Download Land Ordinance 1785

Land Ordinance 1785
Northwest Ordinance 1787
The earlier Ordinance of 1784 called for
the land west of the Appalachian
Mountains, north of the Ohio River and
east of the Mississippi River to be divided
into ten separate states. However, it did
not define the mechanism by which the
land would become states, or how the
territories would be governed or settled
before they became states. The Ordinance
of 1785, along with the Northwest
Ordinance of 1787, was intended to
address these political needs.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 put
the world on notice not only that the land
north of the Ohio River and east of the
Mississippi would be settled but that it
would eventually become part of the
United States. Until then this area had
been temporarily forbidden to
development.
The primary effect of the ordinance was
the creation of the Northwest Territory as
the first organized territory of the United
States out of the region south of the Great
Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River,
and east of the Mississippi River.