Which 1785 act established the rectangular survey system for U.S. public lands?

The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the rectangular survey system for U.S. public lands.

The Confederation Congress adopted the ordinance on May 20, 1785. It created a standardized method for surveying western lands that the states had ceded to the national government. Surveyors divided territory into townships six miles on each side, with each township containing thirty-six one-square-mile sections.

The system made land sales more orderly and produced a durable geographic pattern across much of the United States. Section 16 in each township was reserved for the support of public schools, an early federal connection between land policy and education.

The act is often confused with the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Land Ordinance focused mainly on surveying and selling public land, while the later Northwest Ordinance established territorial government and prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory. Together, the measures shaped western expansion under the Confederation.