Essay On The Northwest Ordinance

Elizabeth Gammariello
History 111
Class Session #27445
07-08-2017

Primary Source Analysis
Document’s Name: The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Document’s Author: Nathan Dane was the document’s main author. However, other members of Congress contributed to the making of this document, such as Rufus King.
Year document war written: 1787
Textbook chapter or chapters to which the document is historically relevant:
The Northwest Ordinance is relevant to Chapters 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15. The Ordinance is relevant to Chapter 5 because it reflects ideas that were common in the Enlightenment, such as equality and civil rights for all people. It is relevant to Chapter 7 because the Northwest Ordinance puts forth new governing policies in western, specifically northwestern, territories. It is relevant to Chapter 9 because it set the precedent for the Louisiana Territory, in which citizens sought statehood and established their own government similarly to the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Ordinance is relevant to Chapter 12 because it encouraged and strengthened the popular belief in the Manifest Destiny, which led to the war between the United States and Mexico and the annexation of western lands. The Northwest Ordinance is also relevant to the chapters that address equality in certain territories because this document

addressed civil rights and slavery. Chapter 13 displays this theme because it addresses slavery in politics and shows the division over slavery. The document established free territory and stressed equality for all people. Thus, the Northwest Ordinance is related to Chapter 14, which discusses the Civil War, and Chapter 15, which discusses Reconstruction, because it added free territory to the northern states and declared freedom for all people.
Analysis:
The Northwest Ordinance is a document approved by Congress on July 13, 1787 that “set out a model of government for the western territories that reflected the liberal political philosophy of nationalists in Congress and established a process for admission of new states into the nation” (Oakes et al., 2015, pp.

207). The Northwest Ordinance, similar in wording to the Declaration of Independence, specifically articulates the governmental system to be established in the Northwest Territory. Moreover, this document provides specific laws dealing with civil and natural rights, including trial by jury, freedom of religion, and the exclusion of

slavery.
The Northwest Ordinance shows the liberal political views of American politicians through the independent government that was established in the Northwest Territory. The Ordinance established the Northwest Territory as United States property and declared that within the territory there should be formed “not less than three nor more than five States” (Dane, 1787). Before the states could be formed, however, a clear system of government was written out to exemplify liberal policies and protect against despotic administration. Congress appointed “a secretary… to keep and preserve the