What did the Northwest Ordinance outlaw in the Northwest Territory?
religious freedom
admission of new states
slavery
trial by jury
The Northwest Ordinance, officially known as the Ordinance of 1787, established a government for the Northwest Territory, and outlined the process for admitting new states from this territory into the Union. Of the options provided, the Northwest Ordinance outlawed:
- Slavery
The other listed items were not outlawed by the Northwest Ordinance; in fact, the ordinance promoted some of them:
- It protected religious freedom by stating that "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 the said territory."
- It established the mechanism for the admission of new states from the Northwest Territory.
- It guaranteed trial by jury.
Hence, the Northwest Ordinance was a significant step in the expansion of the United States, as it set forth the precedent for the creation of new states on the basis of equality with the original states, and also established a precedent for the prohibition of slavery in the new territories.