What territory did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 organize for settlement and government?

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 organized the Northwest Territory.

Congress enacted the ordinance on July 13, 1787, under the Articles of Confederation. The territory covered land northwest of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, an area that later became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.

The ordinance established a process for territorial government and eventual statehood. It described stages through which a territory could move toward admission as a state and prohibited slavery in the territory. Its education provision also declared that schools and the means of education should be encouraged.

The ordinance is sometimes confused with the Land Ordinance of 1785, which created a system for surveying and selling western lands. The Northwest Ordinance dealt primarily with government, settlement, and statehood. It became an important model for later American territorial policy and shaped the political map of the United States as it expanded westward.