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 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 © National Archives and Records Administration; Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-­‐1789; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-­‐1789, Record Group 360; National Archives The Congress of the Confederation drafted the Northwest Ordinance while participants of the Constitutional Convention were writing the Constitution. The ordinance pertained to land northwest of the Ohio River and created Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It banned slavery in new territories, but in doing so set the precedent for fugitive slave laws. 1 Officially titled “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio,” the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set the standard by which 31 of the 50 U.S. states became part of the United States. The law recognized the Northwest Territory as a region governed by U.S. federal authority; prior to the American Revolution, the region had been governed (in Western eyes at least) by Britain’s Royal Proclamation of 1763, which outlawed the private purchase of land by settlers from Native Americans. Britain ceded the region to the U.S. government following with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, leaving the Continental Congress to debate how the area would become part of the new nation. Stipulating that “not less than three nor more than five” states could be carved out of the region, the act led to the creation of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan (with part of the territory that would later become Minnesota). The ordinance required that prospective states have at least 60,000 free inhabitants. In addition to stating that the “means of education” should forever be encouraged in the new states, Article Three of the act also explained that “the utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians” and noted that the “lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress.” While granting legal discretion of land claims by Native Americans to the U.S. government, the Northwest Ordinance also outlawed slavery in new states. Article Six stated explicitly that “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” The act established a reciprocity clause between the new free states and the slave states to the south by governing runaways, assuring slave owners that any “fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.” Thus, the Northwest Ordinance served as the first Fugitive Slave Act in the nation’s history. 2 Works Cited & Further Reading Chardavoyne, David G. “The Northwest Ordinance and Michigan's Territorial Heritage.” In The History of Michigan Law, edited by Paul Finkelman, Martin J. Hershock and Clifford W. Taylor. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2006. Waldstreicher, David. Slavery's Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification. New York: Hill and Wang, 2010. 3