Origins of American Government
The Northwest Ordinance – Timeline and Main Ideas
MARCH 1, 1781
Establishment of the United States government
Maryland ratifies the Articles of Confederation, formally establishing the first government
of the United States and “creating” the Confederation Congress.
MARCH 1, 1784
Confederation Congress acquires the Northwest Territory
Congress officially acquires the land ceded (“sold”) by Virginia north and west of the Ohio River during the
Revolutionary War (January 1781).
APRIL 23, 1784
Confederation Congress passes the Land Ordinance
Written by Thomas Jefferson and accepted by the Congress, this ordinance is the first to establish the process to
administer newly acquired lands.
JULY 13, 1787
Confederation Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance serves as a revision of the earlier Land Ordinance (1784) and establishes, amongst
other things, that slavery is prohibited from the new region.
* Arguably the single most important piece of legislation passed by the Confederation Congress *
The Land Ordinance of 1784, authored and introduced by Thomas Jefferson, called for land in the newly created
United States of America – west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi
River – to be divided into separate states (eventually five).
It was adopted by the Confederation Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the ordinance. His original draft contained five important clauses:
1.) “That they shall forever remain a part of the United States of America”
2.) “That in their persons, property and territory they shall be subject to the government of the United
States in Congress assembled, and to the Articles of Confederation in all those cases in which the original
States shall be so subject”
3.) “That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted to be
apportioned on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure”
4.) “That their respective governments shall be in republican forms”
5.) “That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in
any of the said States” (this article would NOT be approved by the Confederation Congress)
The Land Ordinance passed without the 5th clause and was in force for 3 years (until it was superseded by the
Northwest Ordinance of 1787).