U.S. HISTORY

Today we will explain the Northwest Ordinance’s importance in the westward migration of Americans, and on slavery, public education, and the addition of new states.

The Northwest Territory

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The Northwest Ordinance established a means and precedence by which the United States would expand westward.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was one of the few pieces of legislation passed under the Confederation, before the new government described by the new Constitution took effect.

The bill detailed how new territories would be created and administered.

Though many settlers would find it too conservative, the bill ensured that territories could eventually become states with the same rights as the original thirteen.

The final of four Ordinances was adopted by the Confederation Congress sitting in its last session, in 1787.

The Northwest Ordinance dealt with the territory acquired from Great Britain in the aftermath of the war (the land north of the Ohio River and east of Mississippi).

It made 4 crucial promises to prospective states in this region.

First, that each would enter the union "on an equal footing with the original states."

Second, that revenue generated from the sale of a portion of each township in the state would go to fund public education—the first instance of federal aid for education in American history.

Third, "slavery nor involuntary servitude" were NOT to be allowed.

Fourth, that a good faith effort would be made to respect the Indians in the territory.

In time, the Northwest Territories would become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

While the last of the ordinances was the most ill-kept, the third would prove crucial to the future history of the country.

By federal mandate, each of the states in the Northwest Territories entered the union slave-free —a fact that would weigh heavily against the institution of slavery for years, and would help bring about its ultimate end by providing vast resources to the War Between the States to come.

Effects on Native Americans

The Northwest Ordinance also made mention of Native Americans:

"The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their land and property shall never be taken without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed."

Effects on Native Americans

However, many Native Americans in Ohio refused to recognize the validity of treaties signed after the Revolutionary War that ceded lands north of the Ohio River to the United States.

Effects on Native Americans

In a conflict sometimes known as the Northwest Indian War, Blue Jacket of the Shawnees and Little Turtle of the Miamis formed an Indian Confederation to stop white settlement.

Effects on Native Americans

After the Indian confederation had killed more than eight hundred soldiers in two devastating battles (the worst defeats ever suffered by the U.S. at the hands of Native Americans).

President Washington assigned General Anthony Wayne command of a new army, which eventually defeated the Indian confederation and thus allowed whites to continue settling the territory.