



                              NORTHWEST ORDINANCE



                       ORDINANCE OF 1787, JULY 13, 1787

           AN ORDINANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE
                    UNITED STATES NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO


Sec 1   Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled,  That
        the said Territory, for the purpose of temporary government,  be
        one  district,  subject,  however,  to  be divided into two dis-
        tricts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress,
        make it expedient.


Sec 2   Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both
        of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said  territory,
        dying intestate,  shall descend  to, and  be distributed  among,
        their children and the descendants of a deceased child in  equal
        parts, the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take
        the share of  their deceased parent  in equal parts  among them;
        and where  there shall  be no  children or  descendants, then in
        equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among  col-
        laterals, the children  of a deceased  brother or sister  of the
        intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their  deceased
        parents share;  and there  shall, in  no case,  be a distinction
        between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases
        to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate
        for life, and  one third part  of the personal  estate; and this
        law relative to descents and  dower, shall remain in full  force
        until altered by the legislature of the district.  And until the
        governor and judges shall  adopt laws as hereinafter  mentioned,
        estates in the  said territory may  be devised or  bequeathed by
        wills in writing, signed  and sealed by him  or her in whom  the
        estate may be  (being of full  age,) and attested  by three wit-
        nesses; and real estates may  be conveyed by lease and  release,
        or bargain and sale, signed,  sealed, and delivered by the  per-
        son, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and  attested
        by two witnesses, provided such  wills be duly proved, and  such
        conveyances  be  acknowledged,  or  the  execution  thereof duly
        proved,  and  be  recorded  within  one year after proper magis-
        trates,  courts,  and  registers,  shall  be  appointed for that
        purpose; and personal property  may be transferred by  delivery,
        saving, however,  to the  French and  Canadian inhabitants,  and
        other  settlers  of  the  Kaskaskies,  Saint  Vincents,  and the
        neighboring villages, who  have heretofore professed  themselves
        citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force  among
        them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property.

Sec 3   Be it ordained  by the authority aforesaid, That there shall  be
        appointed, from  time to  time, by  Congress, a  governor, whose
        commission shall continue in force  for the term of three  years
        unless sooner revoked by Congress;  he shall reside in the  dis-
        trict, and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres
        of land, while in the exercise of his office.

Sec 4   There  shall  be  appointed from  time to  time, by  Congress, a
        secretary, whose  commission shall  continue in  force for  four
        years, unless sooner revoked;  he shall reside in  the district,
        and have  a freehold  estate therein,  in five  hundred acres of
        land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his  duty
        to keep and  preserve the acts  and laws passed  by the legisla-
        ture, and the public records  of the district, and the  proceed-
        ings of the governor  in his executive department,  and transmit
        authentic copies of such  acts and proceedings every  six months
        to the Secretary of Congress.   There shall also be appointed  a
        court, to consist  of three judges,  any two of  whom to form  a
        court, who shall  have a common  law jurisdiction and  reside in
        the district, and have each  therein a freehold estate, in  five
        hundred acres of land, while  in the exercise of their  offices;
        and  their  commissions  shall  continue  in  force  during good
        behavior.

Sec 5   The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt  and
        publish in the district such laws of the original States, crimi-
        nal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the  cir-
        cumstances of  the district,  and report  them to  Congress from
        time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district until
        the organization  of the  general assembly  therein, unless dis-
        proved of by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shall have
        authority to alter them as they shall think fit.

Sec 6   The governor, for the time being, shall be commander in chief of
        the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same be-
        low the rank of general officers; all general officers shall  be
        appointed and commissioned by Congress.

Sec 7   Previous  to the organization  of the general assembly  the gov-
        ernor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil  officers,
        in each county or township,  as he shall find necessary  for the
        preservation of the peace and good order in the same.  After the
        general assembly  shall be  organized the  powers and  duties of
        magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  shall be regulated and
        defined  by  the  said  assembly;  but all magistrates and other
        civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the
        continuance of  this temporary  government, be  appointed by the
        governor.

Sec 8   For  the  prevention  of crimes,  and injuries,  the laws  to be
        adopted or made shall have a force in all parts of the district,
        and for the  execution of the  process, criminal and  civil, the
        governor  shall  make  proper  divisions  thereof;  and he shall
        proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay
        out the parts of the  district in which the Indian  titles shall
        have been  extinguished, into  counties and  townships, subject,
        however, to such  alterations as may  thereafter be made  by the
        legislature.


Sec 9   So soon as  there shall be five thousand free male  inhabitants,
        of full age, in the  district, upon giving proof thereof  to the
        governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place,  to
        elect representatives from their counties or townships, to  rep-
        resent them in  the general assembly:  Provided, That for  every
        five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one represent-
        ative, and so  on, progressively, with  the number of  free male
        inhabitants, shall the  right of representation  increase, until
        the number of representatives shall amount to twenty five; after
        which the number and proportion of representatives shall be reg-
        ulated by the legislature:  Provided, That no person be eligible
        or qualified to  act as a  representative, unless he  shall have
        been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a
        resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the
        district three years; and,  in either case, shall  likewise hold
        in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land with-
        in the same:  Provided also, That  a freehold in  fifty acres of
        land  in  the  district,  having  been  a  citizen of one of the
        States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold
        and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary  to
        qualify a man as an elector of a representative.

Sec 10  The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two
        years; and in case of the death of a representative, or  removal
        from office, the  governor shall issue  a writ to  the county or
        township, for  which he  was a  member, to  elect another in his
        stead, to serve for the residue of the term.

Sec 11  The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the  gov-
        ernor, legislative council, and a house of representatives.  The
        legislative council shall consist  of five members, to  continue
        in office  five years,  unless sooner  removed by  Congress; any
        three of whom  to be a  quorum; and the  members of the  council
        shall be  nominated and  appointed in  the following  manner, to
        wit:  As soon as  representatives shall be elected the  governor
        shall appoint a  time and place  for them to  meet together, and
        when met they shall nominate  ten persons, resident in the  dis-
        trict, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of
        land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom  Congress
        shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever
        a vacancy shall happen in the Council, by death or removal  from
        office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons,
        qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names
        to Congress, one of  whom Congress shall appoint  and commission
        for the residue of the  term; and every five years,  four months
        at least  before the  expiration of  the time  of service of the
        members of the council, the  said house shall nominate ten  per-
        sons, qualified  as aforesaid,  and return  their names  to Con-
        gress, five  of whom  Congress shall  appoint and  commission to
        serve as members  of the council  five years, unless  sooner re-
        moved.   And  the  governor,  legislative  council, and house of
        representatives shall have authority  to make laws in  all cases
        for the good  government of the  district, not repugnant  to the
        principles and  articles in  this ordinance  established and de-
        clared.   And  all  bills,  having  passed  by a majority in the
        house, and by  a majority in  the council, shall  be referred to
        the governor  for his  assent; but  no bill,  or legislative act
        whatever, shall be  of any force  without his assent.   The gov-
        ernor shall have  power to convene,  prorogue, and dissolve  the
        general assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient.

Sec 12  The governor,  judges, legislative council, secretary, and  such
        other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district,  shall
        take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the gov-
        ernor before the President  of Congress, and all  other officers
        before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in
        the  district,  the  council  and  house assembled, in one room,
        shall have authority,  by joint ballot,  to elect a  delegate to
        Congress, who  shall have  a seat  in Congress,  with a right of
        debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.

Sec 13  And  for  extending  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil and
        religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics,
        their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and  establish
        those principles as  the basis of  all laws, constitutions,  and
        governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said
        territory; to  provide, also,  for the  establishment of States,
        and permanent government therein,  and for their admission  to a
        share  in  the  Federal  councils  on  an equal footing with the
        original States, at as early  periods as may be consistent  with
        the general interest:

Sec 14  It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority  aforesaid,
        that the following articles  shall be considered as  articles of
        compact, between the original  States and the people  and States
        in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by
        common consent, to wit:

                                      ARTICLE I

        No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly  manner,
        shall ever  be molested  on account  of his  mode of worship, or
        religious sentiments, in the said territory.

                                     ARTICLE II

        The inhabitants of the  said territory shall always  be entitled
        to the benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of the  trial
        by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in  the
        legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course
        of the common  law.  All  persons shall be  bailable, unless for
        capital offences, where the proof shall be evident, or the  pre-
        sumption great.   All fines shall  be moderate; and  no cruel or
        unusual punishment shall be inflicted.  No man shall be deprived
        of his liberty or property,  but by the judgement of  his peers,
        or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it
        necessary, for  the common  preservation, to  take any  person's
        property, or to demand  his particular services, full  compensa-
        tion shall be made for the same.  And, in the just  preservation
        of rights and property, it  is understood and declared, that  no
        law ought ever to be made  or have force in the said  territory,
        that shall,  in any  manner whatever,  interfere with  or affect
        private contracts, or engagements, bona fide, and without  fraud
        previously formed.

                                   ARTICLE III

        Religion, morality, and knowledge  being necessary to good  gov-
        ernment and the happiness of  mankind, schools and the means  of
        education shall forever  be encouraged.   The utmost good  faith
        shall always be  observed towards the  Indians; their lands  and
        property shall never be  taken from them without  their consent;
        and in their property, rights,  and liberty they never shall  be
        invaded or disturbed unless  in just and lawful  wars authorized
        by Congress;  but laws  founded in  justice and  humanity shall,
        from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done  to
        them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

                                   ARTICLE IV

        The said territory, and the States which may be formed  therein,
        shall  ever  remain  a  part  of  this confederacy of the United
        States of America, subject to the articles of Confederation, and
        to such alterations therein  as shall be constitutionally  made;
        and  to  all  the  acts  and  ordinances of the United States In
        Congress assembled,  conformable thereto.   The inhabitants  and
        settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of
        the Federal debts, contracted, or  to be contracted, and a  pro-
        portional part of the  expenses of government to  be apportioned
        on them by Congress according  to the same common rule  and mea-
        sure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the  other
        States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be  laid
        and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of
        the  district,  or  districts,  or  new  States, as the original
        States, within  the time  agreed upon  by the  United States  in
        Congress assembled, nor with  any regulations Congress may  find
        necessary for securing the title  in such soil to the  bona fide
        purchasers.  No  tax shall be  imposed on lands  the property of
        the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors
        be taxed higher  than residents.   The navigable waters  leading
        into the Mississippi and Saint Lawrence, and the carrying places
        between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as
        well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens
        of the United States, and those of any other States that may  be
        admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or  duty
        therefor.

                                   ARTICLE V

        There shall be formed in the said territory not less than  three
        nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States,  as
        soon as Virginia shall alter  her act of cession and  consent to
        the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit:
        The western State,  in the said  territory, shall be  bounded by
        the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; a direct  line
        drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the  ter-
        ritorial line between the United  States and Canada; and by  the
        said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and  Mississippi.
        The middle State shall be  bounded by the said direct  line, the
        Wabash from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a  direct
        line drawn due north  from the mouth of  the Great Miami to  the
        said territorial line,  and by the  said territorial line:  Pro-
        vided, however, And it is further understood and declared,  that
        the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far  to
        be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient,
        they shall have authority to form one or two States in the  part
        of the said territory which lies north of an east and west  line
        drawn through the  southerly bend or  extreme of Lake  Michigan.
        And whenever any  of the said  States shall have  sixty thousand
        free inhabitants therein,  such State shall  be admitted by  its
        delegates, into the Congress of  the United States, on an  equal
        footing with the original States, in all respects whatever;  and
        shall be at liberty to form a constitution and government, so to
        be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the princi-
        ples contained in these articles, and, so far as it can be  con-
        sistent with the general  interest of the confederacy,  such ad-
        mission shall be  allowed at an  earlier period, and  when there
        may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty
        thousand.


                                  ARTICLE VI

        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:  Provided  al-
        ways, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or
        service is lawfully claimed in  any one of the original  States,
        such fugitive  may be  lawfully reclaimed,  and conveyed  to the
        person claiming his or her labor or service aforesaid.

        Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the  resolutions
        of the  23rd of  April, 1784,  relative to  the subject  of this
        ordinance, be, and the  same are hereby, repealed,  and declared
        null and void.

        Done by the United States,  in Congress assembled, the 13th  day
        of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their  sovereignty
        and independence the twelfth.


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           From the Journals of Congress (ed. 1823), IV., pp. 752-54.





