Thomas Jefferson had proposed an ordinance to deal with the lands won
along with independence from Britain in 1784, and not belonging to any
State, any lands that might be relinquished when considered to have been
granted by Royal Charter. The Continental Congress ratified the
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 on July 13, 1787. The First Congress under
the newly ratified Constitution, which met from March 4, 1789, to March
4, 1791, then reaffirmed that same ordinance. This slightly revised
version reaffirmed on July 13, 1789, and is known as the
Northwest Ordinance of 1789.
The Fourth Article, unchanged in the two versions, reads, in part:
Article the Fourth. 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… 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.
Note that “
primary disposal” seems to be
the objective of holding the land. That disposal would serve two very
significant purposes in the creation of a nation that would grow from
those first thirteen states. First, it would raise revenue for the
payment of the debt incurred because of the War of Independence, and it
continued to provide revenue for the fledgling nation.
Second, it would provide land for people to populate the barren
regions, first, across the Allegheny Mountains, then on to the
Mississippi River, next to the Rocky Mountains, and finally to the
Pacific Ocean.
