The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-05-22
THE ORDINANCE OF I7S7.
ELIZA REIMERT.

You are invited to go with me on
the wings of thought to that land
which extends west of Pennsylvania
and is washed on the north by the
blue watered lakes, on the south by
the Ohio river, and on the west by
the Father of Waters" This land
includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mich
igan and Wisconsin, and was former
ly known as the Northwest Territory,
whose history we will now consider.
While the convention which framed
the national constitution was sitting
in Philadelphia, the Continental con-
gress, then in New York, adopted a
measure which has been justly pro-
nOunced second in Importance only to
the crOwning act of the convention at
Philadelphia.
On July II, 1857, a committee, of
which Nathan Dane was chairman,
reported "An ordinance for the gov
ernment of the territory northwest of
the OhiO.n and this ordinance, with
the addition of an article forbidding
slavery to cross the Ohio, was adopt
ed on July 13.
Higginson has said: Zone of the
most momentOus acts of the COnti
mental congress was to receive from
the state of Virginia the gift of a vast
unsettled territory, northwest of the
Ohio, and to apply to this wide realm
the guarantee of freedom from slav-
cry" When this great gift was ac-
cepted, steps were taken to provide
government for the territory. A pro-
visional ordinance was adopted April
%, 1854, and remained in force three
years, being superseded by the ordi-
nance of 1857. Historians have de-
voted much time considering the au-
thorship of this ordinance, and espe-
cially the anti-slavery clause.
What did the ordinance provide in
regard to slavery? 1t provided this:
"There shall be neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude in the terri
tory, other than in the punishment of
crime, whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted"
What would have been the cOndi-
tion of our country to-day if slavery
had not been prohibited in the North
west Territory? This was one of the
important steps which finally led to
the abolition Of slavery.
Another article in the ordinance
provided "That as religion, morality
and knowledge are necessary to good
government and 10 the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of
education shall forever be encour-
aged" BY this article we have pub
lie schools, where every person who
wishes an education may obtain it.
DR.. Cutler asked congress for a tract
of land in this Northwest Territory
for the purpose of erecting a univers-
ity. This building was the first uni
versity in the United States founded
upon a land endowment from the na-
tional government.
This ordinance also provided for re-
ligious institutions for the promotion
of theological instruction.
Having q government settled for
the Northwest Territory, a great inn
migration from the eastern states be-
gan. This formed a great chapter in
the history of our country. Washing
ton has said: "There never were men
better calculated to promote the well
fare of such community" Nathan
Dane was the draughtsman of the
ordinance of 1857, Rufus Putnam the
great leader in colonizing the west,
and DR.. Cutler obtained grant of
land in this territory for the estab-
lishment of public schools, religious
institutions and a university.
Daniel Webster has said: "We are
accustomed to praise the lawgivers of
antiquity; we help to perpetuate the
fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but /
doubt whether one single law of any
lawgiver, ancient or modern, has pro-
duced effects of greater, more dis
tinct, marked and lasting character
than the ordinance Of 1787."