# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 2/7th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 40

The Enabling Act of 1802 was passed on April 30, 1802 by the Seventh Congress of the United States. This act authorized the residents of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territory to form the state of Ohio and join the U.S. on an equal footing with the other states. To accomplish this, and in doing so, the act also established the precedent and procedures for creation of future states in the western territories. The Enabling Act of 1802 would be the first appropriation by Congress for internal improvements in the country's interior.
Chap. XL.—An Act to enable the people of the Eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes.
Act of August 7, 1789, ch. 8. Act of May 8, 1792, ch. 42. The inhabitants of the eastern division of the territory west of the Ohio to form a constitution and become a state. Act of March 3, 1803, ch. 21.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, be, and they are hereby authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper, and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon the same footing with the original states, in all respects whatever.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said state shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio river, to the mouth of the Great Miami river,Boundaries thereof. Act of February 19, 1803, ch. 7. Act of July 14, 1832, ch. 240. Act of June 15, 1836, ch. 98. on the west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, aforesaid, and on the north by an east and west line, drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, or the territorial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line, aforesaid: Provided, that Congress shall be at liberty at any time hereafter, either to attach all the territory lying east of the line to be drawn due north from the mouth of the Miami, aforesaid, to the territorial line, and north of an east and westTerritory east thereof at the disposal of Congress. 1805, ch. 5. line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east as aforesaid to Lake Erie, to the aforesaid state, or dispose of it otherwise, in conformity to the fifth article of compact between the ​original states, and the people and states to be formed in the territory northwest of the river Ohio.
What part of territory attached to Indiana.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all that part of the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, heretofore included in the eastern division of said territory, and not included within the boundary herein prescribed for the said state, is hereby attached to, and made a part of the Indiana territory, from and after the formation of the said state, subject nevertheless to be hereafter disposed of by Congress, according to the right reserved in the fifth article of the ordnance aforesaid, and the inhabitants therein shall be entitled to the same privileges and immunities, and subject to the same rules and regulations, in all respects whatever, with all other citizens residing within the Indiana territory.
Qualifications of electors for choosing a convention. Election districts.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all male citizens of the United States, who shall have arrived at full age, and resided within the said territory at least one year previous to the day of election, and shall have paid a territorial or county tax, and all persons having in other respects, the legal qualifications to vote for representatives in the general assembly of the territory, be, and they are hereby authorized to choose representatives to form a convention, who shall be apportioned amongst the several counties within the eastern division aforesaid, in a ratio of one representative to every twelve hundred inhabitants of each county, according to the enumeration taken under the authority of the United States, as near as may be, that is to say: from the county of Trumbull, two representatives; from the county of Jefferson, seven representatives, two of the seven to be elected within what is now known by the county of Belmont, taken from Jefferson and Washington counties; from the county of Washington, four representatives; from the county of Ross, seven representatives, two of the seven to be elected in what is now known by Fairfield county, taken from Ross and Washington counties; from the county of Adams, three representatives; from the county of Hamilton, twelve representatives, two of the twelve to be elected in what is now known by Clermont county, taken entirely from Hamilton county; and the elections for the representatives aforesaid, shall take place on the second Tuesday of October next, the time fixed by a law of the territory, intituled “An act to ascertain the number of free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one, in the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and to regulate the elections of representatives for the same,” for electing representatives to the general assembly, and shall be held and conducted in the same manner as is provided by the aforesaid act, except that the qualifications of electors shall be as herein specified.
Convention to meet at Chilicothe in November, 1802.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the members of the convention, thus duly elected be, and they are hereby authorized to meet at Chilicothe on the first Monday in November next; which convention, when met, shall first determine by a majority of the whole number elected, whether it be or be not expedient at that time to form a constitution and state government for the people, within the said territory, and if it be determined to be expedient, the convention shall be, and hereby are authorized to form a constitution and state government, or if it be deemed more expedient, the said convention shall provide by ordinance for electing representatives to form a constitution or frame of government; which said representatives shall be chosen in such manner, and in such proportion, and shall meet at such time and place, as shall be prescribed by the said ordinance; and shall form for the people of the said state, a constitution and state government;Constitution must be republican. provided the same shall be republican, and not repugnant to the ordinance of the thirteenth of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, between the original states and the people and states of the territory northwest of the river Ohio.
​To have one representative in Congress till next census.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That until the next general census shall be taken, the said state shall be entitled to one representative in the House of Representatives of the United States.
Propositions offered to the convention. 1811, ch. 9.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the following propositions be, and the same are hereby offered to the convention of the eastern state of the said territory, when formed, for their free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted by the convention, shall be obligatory upon the United States.
First, That the section, number sixteen, in every township, and where such section has been sold, granted or disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and most contiguous to the same, shall be granted to the inhabitants of such township, for the use of schools.
Second, That the six miles reservation, including the salt springs, commonly called the Scioto salt springs, the salt springs near the Muskingum river, and in the military tract, with the sections of land which include the same, shall be granted to the said state for the use of the people thereof, the same to be used under such terms and conditions and regulations as the legislature of the said state shall direct: Provided, the said legislature shall never sell nor lease the same for a longer period than ten years.
Third, That one twentieth part of the nett proceeds of the lands lying within the said state sold by Congress, from and after the thirtieth day of June next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying out and making public roads, leading from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic, to the Ohio, to the said state, and through the same, such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several states through which the road shall pass: Provided always, that the three foregoing propositions herein offered, are on the conditions that the convention of the said state shall provide, by an ordinance irrevocable, without the consent of the United States, that every and each tract of land sold by Congress, from and after the thirtieth day of June next, shall be and remain exempt from any tax laid by order or under authority of the state, whether for state, county, township or any other purpose whatever, for the term of five years from and after the day of sale.
Approved, April 30, 1802.