The
Northwest Ordinance (formally
An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, and also known as the
Freedom Ordinance or
The Ordinance of 1787) was an act of the
Congress of the Confederation of the
United States (the Confederation Congress), passed July 13, 1787. The ordinance created the
Northwest Territory, the first
organized territory of the United States, from lands beyond the
Appalachian Mountains, between
British Canada and the
Great Lakes to the north and the
Ohio River to the south. The upper
Mississippi River formed the Territory's western boundary. It was the response to multiple pressures: the westward expansion of American settlers, tense diplomatic relations with Great Britain and Spain, violent confrontations with Indians, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and the empty treasury of the American government. It was based upon but more conservative than Thomas Jefferson's proposed ordinance of 1784. The 1787 law relied on a strong central government, which was assured under the new Constitution that took effect in 1789. In August, 1789, it was replaced by the
Northwest Ordinance of 1789, in which the new Congress reaffirmed the Ordinance with slight modifications.