Land Ordinance of 1785

Publication: Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History

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LAND ORDINANCE OF 1785

The Land Ordinance of 1785 was the second of three land ordinances passed by the Confederation Congress after the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). The three ordinances, which included the Ordinance of 1784 and the Northwest Ordinance (1787), were meant to manage the lands of the Old Northwest, ceded by Great Britain at the end of the Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783), which established normal diplomatic relations between England and the former colonies after the Revolution, turned the area that is now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin over to the new U.S. government. In 1784 a committee led by Thomas Jefferson drew up legislation to provide for future statehood for settlers already in the area. The following...

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