ORDINANCE OF 1787.
[The Confederate Congress, JULY 18, 1787.]
An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States
northwest of the river Ohio
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the United
States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purpose of
temporary governments be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two
districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it
expedient.
SEC. 2. Be it ordained by the authority
aforesaid, that the estates and non-resident proprietors in the said
territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among, their
children and the descendants deceased child in equal parts, the descendants of
the deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in
equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descendants,
then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and among collaterals,
the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in
equal parts among them, their deceased
parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between
kindred of the whole and half blood;
saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real
estate for life, and one-third part of the personal estate; and this law
relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the
legislature of the district. And until
the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned estates in
the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed an
sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be, (being of full age), an
attested by three witnesses; and real estates may be conveyed by lease and
release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age, in whom the
estate may be, and attested by two witnesses provided such wills by duly proved,
and such conveyances be
acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one
year after proper magistrates, courts, an registers, shall be appointed for that purpose; and
personal property may be transferred by delivery, saving, however to the French
and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, Saint Vincents,
and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens
of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the
descent and conveyance of property.
Sec.
3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the shall be appointed, from
time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force
for the term of three years unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside
in the district, and have a, freehold estate thereon, in one thousand acres of
land, while in the exercise of his office.
SEC.
4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose
commission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked, he
shall reside in the district, and have a freehold o estate therein, in five
hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the
acts and laws passed by legislature, and the public records of the district,
and the proceedings of tile governor in his executive department, and transmit
authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every six months to the Secretary
of Congress. There shall also be
appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court,
who shall have a
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common-law
jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a free- hold
estate, in five hundred acres of land while in the exercise of their offices,
and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.
SEC.
5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, adopt and publish in the
distract such laws of the original States criminal and civil, as may be
necessary, and best suited to the circumstances of the district and report them
to Congress from time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district
until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of
by Congress, but afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter them
as they shall think fit.
SEC.
6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in chief of the
militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of
general officers all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by
Congress.
SEC.
7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly the governor shall
appoint such magistrates, and other civil officers, in each county or
town-ship, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and
good order n the same. After the general
assembly shall be organized the powers and duties of magistrates and other
civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly, but all
magistrates and other civil officers, not herein other-wise directed, shall,
during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the
governor.
SEC.
8. For the Prevention of crimes and injuries the laws to be adopted or made
shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of
process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof,
and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay
out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been
extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such
alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature.
SEC.
9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age,
in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive
authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or
townships, to represent them in the general assembly. Provided, That for
every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and
so on, progressively, with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right
of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to
twenty-five, after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be
regulated by the legislature. Provided,
That no person be eligible or qualified to ant as a representative unless he
shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a
resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three
years, and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in
fee-simple, two hundred acres of land within the same. Provided also, That a freehold in
fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the
States, and being resident in the distract, or the like freehold and also years
residence in the district shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of
a representative.
SEC.
10. The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years, and
in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the governor
shall issue a writ to the county or township, for which he was a member, to
elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.
SEC.
11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the governor, legislative count, and a house of
representatives. The legislative council
shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner
removed by Congress, any three of whom to be a quorum, and the members of the
council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit. As soon as representatives shall be elected
the governor shall appoint a time an place for them to meet together, and when
met they shall nominate ten persons, resident in the district and each
possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names
to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as
aforesaid, and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or
removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons,
qualified as aforesaid for each vacancy, and return their
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219
names
to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue
of the term, and every five years, four months at least before expiration of
the time of service of the members of the council the said house shall nominate
ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five
of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the
council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative
council, and house of representatives shall have authority to make laws in all
cases or the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles
and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed a majority in
the house, and by a majority in the council shall be referred to the governor
for his assent, but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force
without his assent. The governor shall
have power to convene prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly when, in his
opinion, it shall be expedient.
SEC.
12. The governor, fudges, legislative council, secretary, an such other
officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or
affirmation of fidelity, and of office, the governor before the President of
Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council
and house assembled, in one room shall have authority, by joint ballot to elect
a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating,
but not of voting, during this temporary government.
SEC.
13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious
liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws an
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 provide, also, for the establishment of
States, an permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in
the Federal councils on an equal footing with the original States at as early
periods as may be consistent with the general interest.
SEC.
14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, that the
following articles 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 common content, to wit.
ARTICLE I
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.
ARTICLE II
The
inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of
the writs of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury, of a proportionate
representation of the people in the legislature and of judicial
proceedings according to the course
of the common law. All persons shall be
bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident, or the
presumption great. All fines shall be
moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or
property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land, and should
the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take
any person's property, or to demand his
particular services, full compensation shall be made or the same. And in the just preservation of rights and
property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made or
have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere
with or affect private contracts, or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud
previously formed.
ARTICLE III
Religion,
morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools, and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be
observed towards the Indians, their
lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent, and in
their property, rights, and liberty they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars
authorize by Congress; but laws
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founded
in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing
wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
ARTICLE IV.
The
said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever
remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to
the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations thereon as shall be
constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in
Congress resembled, conformable. The
inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part
of the Federal debts, contracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part
of the expenses of government to be apportioned on them by Congress, according
to the same common rules and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be
made on the Other States, and the taxes or paying their proportion shall be
laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the
district, or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the
time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts, or new
States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the
United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find
necessary for securing the title of such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property
of the United States, and in no case shall nonresident proprietors be taxed
higher than residents. The navigable
waters leading into the Mississippi and Saint Lawrence and the carrying places
between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the
inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and
those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without
any tax, impost, or duty therefor.
ARTICLE V
There
shall be formed in the said territory not less than three more than five
States, and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her
act of cession and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as
follows, to wit. The western State, in
the said territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi the Ohio, and the
Wabash Rivers, a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincente, due
north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, and by the
said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said
direct line, the Wabash from Post Vincente to the Ohio by the Ohio, by a direct
line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial
line, and by the said territorial line.
The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line,
the Ohio, the Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line. Provided,
however, And it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of
these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress
shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two
States in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west
line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said States shall
have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by
its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with
the original States, in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form
a permanent constitution and State government.
Provided, The constitution and
government, so to be formed shall be republican, and in conformity to the
principles contained In there articles, and, so far as it can be consistent
with the general Interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed
at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants
in the State than sixty thousand.
ARTICLE VI.
There
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory,
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted. Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from
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whom
labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such
fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or
her labor or service as aforesaid.
Be
it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23rd
of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are
hereby, repealed, and declared null and void.
Done
by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July,
in the year of our Lord 1787, and of there sovereignty and independence the
twelfth.
