What 1787 law created the Northwest Territory under the Confederation Congress?

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 created the Northwest Territory under the Confederation Congress. Congress enacted the measure on July 13, 1787, to govern lands north and west of the Ohio River.

The ordinance established a process by which territories could develop governments and eventually become states. It also set population thresholds for moving from territorial administration toward statehood, creating a framework later used in other parts of the expanding United States.

The law is also remembered for banning slavery in the Northwest Territory and protecting certain civil rights, although its provisions did not end slavery elsewhere. The territory eventually contributed to the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. It was distinct from the later Louisiana Territory, which the United States acquired in 1803.