The Northwest Ordinance Explained | A Primary Source Close Read w/ BRI

0:00 [Music] hello and welcome back to the channel today we’re going to be taking a look at the northwest ordinance of 1787. the northwest ordinance is one of those documents that always gets sort of mentioned when we talk about founding documents but it’s different in a couple different ways than the declaration of penance or the constitution uh but it was written in the same time period 1787

0:21 um so today i’m just going to ask a couple basic questions what is the northwest ordinance and why do we take so much time to talk about it so with that let’s dive in and check it out all right so first some historical context the northwest ordinance is in reference to the northwest territory which is the territory north and west of the ohio river in the sort of what we now refer to as

0:42 the midwest in the united states being someone from indiana i tend to think about this area of the country quite a bit but in 1783 after the treaty of paris which was the treaty that ended the american revolution we received this land legally from great britain and then the question was well what do we do next in 1784 the confederation congress which was the

1:02 congress under the articles of confederation which was then governing the country this before we had the current constitution that we have passed this land ordinance in 1784 which essentially said hey we’re going to make new states out of this area it’s not going to be the continuation of our other states virginia for example isn’t going to have just ownership over all this we’re going to create new states

1:23 out of this region then in 1785 another land ordinance was passed and this one said you know and we’re going to sell that land to private citizens but the question still remained if we’re going to have states and they’re going to be oh there’s going to have land in there that are owned by private citizens how are they going to be governed how are we going to create new governments what is it going to mean to create new

1:44 states and that’s actually a pretty big question especially at this period of our country we’ve never done this before there’s a lot of different ways that they could have gone about it it could have been just the overseen by the national government um so this decision to break this up into states was a big deal so in order to do that so to follow what they often refer to as sort of the political um side of getting this

2:04 accomplished they passed this northwest ordinance in 1787. on here i also have noted that the northwest ordinance of 1789 came after that was just after we had passed the constitution we said hey we’re going to keep this ordinance in effect legally that was north northwest of 1789 but 1787 is interesting because it was in philadelphia in 1787 if you remember

2:26 that the constitutional convention was going on so this piece of legislation is being passed in the midst of that drafting of the new constitution so what did it do well it expanded the authority of the national government over the over these territories and kind of figured out a way of saying like we’re going to govern these um and we’re going to control them until they become states and we’ll dive into the specific of how it did that just a second i’d

2:47 also established how these states would then join the so what would it mean for them to establish a government and join the union it also established this gridded township system right so if they were going to be selling lands they were going to be divided up into grids and that they would be sold out as individual parcels it also talked about and we’ll get to this toward the end of the video uh this

3:07 big idea of on what principles or on on what ideals would these new states be founded and how are we going to guarantee that these new state governments are consistent with what ostensibly the revolution was just fought over that is to say republican government small r republican government representative government democratic government that works to preserve

3:29 civil rights and liberty um and it also had this interesting thing where it banned slavery in these territories um and we’ll talk a little bit more about how it did that and what that meant um towards the end of the video but but it’s pretty significant that as they’re thinking about how what are we gonna do with this new land they’re also thinking about um what is it going to mean to form these states and how is it that we’re going to form these states in a

3:49 way that is going to be consistent with what they’re thinking about this time which is the protection of liberty for individual citizens it’s also important note that this territory certainly wasn’t empty there were white settlers there white european settlers as well as native american tribes that had had interactions with the united states all of them would be affected by this ordinance and all of

4:10 them would interact with it in confront it in lots of different ways but let’s dive into the actual document so the first three sections i note here and they’re not consistent let’s see i’ve got section one section three and section nine these three sections are dealing with what is it going to mean to establish authority over these territories so very practical question we have the land what

4:31 are we going to do with it in other words how are we going to govern it so the here the national government that again the confederation government says hey we’re going to govern this as one maybe two districts while it’s under the direct authority of congress that’s section one section three says we’re gonna appoint a governor so there’s gonna be sort of an executive head that’s overseeing things within

4:53 this territory on behalf of the national government in ensuring that these laws and everything that we’re putting in place are going to be followed then finally here in section 9 you see after there’s 5 000 people living there which is a significant amount of people for 1787 when there’s 5 000 free male inhabitants important to point out that they are going to be the ones that can begin to receive authority form a

5:14 legislature and begin to form townships and counties and begin that process of becoming states so if we think again what are we going to do with this land where we’re going to create states how are we going to create states well first we’re going to have the national government to oversee this territory while it’s forming politically while people are populating it we’re then going to have a governor that oversees the interests of the national government within this territory as it’s being

5:35 formed and then finally once there’s 5 000 people there they’re going to be able to come together form the legislature and begin to govern themselves that’s extending this idea of republican government into this new territory but again this big question becomes well what on what grounds are they going to be founded so you have this section 13 which i think is is really fascinating again thinking about what

5:56 was on the minds of these individuals as they were forming this they say and for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty which form the basis where on 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

6:17 provide also for the establishments of states and permanent government therein and for admission to a share of the federal councils on an equal footing with the original states at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest so it’s a mouthful and it’s written in very legalistic language what does it say what this essentially says is for these governments to be legitimate they have

6:38 to be republic how are we defining republic well those are founded on fundamental principles again principles being sort of first things foundational ideas of civil and religious liberty meaning people are going to have uh all of the things that we’re looking for when we’re talking about the department of independence we’re trying to establish governments that help us all pursue life liberty and the pursuit of happiness as it says in decades of

7:00 independence now whether or not that was fully achieved clearly it was not at this point but the idea being that they’re staking into the ground this ideal toward which they’re going to be working and that these states also are going to be affixed to that ideal not just now but forever forever hereafter they say and not only that these states will come in as equals

7:20 to the other states meaning there will be no hierarchy among states um we have this you know we all know historically that delaware for example was the first state but delaware would have no footing or authority that was in excess of indiana when it would eventually come into the country these states would be equal they’d enter equally they would have equal voice in the national government and they would be seen as

7:41 equal polities within the system and so then in section 14 how are we going to do this section 14 says is hereby ordained and declared by the authority afford said that the following article 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

8:01 common consent so the next articles i’m going to show you what congress is saying here is you get to move there you can form your own state you can create these political institutions but the articles that are listed below are always going to be effect here because this is a compact that that for you to become a part of the union you will need to follow these things and so let’s take a look

8:23 so article one and i’m only going to look at a couple of them here but article one says 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 said territories this is the idea of earlier we just mentioned religious liberty but this is the idea of freedom of conscience as james madison talked about this idea that you are free to think and act and

8:43 believe in any way that you see fit this is something that the founding generation saw as essential to what it meant to be a free and independent citizen and it’s something that they call out here again forever hereafter that this will be something that’s protecting these territories and then article three you have this really powerful and i think beautifully written statement says religion morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind

9:04 schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged and yep both good faith shall always be observed toward the indians their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent so a couple things going on here religion morality and knowledge being necessary to good government is an interesting sort of parent i think here you know the the members of the confederation congress are thinking

9:24 about how are we going to maintain we have these principles we have these ideals how do we maintain them well part of it is through the actions of what you’re doing right now learning what these right ends may be or what these things towards which we should orient government and placing these high ideals in a position where uh if we are working to achieve them um we are hopefully orienting government towards good ends

9:44 how do we do that educating ourselves and education obviously takes investment and so they’re going to make sure um it happens in the northwest territory that they set aside one of the parcels of land for specifically for education um the idea here is that we’re thinking about this and we’re pointing towards these good ends it goes on to say that the line about

10:04 the utmost good faith shall always be observed for the indians now our history with native peoples in the united states is one that is complicated and complex and here you see a statement that is talking about observing good faith so there’s at least this idea and it’s significant to think about that this idea of good faith being observed toward indians is captured here now whether or not that was upheld i think

10:26 is something that is well worth exploring it’s well worth you learning about um and it’s again i think interesting pairing with education because it’s an important thing for all of us to keep in mind that these statements and these sentiments are only as good as we citizens are at holding our governments accountable to them and pursuing them in our own lives um so i think that that’s really powerful and takes us to our next point

10:46 which is article six article six says there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted so this is banning slavery in the northwest territory which is significant this is the first outright ban of slavery um it comes in july again of 1787 in the midst of the constitutional

11:07 convention where the conversation around slavery is being actively debated what we’re gonna do about it uh what this institution means to the country what it means if we don’t get rid of it um those debates are live and active and here you see the confederation congress making a very firm statement um this continues on from earlier debates that had happened in 1784 there was a similar

11:27 provision put in by thomas jefferson that would have called for gradual emancipation and it was working towards getting rid of slavery in these territories um and this held and it held um as an area where there was no slavery that was going to be allowed that’s not to say that it wasn’t challenged at various points of their debates in the formation of ohio about whether or not slavery would have been prevented or

11:48 been banned when it became a state and it was um there was other debates around whether or not other states would allow it or allow um indentured servitude and it’s a complex story but again i think it’s important here not to point out whether or not it was completely achieved in this moment but to point out that this was something that was written down that was on the minds of these men who were thinking about these laws and

12:08 how they they’re going to form these governments and that it is connected in at least in structure to these other higher ideals of of pursuing good civil government and part of that would be getting rid of the system of enslavement and enslaving human beings again only so good as we as individual citizens as the country works to unite

12:29 it but it is significant that it’s at least captured here of in legal language so to wrap up sort of our central question again what is the northwest ordinance well in short it is a legal document that was passed in 1787 that worked to establish how it is that the northwest territory the territory north and west of the ohio would be brought into the united states

12:51 um as states that ends up being carved up into five states so you have indiana ohio michigan illinois and wisconsin those become states through this process and though they no longer referred to as the northwest territory um the legacy of what that what this document meant certainly had serious implications for

13:11 how they were formed estates the ideals around which those governments were formed and is one of the reasons why as i said the beginning why do we talk about this so much that’s why it had real effects on the governing of those states and it reveals at that moment in 1787 what it was that members of the national legislature were thinking about what was it or debating about and how it is that

13:31 they thought that we could take um this expanding nation um and turn it into a a nation of many states um that would eventually become the united states so that’s a whole lot to go over but i thank you all for joining me i hope you enjoyed it and until next time keep on learning

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