What 1787 law organized the territory north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania?

The Northwest Ordinance organized the territory north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania.

The Confederation Congress enacted the law on July 13, 1787. It created the Northwest Territory, covering land that later became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. The ordinance established a process for territorial government and eventual admission of new states on an equal footing with the original states.

The law set population thresholds for advancing from a temporary territorial government to statehood. It also prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, although the ordinance did not end slavery elsewhere in the United States. Its provisions protected religious freedom, trial by jury, habeas corpus, and public education.

The Northwest Ordinance is sometimes confused with the Land Ordinance of 1785, which mainly established a rectangular survey system for western lands. The First Congress reaffirmed the 1787 ordinance, with modifications, in 1789 under the new Constitution.