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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ordinance of 1784 was the first positive legislation by the Congress of the Confederation on the subject of how new states would be added to the United States of America. The ordinance defined a process whereby American settlers, living in territories not a part of any existing state, would organize a republican form of government that would then become a new state of the union. Enacted on 23 April 1784 under the Articles of Confederation and in effect for only three years, no state would be added to the union under its provisions.
Ordinance of 1784 | |
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Ratified | 23 April 1784 |
Location | Library of Congress |
Author(s) | Congress of the Confederation |
Purpose | Establish territorial government in the Northwest Territory. Define the procedure whereby territories become states. |
The ordinance would be replaced and repealed by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The significance of the Ordinance of 1784 is as the predecessor to this ordinance, and as a useful step in the formulation of an effective political process for adding states to the union.
As a practical application the ordinance was ineffectual. At the time of its enactment there was no law to govern the transfer of land from the government to settlers, so systematic settlement could not be made. A law for that purpose was intended to become effective at the same time as the Ordinance of 1784, but its enactment was delayed for over a year. In addition, Indians living in the region were still in possession of the land, and systematic settlement could not begin until their opposition to that settlement was eliminated.