What 1787 law created the Northwest Territory, the first organized incorporated U.S. territory?

The Northwest Ordinance created the Northwest Territory, the first organized incorporated U.S. territory, in 1787.

The Confederation Congress enacted the measure on July 13, 1787. It governed lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, including areas that later became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.

The ordinance established a process by which territories could develop governments and eventually enter the Union as equal states. It also set a population threshold of 60,000 for statehood and limited slavery in the territory.

The legislation created an important precedent: western lands would be administered by the national government and could produce new states, rather than simply expanding the boundaries of existing states. The First Congress reaffirmed the ordinance in 1789, after the Constitution created the new federal government.