An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory
of the United States,
North-West of the River Ohio.
Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said
territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district,
subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future
circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates, both of
resident and nonresident proprietors in the said territory, dying
intestate, shall descent 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 collaterals, 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 witnesses; and real estates may be conveyed by
lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered by
the person 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 magistrates, 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, St. 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.
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 district, and have a freehold estate therein in
1,000 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.
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 500
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 legislature, and the
public records of the district, and the proceedings 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 500 acres of land
while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall
continue in force during good behavior.
The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in
the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may
be necessary and best suited to the circumstances 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 disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the Legislature shall
have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
The governor, for the time being, shall be commander in chief of the
militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of
general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned
by Congress.
Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor 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 the 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.
For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made
shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of
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.
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 a representative from
their counties or townships to represent them in the general assembly:
Provided, That, for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall
be one representative, 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 regulated 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
within 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.
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.
The general assembly or legislature shall consist of the governor,
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, residents in the district, 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
council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as
aforesaid, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall
appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five years,
unless sooner removed. 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 declared. 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 governor shall
have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly, when,
in his opinion, it shall be expedient.
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 governor 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 voting during this temporary government.
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:
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:
Art. 1. 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.
Art. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to
the benefits of the writ 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 offenses, where the proof
shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate;
and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be
deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment 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 compensation 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.
Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good
government 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 shall never 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.
Art. 4. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein,
shall forever 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 proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned
on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure 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 in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United
States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new
States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil 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 nonresident proprietors be taxed higher
than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St.
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.
Art. 5. 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 Wabash
Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due North,
to the territorial 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. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last
mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial
line: Provided, 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 that 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 permanent constitution and
State government: Provided, the constitution and government so to be
formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained
in these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general
interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier
period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the
State than sixty thousand.
Art. 6. 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, always, 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 as
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 soveriegnty and independence the
twelfth.