Developing America: The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
America is dubbed "the land of opportunity," and rightly so. From the establishment of colonies in Massachusetts and Virginia in the early 1600's, America has been a place where people had an opportunity to be successful and strike it rich. Land was scarce throughout Europe but abundant in America. This land came either very cheaply or even free for over a century. The two ordinances enacted by the Confederation Congress, the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, did exactly this. These ordinances also helped the settlement of future territories as well as their conversion into states. They also promoted the presence of education in the United States. These ordinances also assisted the power of state government as well as establishing the federal government's supervising rather than dominant role. The ordinances enacted in 1785 and 1787 were essential to the rise of the importance of education today, the creation of states, and a cooperative state-to-federal government relationship.
The Land Ordinance of 1785, signed May 20, originally had high goals, but turned out to be a quick fix to the problem of squatters settling freely in the Northwest Territories. The main provisions of this first ordinance were these; "The plats of the townships respectively, shall be marked by subdivisions into lots of one mile square, or 640 acres, in the same direction as the external lines, and numbered from l to 36; always beginning the succeeding range of the lots with the number next to that with which the preceding one concluded." (Fitzpatrick 375) These plots of land were sold at no less than a dollar apiece. This prevented squatters from claiming land free and unchecked. Some of these plots were set aside for school (one acre) and for government purposes (four acres). This assured that the settlers would be able to access the government easily and conveniently, and that their children would be able to receive organized education in schools rather than home.
