What 1787 law established a government for the Northwest Territory?
Answer
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory in 1787.
The Confederation Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787. It organized lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, creating a process through which territories could become states. The law is one of the most important achievements of the government that operated before the U.S. Constitution.
The ordinance outlined territorial administration, encouraged public education, protected certain civil liberties, and prohibited slavery in the territory. It eventually provided a framework associated with the admission of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, although each state's path and boundaries developed over time.
The Northwest Ordinance is sometimes confused with the Land Ordinance of 1785, which established a surveying system for western lands. It is also distinct from the Louisiana Purchase, which occurred in 1803 and greatly expanded U.S. territory farther west. The ordinance's importance lies in its orderly territorial-to-statehood process.