The Land Ordinances of 1784 and 1785

This article discusses Jefferson's Land Ordinances of 1784 and 1785, in which he attempted to forever end the spread of slavery.

Land Ordinances of 1784 and 1785

After the American Revolution, the new United States faced an enormous challenge: how should it govern, divide, and sell the vast western lands it now controlled?

The Ordinance of 1784 and the Land Ordinance of 1785 helped establish important rules for governing western territory, creating new states, surveying land, and selling public land. Together, they helped shape the future expansion of the United States.

The Ordinance of 1784

In 1784, a congressional committee led by Thomas Jefferson developed a plan for governing western territory that had been ceded, or surrendered, by individual states to the United States.

Jefferson's plan proposed dividing the western lands into self-governing districts that could eventually become states and enter the Union on an equal basis with the original states. The ordinance was an important early attempt to create an orderly process for transforming western territories into new states.

Jefferson's Plan for New States

The Ordinance of 1784 established several important principles for the western territories. Among them were the ideas that new states would remain part of the United States, would enter the Union on an equal footing with the original states, would help pay the nation's debts, and would maintain republican forms of government.

Jefferson also proposed a provision that would have prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude in the western territories after the year 1800, except as punishment for a crime. Congress removed the provision before adopting the ordinance. The antislavery proposal failed by a very narrow margin. A later law, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Key ideas in Jefferson's 1784 plan included:

New states would remain permanently part of the United States.
New states would eventually enter the Union on an equal footing with the original states.
New states would contribute toward paying federal debts.
Their governments would maintain republican forms of government.
Jefferson proposed ending slavery and involuntary servitude in the western territories after 1800, but Congress rejected this provision.

The Land Ordinance of 1785

The Land Ordinance of 1785 addressed a different problem: how the federal government would survey, divide, and sell western lands.

The ordinance established a rectangular survey system. Land was divided into square areas called townships. Each township measured six miles by six miles and contained 36 sections. Each section contained one square mile, or 640 acres.

This organized system replaced many of the irregular methods previously used to divide land and helped reduce overlapping claims and boundary disputes.

Selling Western Lands

Under the original system, a full 640-acre section could be sold for a minimum price of $1 per acre. That meant purchasing an entire section required at least $640, a large amount of money at the time.

The federal government hoped land sales would provide badly needed revenue. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to directly levy taxes on citizens, making the sale of western lands an important potential source of income.

Land for Public Schools

The Land Ordinance of 1785 also connected western settlement with public education. Section 16 of each township was reserved to help support public schools.

This idea established an important precedent in American history: as the nation expanded westward, land could be set aside to help finance education in developing communities.

Why Were the Ordinances Important?

The Ordinances of 1784 and 1785 helped establish the idea that western lands would not remain permanent colonies controlled by the original states. Instead, territories could develop into new states that would eventually join the Union as equals.

The land-survey system created in 1785 also influenced the appearance of much of the American landscape. The grid of townships and sections established during this period can still be seen in property lines, roads, farms, and communities throughout large parts of the United States.

The Story of a Growing Nation

Follow the growth of the United States from the original colonies through western expansion and the addition of new territories.

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