Northwest Ordinance

E38719

United States federal law foundational territorial ordinance organic act

The Northwest Ordinance was a 1787 act of the U.S. Congress that established the process for governing and admitting new states from the Northwest Territory, setting important precedents for westward expansion and the prohibition of slavery in that region.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Northwest Ordinance canonical	15
Northwest Ordinance of 1787	11
Ordinance of 1787	5
An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio	1
Northwest Ordinance era	1
federal organic law for the Northwest Territory	1

Statements (62)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal law ⓘ foundational territorial ordinance ⓘ organic act ⓘ
allows	fugitive slave rendition from the Northwest Territory ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Northwest Ordinance ⓘ surface form: An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio Northwest Ordinance ⓘ surface form: Ordinance of 1787
appliesToTerritory	Northwest Territory ⓘ
articleCount	6 ⓘ
constitutionalStatus	considered one of the organic laws of the United States ⓘ
containsProvision	Bill of Rights for inhabitants of the territory ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
dateEnacted	1787-07-13 ⓘ
declares	religion, morality, and knowledge necessary to good government and happiness ⓘ
definesTerritorialGovernmentFor	Northwest Territory ⓘ
encourages	schools and means of education ⓘ
establishesPopulationThreshold	5000 free male inhabitants for territorial legislature ⓘ 60000 free inhabitants for statehood application ⓘ
establishesProcessFor	creation of territorial governments ⓘ transition from territory to statehood ⓘ
geographicScope	lands east of the Mississippi River ⓘ lands north of the Ohio River ⓘ lands south of the Great Lakes ⓘ
guaranteesRight	due process of law in the Northwest Territory ⓘ freedom of religion in the Northwest Territory ⓘ habeas corpus in the Northwest Territory ⓘ proportionate representation in the legislature ⓘ right to trial by jury in the Northwest Territory ⓘ
historicalSignificance	first major federal restriction on slavery ⓘ model for later territorial ordinances ⓘ set precedent for westward expansion ⓘ
influencedBy	American Revolutionary principles ⓘ Enlightenment philosophy ⓘ surface form: Enlightenment political thought
influences	United States territorial law ⓘ surface form: United States territorial policy admission of Midwestern states ⓘ
laterAffirmedBy	United States Congress ⓘ surface form: United States Congress under the Constitution
leadsToCreationOf	Illinois ⓘ surface form: State of Illinois Indiana ⓘ surface form: State of Indiana Michigan ⓘ surface form: State of Michigan Ohio ⓘ surface form: State of Ohio Wisconsin ⓘ surface form: State of Wisconsin part of the State of Minnesota ⓘ
legalStatus	organic law of territorial expansion ⓘ
legislativeBody	Congress of the Confederation ⓘ
predecessor	Land Ordinance of 1785 ⓘ
principle	encouragement of public education ⓘ federal sovereignty over territories prior to statehood ⓘ new states admitted on equal footing with original states ⓘ
prohibits	cruel and unusual punishments in the Northwest Territory ⓘ excessive fines in the Northwest Territory ⓘ slavery in the Northwest Territory ⓘ
ratifiedUnder	Articles of Confederation ⓘ
relatedDocument	Land Ordinance of 1784 ⓘ United States Constitution ⓘ
relatedEvent	American westward expansion ⓘ
section	Article I ⓘ Article II ⓘ Article III ⓘ Article IV ⓘ Article V ⓘ Article VI ⓘ
setsPrecedentFor	admission of new states on equal footing ⓘ
yearEnacted	1787 ⓘ

Referenced by (34)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Old Northwest → legalFrameworkDefinedBy → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Old Northwest → governanceDocument → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ordinance of 1787

Congress of the Confederation → significantDocument → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Articles of Confederation → inForceDuringEvent → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance era

Articles of Confederation → enabledLegislation → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Northwest Indian War → legalBasis → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Virginia Declaration of Rights → influenced → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Northwest Ordinance → alsoKnownAs → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ordinance of 1787

Northwest Ordinance → alsoKnownAs → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio

Territory Northwest of the River Ohio → legalBasis → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Territory Northwest of the River Ohio → governingDocument → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ordinance of 1787

United States in Congress Assembled → enacts → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Public Land Survey System → legalBasis → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Land Ordinance of 1785 → followedBy → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Land Ordinance of 1785 → relatedTo → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Michigan Territory → establishedUnder → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Northwest Territory → createdBy → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Northwest Territory → legalBasis → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Northwest Territory → foundingDocument → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ordinance of 1787

Toledo War → relatedTo → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Article IV → partOf → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

subject surface form: Article IV of the Northwest Ordinance

Article V → partOf → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

subject surface form: Article V (Northwest Ordinance)

Article V → legalStatus → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

subject surface form: Article V (Northwest Ordinance)

this entity surface form: federal organic law for the Northwest Territory

Land Ordinance of 1784 → followedBy → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Land Ordinance of 1784 → relatedTo → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Land Ordinance of 1784 → influenced → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Article II → partOf → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

subject surface form: Article II of the Northwest Ordinance

Indiana Territory → establishedUnder → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Governor of the Northwest Territory → createdBy → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Governor of the Northwest Territory → legalBasis → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ordinance of 1787

Confederation period → notableEvent → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Territory South of the River Ohio → legalBasis → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

Nathan Dane → notableWork → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ

this entity surface form: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Connecticut Western Reserve → relatedEvent → Northwest Ordinance ⓘ