jul 13, 1787 - The Northwest Ordinance

Description:

Chartered a government for the Northwest Territory (south of Great Lakes, West of Ohio River and East of Mississippi).
Provided a method for admitting new states into the Union (that was to be used throughout the 19th century at the time of expansion to the Pacific).
Listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory.

Division of the territory into "no less than 3 nor more than 5 states" -> future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota.

Three-stage method for admittance:
1: One congressionally appointed governor, one secretary and three judges to rule.
2: One elected assembly and one non-voting delegate to Congress to be elected when the population reached "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age".
3: A state constitution to be drafted and membership to Union to be requested when population reached 60,000

A bill of rights protecting religious freedom, habeas corpus, the benefit of trial by a jury + education encouraged + Slavery forbidden.

BUT the Confederation proved to weak -> in seeking to prevent concentrations of power, the Continental Congress limited the new national government's capacity to govern: Absence of federal executive and judiciary, failure to give Congress the power to levy taxes, to regulate foreign and interstate commerce, to enforce its laws.

Uncertainty of foreign affairs: Government ineffective in dealing with foreign nations. Foreign diplomats led to believe that former colonies constituted 13 states rather than one nation.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: