shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State in the said Territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, and 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 States shall be admitted by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatsoever; 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. 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, 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that the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void. FIRST PARTITIONS OF PUBLIC LANDS. Symmes Purchase. One million acres on the north side of the Ohio River, between the Great and Little Miami. The speculation proved a failure. Congress was later obliged to take back two-thirds of the purchase. John Cleves Symmes was Chief Justice of the State of New Jersey. Original price, 66 cents per acre. Ohio Company of Associates. Purchase, 2,000,000 acres, north of the Ohio River, beginning on the west line of the seven ranges, extending to the eighteenth range, and far enough back from the river to make the full amount of acres. Through default on payment purchase reduced to a little over 1,000,000 acres. Original price, 70 cents per acre. Military Bounty Lands. 4000 acres reserved by the United States to redeem bounty certificates. Townships made five miles square. Western Reserve, Connecticut Reserve. Connecticut reserved a tract lying between forty-first parallel and the northern boundary line of the United States, extending 120 miles west from the Pennsylvania State line, for sustaining schools and churches. Later sold to the Connecticut Land Company. Fire Lands. In 1792 Connecticut, by an act of the State legislature, gave the western end of the Reserve, a half million acres, to the inhabitants of New London and other Connecticut towns whose property had been destroyed by British raids during the Revolution. Also known as "The Fire Sufferers' Land." Congress Lands. The lands unsold. Virginia Military District. Lest the land in Kentucky, as set apart by Virginia for the redemption of her bounty certificate, might prove insufficient, she reserved this district north of the Ohio River of over 6000 square miles. Zane's Trace. A cutting of the undergrowth and blazing of the trees sufficient to allow the passage of a wagon. It was done under authority of Congress to cut a road from Wheeling in a southwesterly direction to the Ohio River at Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky. NORTHWEST TERRITORY. August 7, 1789. General Anthony St. Clair, then president of Congress, appointed governor. August 8, 1789. Washington designated the country as "The Western Territory." " May 7, 1800. Divided into "Indian Territory," capital at Vincennes, and Territory Northwest of the River Ohio," capital at Chillicothe. Gen. W. H. Harrison appointed governor of the Territory of Indiana. May 13, 1800. Connecticut resigned jurisdiction over the Western Reserve (q.v.). November 29, 1802. OHIO admitted as a State, per United States census reports. January 11, 1805. Territory of Indiana subdivided; Territory of Michigan formed. February 3, 1809. Territory of Indiana again divided; Territory of Illinois formed. February 27, 1815. Western boundary of Territory of Illinois declared to include the islands between the middle and eastern margin of Mississippi River. December 11, 1816. INDIANA admitted as a State. April 18, 1818. A section of Territory of Illinois added to Territory of Michigan. December 3, 1818. ILLINOIS admitted as a State. June 28, 1834. Territory west of the Mississippi River and north of Missouri River attached to the Territory of Michigan. January 12, 1836. Boundary of Ohio and Territory of Michigan established. Ohio's gain. April 20, 1836. Territory of Wisconsin formed from Territory of Michigan. January 26, 1837. MICHIGAN admitted as a State. June 12, 1838. Territory of Iowa cut out of the trans-Mississippi section of Territory of Wisconsin. June 12, 1838. Boundary between Michigan and Territory of Wisconsin established. May 25, 1840. Southern boundary of Territory of Wisconsin established. December 28, 1846. Iowa admitted as a State. May 29, 1848. WISCONSIN admitted as a State. March 3, 1849. Part of northwestern section of Wisconsin annexed to the Territory of Minnesota; St. Croix River made the boundary. May 11, 1858. MINNESOTA admitted as a State. SOUTHWEST TERRITORY. August 9, 1787. Cession of South Carolina. February 25, 1790. Cession of North Carolina. May 26, 1790. Act of Congress for government of the Territory. June 1, 1796. TENNESSEE admitted as a State. March 27, 1804. South Carolina cession added to Territory of Mississippi. TERRITORY OF MISSISSIPPI. April 7, 1798. Act of Congress provided for government. |