representatives from their counties or townships to represent them in a General Assembly, in the proportion of one representative for every five hundred free male inhabitants, until the number of representatives should amount to twenty-five, after which the number and proportion were to be regulated by the legislature itself. To be eligible to election as a representative the candidate must have been a citizen of one of the United States for three years and a resident in the Northwest Territory, or a resident of the Territory for three years, and in either case he must be a landholder. The term of service for representatives was two years. The General Assembly consisted of the governor, Legislative Council, and House of Representatives. The Legislative Council was made up of five members who were to be chosen by Congress from ten persons resident in the district and holding five hundred acres of land, nominated by the Territorial House of Representatives for this purpose. Their term of service was five years, unless sooner removed by Congress. The General Assembly had authority to make laws not repugnant to the principles of the ordinance. In order to become a law, a bill must be passed by a majority in the House and in the Council, then referred to the governor for his assent, and his assent was in every case necessary. All officers and others that might be appointed by Congress were required to take an oath of fidelity and of office. The Council and the House, acting together, had authority to elect a delegate to Congress who had the right of debating but not of voting in that body. All these provisions were in the nature of a preamble to the really important part of the ordinance. Then follow six articles, introduced by the following prefatory clause:

"And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and 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, and 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: Ít 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 consent.”

Article I. guaranteed freedom of worship and freedom of religious sentiments to every person in the Territory conducting himself in a peaceable and orderly manner.

Article II. contained many provisions which are the common heritage of the English speaking people from the time of Magna Charta; such as the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and trial by jury; that no cruel or unusual punishment might be inflicted; that no man might be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or by the law of the land; no law might be made that interfered with private contracts or engagements, and provision was made for proportionate representation by the people in the legislature, and that judicial proceedings were to be according to the course of common law.

Article III. provided that schools and the means of education were to be encouraged, because religion, morality, and knowledge were considered necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind. It was provided that the Indians were to be fairly treated, and that their property might never be taken from them without their consent; that no war might be carried on against them without the authorization of Congress.

Article IV. declared that the Territory was to remain forever a part of the Confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as might be constitutionally made. The people of the Territory were to pay their share of the public debt and of the expenses of the government. The

legislature might never interfere with the right of the United States to dispose of the soil nor were taxes to be imposed upon the lands of the United States. Navigable waters leading from the district into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence were to be free to the citizens of the United States.

Article V. provided for a division of the Territory into not less than three nor more than five States; and the boundary lines of these States were given. Whenever any one of the said States contained sixty thousand free inhabitants it might be admitted to the Confederation on an equality with the original States and might form a permanent constitution and State government, on condition that these should be Republican. It was also provided that such admission should be earlier allowed when the whole number of free inhabitants was less than sixty thousand, if consistent with the general interests of the Confederacy.

Article VI. said: "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 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 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void."

This Ordinance of 1787 was the best piece of work done by the Continental Congress, and in passing it, the legislative body, as in some other instances in American history, exceeded its legal authority. But the necessity was so great and the value of the work so apparent, that no objection was made to it. The confederation was a loose union between the States with no provision in their articles of agreement for the control of territory not a part of one of the original States. But Congress was the only possible body which could deal with public domain.