What was the name of the 1787 law that outlined how a territory could become a state?

What was the name of the 1787 law that outlined how a territory could become a state?

• A. Northwest Ordinance
• B. Land Ordinance of 1784
• C. Ordinance of 1787
• D. Compact for Statehood

Answer: (C)

The law being tested is about how new territories could become states, a process the United States organized through a single governing rule set. It is best known as the Northwest Ordinance, adopted in 1787. This ordinance established a clear pathway: a territory would govern itself under appointed officials, and once its population reached 60,000 free inhabitants, it could draft a state constitution and ask to join the Union on equal footing with the existing states. It also laid out guarantees for basic rights and, most famously, barred slavery in the Northwest Territory, setting a precedent for how new areas would be integrated into the United States. While you may see it referred to by the year, the standard name historians use is Northwest Ordinance.

The law being tested is about how new territories could become states, a process the United States organized through a single governing rule set. It is best known as the Northwest Ordinance, adopted in 1787. This ordinance established a clear pathway: a territory would govern itself under appointed officials, and once its population reached 60,000 free inhabitants, it could draft a state constitution and ask to join the Union on equal footing with the existing states. It also laid out guarantees for basic rights and, most famously, barred slavery in the Northwest Territory, setting a precedent for how new areas would be integrated into the United States. While you may see it referred to by the year, the standard name historians use is Northwest Ordinance.