One thing that America did have plenty of was land, though the use of it would bring continuing troubles with Indians until late in the 19th century. During the American Revolution, the Americans resolved not to treat their territories as colonies. Following the war, Congress sold millions of acres of land to large companies, but those companies had trouble attracting settlers. Congress therefore realized that some form of control was necessary in the territories that were not yet states.
At the end of the war, several of the states claimed extensive territories west of their own boundaries, but by 1786 all the western territories had been turned over to the federal government. The Confederation Congress soon decided that the western territories were not to be treated with the sorts of abuses that the British had imposed upon the original Americans, and a careful policy was worked out.
In 1784 Jefferson drafted an ordinance providing that when the population of a territory reached that of the smallest state, that territory would be eligible for statehood. The Land. Ordinance of 1785 provided for a layout of townships of 36 square miles, 6 miles on a side with a north and south orientation, divided into one-square-mile lots of 640 acres, to be sold at $1 per acre. One section was set aside to be sold for income supporting public schools (the first national education law written anywhere), which reflected Jefferson's commitment to public education as essential to democracy. The Ohio and Scioto land companies were formed; Marietta, Ohio, was established as the first town in the new territory. (Marietta remains proud of that distinction to this day.)
The Northwest Ordinance. In 1787 the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which eventually came to comprise the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, was designated the Northwest Territory, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 carefully outlined the process through which the territories would become states. Each territory was to have a governor, a secretary, and three judges, all chosen by Congress. When any territory's population reached five thousand, the male adults there would have the right to elect an assembly.
Once the population reached sixty thousand, the territory could call a convention to draft a constitution and apply for statehood. In addition, the Ordinance provided for a Bill of Rights that guaranteed freedom of religion, proportional representation, trial by jury, and other rights; and slavery was permanently excluded from the territory. Needless to say, if the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance had been applied to the remaining territories, many of which were soon to become states, the extension of slavery and thus the entire future of the American nation would have been considerably different.
The essential point about the Northwest Ordinance is that America did not see its territories as part of an empire, but rather as territory that would join the original thirteen states on an absolutely equal footing, with the same privileges, rights, and responsibilities. The Northwest Ordinance has been considered significant enough that some historians have said that its philosophy of equality of territories and new states is part of our constitutional heritage. Along with the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance is seen as one of the highest achievements of the Confederation era. The principle behind the Northwest Ordinance was carried into the Constitution in Article IV, Section 4, which states: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government."
The years between the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty in 1783 and the beginning of government under the Constitution in 1789 were thus uncertain times. The country might have continued under the Articles of Confederation, but it is likely that as additional states were added, the sense of unity and purpose would have degenerated further into endless bickering. Even after the Constitution went into effect, the different areas of the nation often placed their own interests above national goals. The country needed an anchor.
World History
