Download Moving West - Canton Local Schools

Topic: Historical Documents
Some documents in American history have
considerable importance for the development
of the nation. Students use historical thinking
to examine key documents which form the
basis for the United States of America.
Historical Document #2: The
Northwest Ordinance
Content Statement: The Northwest Ordinance
addressed a need for government in the Northwest
Territory and established precedents for the future
governing of the United States.
Expectations for Learning: Show how the Northwest
Ordinance, in providing government for the
Northwest Territory, established a precedent for
governing the United States.
Historical Document #2:
Northwest Ordinance
Content Elaborations: As Ohio country settlement progressed in the Connecticut Western
Reserve and the Virginia Military District, and with the enactment of the Land Ordinance of
1785, the Congress of the United States recognized a need for governing land acquired in
the Treaty of Paris. The Northwest Ordinance provided the basis for temporary governance
as a territory and eventual entry into the United States as states.
The Northwest Ordinance also set some precedents that influenced how the United States
would be governed in later years. New states were to be admitted “into the Congress of
the United States.” This provision was continued in later years and it meant that there
would be no colonization of the lands as there had been under Great Britain. “Schools and
the means of education” were to be encouraged. This wording reinforced the provision in
the Land Ordinance of 1785 allocating one section of each township for the support of
schools and of citizenship (e.g., religious liberty, right to trial by jury, writ of habeas corpus)
were assured. These assurances were precursors to the Bill of Rights to the U.S.
Constitution. Slavery was prohibited in the Northwest Territory. This provision was later
included in the Constitution as Amendment 13. State governments were to be republican
in structure. This provision was repeated in the U.S. Constitution.
1. Declaration of 2. Northwest
Independence
Ordinance
3. Constitution
of the United
States
4. Federalist and 5. Bill of Rights
Anti-Federalist
Papers
WHO WHO WHO WHO WHO
WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT
WHERE WHERE WHERE WHERE WHERE
WHEN WHEN WHEN WHEN WHEN
WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY
Moving West
The Land Ordinance of 1785
&
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
New Land Policies
• Beginning of the Revolution
– Only a few thousand lived
west of the Appalachian
Mountains
– Treaty of Paris of 1763
• Proclamation Line of 1763
• Forbid moving West
• By 1790’s
– Treaty of Paris of 1783
allowed Americans to move
west
– Around 120,000
• Settlers wanted to organize
their lands and join the
Union
States Relinquish Territories
• All states relinquished
land claims in the new
territory and gave it to
the congress
Congress in Debt
• Congress had no power
to tax the inhabitants of
the United States
– Goal of the Land
Ordinance of 1785
• To raise money through
the sale of land
• Pay off war debts
• Organize new territories
gained under the Treaty
of Paris of 1783
Dividing and Selling Land
• Congress surveyed and
Divided the land in
order to sell it to people
moving west.
• They passed the “Land
Ordinance of 1785” to
divide the land.
Dividing the Land
• Divided into Townships
– 6 Miles Long
• Townships divided into
36 Sections
– 640 Acres
– Sold at public auctions
for at least $1
Land Speculations
• Speculators viewed the law as an opportunity
to accumulate land cheaply
– Concerned with the lawlessness in the West,
Richard Henry Lee urged, “the rights of property
be clearly defined”
– Congress solved this problem by setting up a new
Ordinance called “The Northwest Ordinance of
1787”
The Northwest Ordinance
Setting up government in the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance
• Passed in 1787
• Created the Northwest
Territory
• Would divide the lands
into 3-5 smaller
territories
Setting Up Boundaries
• Northwest Territory
– First Organized Territory
of the United States
• Boundaries
– South of the Great Lakes
– North and West of the
Ohio River
– East of the Mississippi
Abolition of State Claims
• The new territory was
to be controlled by the
central government
• States had to give up
their land claims in the
West
• Congress would be the
legislative body of the
new territories
Reaching Statehood
• When the territory
reached a population of
5,000 “free male
inhabitants of full age”
they could form a
legislature.
• Once the Territory
reached a population of
60,000 it could apply for
statehood
– These states would be
admitted to the Union with
equal rights of the original
13 states.
Establishing Civil Rights
• Property Rights were
Promised
• Religious Tolerance was
proclaimed
• Free Public Education
• No Cruel or Unusual
Punishment
• Trial By Jury
The Prohibition of Slavery
• Slavery and Involuntary
Servitude was illegal
Rights of the 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.”