What 1787 law organized the U.S. territory northwest of the Ohio River?

The Northwest Ordinance organized the U.S. territory northwest of the Ohio River in 1787.

The Confederation Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787. It established a government for the Northwest Territory, an area that later became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.

The ordinance described a process for territorial government and eventual statehood. Once a territory reached specified population thresholds, it could progress toward admission as a state on an equal footing with the existing states. The measure also protected certain civil liberties and promoted public education.

The ordinance banned slavery in the territory, although it did not immediately end slavery elsewhere or resolve the nation’s broader conflict over slavery. Its rules became an important model for later territorial organization. It is separate from the Constitution, which the Constitutional Convention drafted during the same year.