-The Northwest Ordinance was an important law because it established the pattern by which the rest ot the West would be settled. -All other territories would have to got through the same process of becoming a state. -The Northwest Ordinance made sure that the settlement of the West was orderly.

Also known as the Ordinance of 1787, the Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory, outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union, and guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen states. …

Thomas Jefferson

Slavery was completely prohibited in the northwest territories. Each state also had to have a constitution that guaranteed religious freedom, right to a trial by jury, and it had to make provisions for an elected representative government.

What did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 do? It outlawed slavery and spelled out the steps a territory needed to go through to become a state.

This ordinance said that 10 new equal states would be made out of the territory, it banned slavery, and it was to give the land to settlers instead of selling it.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 significantly changed American his- tory. The Ordinance provided that new states in the Northwest Terri- tory shared coequal status with the original thirteen states. It estab- lished the process for territories to become states.

Why do you think that the federal government encouraged the settlement of the Northwest Territory and other western lands? The federal government may have wanted to make sure that it could prevent other countries from trying to take the lands away from the United States by making sure the area was settled.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was one of the most significant and enduring events in the westward expansion of the United States. By granting 160 acres of free land to claimants, it allowed nearly any man or woman a “fair chance.”

Homestead Act summary: The Homestead Act was a U.S. law that enabled adult Americans to acquire ownership of land in the United States at the minimum cost. The first Homestead Act was passed on May 20, 1862 for the purposes of accelerating the settlement of the western territories.

The new law established a three-fold homestead acquisition process: file an application, improve the land, and file for deed of title. Any U.S. citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. Government could file an application and lay claim to 160 acres of surveyed Government land.

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