The 1787 Northwest Ordinance created the Northwest Territory, an early nation-building measure remembered during America250.
Congress enacted the ordinance on July 13, 1787, while the Confederation government still operated under the Articles of Confederation. The Northwest Territory covered land north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River, and south of the Great Lakes. It included areas that later became several Midwestern states.
The ordinance established a process for territorial government and eventual statehood. It also provided rules for surveying and settlement, encouraged education, and prohibited slavery in the territory. The first governor was Arthur St. Clair, and Marietta became the first permanent settlement established under the territorial system.
The measure mattered because it offered a model for adding new states on an equal basis rather than treating western lands as permanent colonies. Ohio became the first state formed from the territory in 1803. Later portions became Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.