The Northwest Ordinance organized U.S. territory north of the Ohio River and prohibited slavery there, making it a key America's 250th anniversary milestone.
The Confederation Congress adopted the ordinance on July 13, 1787. It created a territorial government for the region that later became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. The territory could eventually become states after meeting population and constitutional requirements.
Article 6 prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, although it did not immediately end slavery for people already held there and its enforcement was complicated. The ordinance also protected religious freedom, encouraged public education, and promised trial by jury. It is sometimes confused with the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which addressed slavery's expansion farther west decades later.