Essay Example on The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is relevant to Chapter 7

Primary Source Analysis Document’s Document’s Author Unspecified followed principles outlined by Textbook chapter or chapters to which the document is relevant as a historical document The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is relevant to Chapter 7 because it successfully demonstrates the Revolutionaries vision of Government It was designed to create an orderly world of middle class farmers who obeyed the law paid their debts worshipped as they pleased and were protected from despotic government and the unruly poor Oakes et al 2015 p 207 It also serves as a response to conflict between the national government and states trying to claim lands given from the British after the Revolution It is also relevant to Chapter 8 because it influenced conflict with controlling borders were Indians resided Lastly it is relevant to the chapters which remark about abolishment of slavery Chapter 13 The Politics of Slavery and Chapter 7 Analysis The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established a procedure allowing new western regions to become fully equal states Settlers in the new territory were obligated to appoint governors and judges Furthermore adopt and publish in the district laws of the original states and report them to Congress Settlers had to elect a territorial legislature when their population was composed of five thousand free male inhabitants of full age district Any white man who owned fifty acres of property in the 

Northwestern territory was entitled to a vote A territory was admitted as a state when the population reached sixty thousand free inhabitants and met the first few requisites Northwest Ordinance 1787 The ordinance allowed no fewer than three or more than five states to be formed It thrived to form the current states known as Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin Oakes et al 2015 p 58 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 anticipated ideals enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights The only exception was the abolishment of slavery Oakes et al 2015 P 207 The inhabitants of the new territory were entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus Accordingly they also had the right to trial by jury and bail It also banned cruel and unusual punishments Additionally Religion morality and knowledge schools and the means of education were to be encouraged forever Northwest Ordinance 1787 The end of the American Revolution brought unrest and caused disarray among the new nation s states The British surrendered and handed over the Indians land to the Americans The United States congress planned to sell the land in hopes of using the money to pay off the war debt On the other hand New York Pennsylvania North Carolina and Virginia planned to claim land to their territories and speculators wanted to make a profit out of them Even though they had different hopes for the western territories they forced Indians to sign treaties ceding their land Indians refused to follow through with the treaties It was difficult to reach a compromise because the states would not acknowledge each others claims or those of the national government 

The Northwest ordinance served as a compromise between the states speculators and the national government Oakes et al 2015 p 206 207 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provoked conflicts between Americans and Indians Americans forced Indians to cede the Northwestern Territory The Indians were angered because the Treaty of Paris did not acknowledge Indian claims and they were often attacked by federal troops and militias The Indians in the trans Appalachian territory resisted in ceding their homelands The national government was not able to control Native Americans so settlers began to complain Continuing conflict in the Northwest Territory led to war leader Little Turtle to confront United States troops Former President George Washington sent troops consecutively led by General Josiah Harmar Arthur St Clair and Anthony Wayne As a result by 1795 Wayne declared victory and Indians ceded two thirds of the latter state of Ohio Oakes et al 2015 p 236 248 To conclude the Northwest Ordinance also influenced slavery challenges in the states The ordinance required that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory which included Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin Northwest Ordinance 1787 During this time period every state south of New Jersey practiced slavery The upper south states legislatures passed laws easing the emancipation of slaves Oakes et al 2015 P 205 The high demand for plantation products such as sugar and tobacco required assistance from slave labor Oakes et al 2015 P134 Some slave owners felt incommodious because they believed abolishing slavery was difficult and inconvenient Slavery was slowly eliminated in the North while the South protested against abolishing slavery Oakes et al 2015 P 205 References Northwest Ordinance July 13 1787 n d Avalon Project Documents in law history and diplomacy Yale University Law School Retrieved from http avalon law yale edu 18th_century nworder asp Oakes J McGerr M Lewis J E Cullather N Boydston J Summers M Townshend C Dunak K 2015 Of the people A history of the United States 3rd ed Vol 1 New York NY Oxford University Press