory north of the Ohio River on July 13, 1787.
The law created a government for the Northwest Territory, the region that later became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. It established a process through which territories could progress toward statehood.
The ordinance provided for an appointed territorial governor and judges at first. When a territory reached a population threshold, it could form an elected legislature, and when its population reached 60,000 free inhabitants, it could seek admission as a state on an equal footing with the existing states.
The ordinance also prohibited slavery in the territory and protected certain civil liberties, including religious freedom and trial by jury. However, it did not erase Indigenous nations’ sovereignty or prevent later conflicts and dispossession. The Northwest Ordinance is often studied alongside the Constitution because both emerged during the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the federal system.