the land ordinance of 1785 first divided land into states. territories. colonies. townships
Land Ordinance of 1785 - wikipedia Land Ordinance of 1785 Jump to : navigation , search The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20 , 1785 . It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west . Congress at the time did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation , so land sales provided an important revenue stream . The Ordinance set up a survey system that eventually covered over three - fourths of the area of the continental United States . The earlier Ordinance of 1784 was a resolution written by Thomas Jefferson ( delegate from Virginia ) calling for Congress to take action . The land west of the Appalachian Mountains , north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River was to be divided into ten separate states . However , the 1784 resolution did not define the mechanism by which the land would become states , or how the territories would be governed or settled before they became states . The Ordinance of 1785 put the 1784 resolution in operation by providing a mechanism for selling and settling the land , while the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 addressed political needs . The 1785 ordinance laid the foundations of land policy until passage of the Homestead Act in 1862 . The Land Ordinance established the basis for the Public Land Survey System . The initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins . After he died in 1789 , responsibility for surveying was transferred to the Surveyor General . Land was to be systematically surveyed into square townships , six miles ( 9.656 km ) on a side . Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty - six sections of one square mile ( 2.59 km2 ) or 640 acres . These sections could then be further subdivided for re-sale by settlers and land speculators . The ordinance was also significant for establishing a mechanism for funding public education . Section 16 in each township was reserved for the maintenance of public schools . Many schools today are still located in section sixteen of their respective townships , although a great many of the school sections were sold to raise money for public education . In later States , section 36 of each township was also designated as a `` school section '' . The Point of Beginning for the 1785 survey was where Ohio ( as the easternmost part of the Northwest Territory ) , Pennsylvania and Virginia ( now West Virginia ) met , on the north shore of the Ohio River near East Liverpool , Ohio . There is a historical marker just north of the site , at the state line where Ohio State Route 39 becomes Pennsylvania Route 68 . Plan for numbering sections of a township adopted May 20 , 1785 General Land Office plan for numbering sections of a standard survey township , adopted May 18 , 1796 Diagram of the 1785 Land Ordinance showing how the method of subdivision can be applied from the scale of the country down to the scale of a single lot Contents ( hide ) 1 History 2 Public education 3 Layout of townships 4 Influence 5 Motive 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References and further reading 9 External links History ( edit ) The Confederation Congress appointed a committee consisting of the following men : Thomas Jefferson ( Virginia ) Hugh Williamson ( North Carolina ) David Howell ( Rhode Island ) Elbridge Gerry ( Massachusetts ) Jacob Read ( South Carolina ) On May 7 , 1784 , the committee reported `` An ordinance for ascertaining the mode of locating and disposing of lands in the western territories , and for other purposes therein mentioned . '' The ordinance required the land be divided into `` hundreds of ten geographical miles square , each mile containing 6086 and 4 - 10ths of a foot '' and `` sub-divided into lots of one mile square each , or 850 and 4 - 10ths of an acre '' , numbered starting in the northwest corner , proceeding from west to east , and east to west , consecutively . After debate and amendment , the ordinance was reported to Congress April 26 , 1785 . It required surveyors `` to divide the said territory into townships seven miles square , by lines running due north and south , and others crossing these at right angles . -- The plats of the townships , respectively , shall be marked into sections of one mile square , or 640 acres . '' This is the first recorded use of the terms `` township '' and `` section . '' On May 3 , 1785 , William Grayson of Virginia made a motion seconded by James Monroe to change `` seven miles square '' to `` six miles square . '' The ordinance was passed on May 20 , 1785 . The sections were to be numbered starting at 1 in the southeast and running south to north in each tier to 36 in the northwest . The surveys were to be performed under the direction of the Geographer of the United States , ( Thomas Hutchins ) . The Seven Ranges , the privately surveyed Symmes Purchase , and , with some modification , the privately surveyed Ohio Company of Associates , all of the Ohio Lands were the surveys completed with this section numbering . Locations in Ohio using Land Ordinance of 1785 Section Numbering The Act of May 18 , 1796 , provided for the appointment of a surveyor - general to replace the office of Geographer of the United States , and that `` sections shall be numbered , respectively , beginning with number one in the northeast section , and proceeding west and east alternately , through the township , with progressive numbers till the thirty - sixth be completed . '' All subsequent surveys were completed with this boustrophedonical section numbering system , except the United States Military District of the Ohio Lands which had five mile ( 8 km ) square townships as provided by the Act of June 1 , 1796 , and amended by the Act of March 1 , 1800 . Howe and others give Thomas Hutchins credit for conceiving the rectangular system of lots of one square mile in 1764 while a captain in the Sixtieth , or , Royal American , Regiment , and engineer to the expedition under Col. Henry Bouquet to the forks of the Muskingum , in what is now Coshocton County , Ohio . It formed part of his plan for military colonies north of the Ohio , as a protection against Indians . The law of 1785 embraced most of the new system . Treat , on the other hand , notes that tiers of townships were familiar in New England , and insisted on by the New England legislators . Public education ( edit ) Public Education in Land Grants in the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Background :* The Land Ordinance of 1785 , adopted May 20 , 1785 by the Continental Congress , set the stage for an organized and community - based westward expansion in the United States in the years after the American Revolution . The Land Ordinance of 1785 , coming on the heels of the Ordinance of 1784 , was the effort of a five - person committee led by Thomas Jefferson . The ordinance established a systematic and ubiquitous process for surveying , planning and selling townships in the western frontier . ( There is no reference to `` Education '' in this section - other than the title . It should be removed , or updated and properly cited . ) Layout of townships ( edit ) Each western township contained thirty - six square miles of land , planned as a square measuring six miles on each side , which was further subdivided into thirty six lots , each lot containing one square mile of land . The mathematical precision of the planning was the concerted effort of surveyors . Each township contained dedicated space for public education and other government uses , as five of the thirty six lots were reserved for government or public purposes . The thirty six lots of each township were numbered accordingly on each township 's survey . The centermost land of each township corresponded to lot numbers 15 , 16 , 21 and 22 on the township survey , with lot number 16 dedicated specifically to public education . As the Land Ordinance of 1785 stated : `` There shall be reserved the lot No. 16 , of every township , for the maintenance of public schools within the said township . '' Knepper notes : `` Sections number 8 , 11 , 26 , and 29 in every township were reserved for future sale by the federal government when , it was hoped , they would bring higher prices because of developed land around them . Congress also reserved one third part of all gold , silver , lead , and copper mines to its own use , a bit of wishful thinking as regards Ohio lands . '' The ordinance also said `` That three townships adjacent to Lake Erie be reserved , to be hereafter disposed of by Congress , for the use of the officers , men , and others , refugees from Canada , and the refugees from Nova Scotia , who are or may be entitled to grants of land under resolutions of Congress now existing. `` This was not possible , as the area next to Lake Erie was property of Connecticut , so the Canadians had to wait until the establishment of the Refugee Tract in 1798 . Influence ( edit ) Many historians recognize the influences of the colonial experience in the land ordinances of the 1780s . The committees that formulated these ordinances were inspired by the individual colonial experiences of the states that they represented . The committees attempted to implement the best practices of such states to solve the task at hand . The surveyed townships of the Land Ordinance of 1785 , writes historian Jonathan Hughes , `` represented an amalgam of the colonial experience and ideals . '' Two geographically and ideologically distinct colonial land systems were competing at such time in history -- the New England system and the Southern system . While the primary influence on the Land Ordinance of 1785 was the New England land system of the colonial era , marked by its emphasis on community development and systematic planning , the exceedingly individualistic Southern land system also played a role . Even though Jefferson 's committee had a Southern majority , it recommended the New England survey system . The highly planned and surveyed western townships established in the Land Ordinance of 1785 , were heavily influenced by the New England settlements of the colonial era , particularly the land grant provisions of the Ordinances which dedicated land towards public education and other government uses . In colonial times , New England settlements contained dedicated public space for schools and churches , which often held a central role in the community . For instance , the 1751 royal charter for Marlboro Vermont provides : `` one Shear ( share ) for the First Settled Minister one Shear for the benefit of the School forever . '' By time of the Land Ordinance of 1785 was enacted , the New England states had used land grants for over a century to support public education and build new schools . The clause in the Land Ordinance of 1785 which dedicated `` Lot Number 16 '' of each western township for public education reflected this regional New England experience . In addition , the use of surveyors to precisely chart out the new townships in the westward expansion was directly influenced by the New England land system , which similarly relied on surveyors and local committees to clearly delineate property boundaries . Defined property boundary lines and an established land title system , provided colonials with a sense of security in their land ownership , by minimizing the likelihood of ownership or boundary disputes . This was an important consideration in the Land Ordinance of 1785 . One of the primary purposes of the Ordinance was to raise funds for the increasingly insolvent government . Providing land speculators security in their purchases encouraged additional demand for the western lands . In addition , the organized and communal nature of the western settlements , allowed the government to reserve a number of well - defined plots of land for future government development . Since the rest of the township would have been developed by the time the government decided to develop such reserved lands , there was an already built - in assurance of land value appreciation for the reserved lands . This had the effect of increasing the value of government assets without much further investment by the government . The New England land system , while the primary influence on the great land ordinances of the 1780s , was not the only land system influence . The Southern land system , marked by individualism and personal initiative , also helped shape the ordinance . While the New England land system was premised on community - based development , the Southern land system was premised on individual frontiersman appropriating undeveloped land to call their own . The Southern pioneer claimed property and the local surveyor would demarcate it for him . The system did not protect people from competing claims or set up an orderly chain of title . The process was called ' indiscriminate location '' . This system encouraged individuals to amass large plantations instead of settling into dense communal development . This system was supported by the use of slave labor . Perhaps the committee 's resistance against indiscriminate location and support for limited and disciplined land settlement was an implicit attempt to create a structural barrier to developing a plantation economy that was dependent on slave labor . The committee could have been attempting to effectively eradicate slavery in the West after Jefferson failed to outlaw it in the Land Ordinance of 1784 . While the Land Ordinance of 1785 created a New England style land system , the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 determined how the townships would be administered . The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 , like the Land Ordinance of 1785 , was inspired by the New England colonial settlements , and manifested this influence by further encouraging the worship of religion and the spread of education . The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 stated , `` Religion , morality , and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind , schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged . '' However , the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 also contained Southern characteristics of municipal governance . The Southern influence can be felt in the Western townships in that once the federal land was dedicated to the particular township , the township was relatively free of the influence of the federal government , and the local municipality was left to govern itself . This manifested itself in public education as well . Once the land was dedicated , the actual development of the public schools was the responsibility of the local township or the particular state . Although the great Ordinances of the 1780s set the framework for a national system of schools by dedicating land across the West , the devolved development and administration by the state and local government led to unique results . Motive ( edit ) Retaining central land in each township ensured that these lands would create value for the federal government . Instead of disbursing funds to the new states to create public education systems dedicating a central lot in each township provided the new townships with the means to develop educational institutions without any transfer of funds . This was a practical and necessary way to achieve the committee 's goal in a pre-Constitution America . Aside from raising funds for a financially struggling government , the westward expansion outlined in the Land Ordinances of the 1780s also provided a framework for spreading democratic ideals . Jefferson proposed an article in the Ordinance of 1784 that would have outlawed slavery in the new states after the year 1800 . However he could not amass enough votes to pass the anti-slavery article . Later Jefferson did succeed , however , in ensuring public funding of education by dedicating land to education in the Land Ordinance of 1785 . Public education was an ideal already developed in the New England colonial settlements . New Englanders provided for public education in their land grants due to a belief that public education could be used to further unite the young nation and spread democratic ideals . The systematic and highly organized westward settlements , with their local governments and central square dedicated towards public education were a concerted effort to inspire civic duty and participation in the democratic process . Usher relates this initiative to `` the Supreme Court in Cooper v. Roberts ( 1855 ) , ' plant in the heart of every community the same sentiments of grateful reverence for the wisdom , forecast , and magnanimous statesmanship of those who framed the institutions of these new States . '' The westward expansion therefore was not only a tool for raising much needed funds , but also a tool in a grand socializing experiment to inoculate the settlers to democratic ideals . The hope was that the unique planning of each township with a public school centrally located , coupled with the obligation of each township 's local citizens to take part in the civic process of governing the township , teaching and building the schools , and maintaining order , would instill the democratic ideals crucial to the nation 's success . See also ( edit ) Northwest Ordinance Public Land Survey System Northwest Territory Notes ( edit ) Jump up ^ Vernon Carstensen , `` Patterns on the American Land . '' Journal of Federalism , ( 19870 18 # 4 pp 31 -- 39 Jump up ^ Richard P. McCormick , `` The ' Ordinance ' of 1784 ? , '' William and Mary Quarterly , Jan 1993 , Vol. 50 Issue 1 , pp 112 -- 22 Jump up ^ Journal of Continental Congress , Vol. 28 , p. 375 , May 20 , 1785 Library of congress Jump up ^ C. Albert White , A History of the Rectangular Survey System ( Bureau of Land Management , 1983 ) Jump up ^ White , A History of the Rectangular Survey System Jump up ^ Williamson 1880 : 226 Jump up ^ The Oregon Territory Act ( August 14 , 1848 ) 9 Stat. 323 initiated practice of setting aside section 36 for schools : Section 20 `` And be it further enacted , That when the lands in the said Territory shall be surveyed under the direction of the Government of the United States , preparatory to bringing the same into market , sections numbered sixteen and thirty - six in each township in said Territory shall be , and the same is hereby , reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said Territory , and in the States and Territories hereafter to be erected out of the same . '' Jump up ^ Journal of Continental Congress , Vol. 27 , p. 446 , May 28 , 1784 Library of congress ^ Jump up to : Higgins 1887 : 33 -- 34 , 78 -- 82 Jump up ^ Peters 1918 : 58 Jump up ^ 1 Stat. 464 -- Text of Act of May 18 , 1796 Library of Congress Jump up ^ 1 Stat. 490 -- Text of Act of June 1 , 1796 Library of Congress Jump up ^ 2 Stat. 14 -- Text of Act of March 1 , 1800 Library of Congress Jump up ^ Howe 1907 : 134 Jump up ^ Treat 1910 : 179 -- 182 Jump up ^ http://moglen.law.columbia.edu/twiki/bin/view/AmLegalHist/PublicEducationInLandGrantsSGrenbaum Jump up ^ Knepper 2002 : 9 Jump up ^ Knepper 2002 : 51 Jump up ^ See Payson Jackson Treat . The National Land System . William S Hein and Co. , 2003 . and Jonathan Hughes `` The Great Land Ordinances . '' Minnesota Legal History Project http://www.minnesotalegalhistoryproject.org/assets/hughes.pdf ( accessed March 2013 ) . ^ Jump up to : Treat , pp. 22 -- 23 . Jump up ^ Hughes , p. 11 Jump up ^ Treat p. 26 Jump up ^ Hughes , p. 13 Jump up ^ David Carleton , Landmark Congressional Laws on Education . Connecticut , Greenwood Press , 2002 . p. 15 . Jump up ^ See Treat p. 25 Jump up ^ The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 , Article 3 . http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=8 ( Accessed March 2013 ) . Jump up ^ Alexandra Usher , `` Public Schools in the Original Federal Land Grant Program '' The Center on Education Policy ; April 2011 p. 8 http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED518388&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED518388 ( Accessed March 2013 ) Jump up ^ Usher , p. 8 . Jump up ^ Carleton , p. 15 Jump up ^ Usher , p. 7 References and further reading ( edit ) Higgins , Jerome S. ( 1887 ) . Subdivisions of the Public Lands , Described and Illustrated , with Diagrams and Maps . Higgins & Co . Howe , Henry ( 1907 ) . Historical Collections of Ohio , The Ohio Centennial Edition . 1 . The State of Ohio . Knepper , George W ( 2002 ) . The Official Ohio Lands Book ( PDF ) . State of Ohio . Peters , William E ( 1918 ) . Ohio Lands and Their Subdivision . W.E. Peters . Treat , Payson Jackson ( 1910 ) . The National Land System 1785 -- 1820 . E.B. Treat and Co . Williamson , James A. ; Donaldson , Thomas ( 1880 ) . The Public Domain . Its History , with Statistics . Government Printing Office . Johnson , Hildegard Binder . Order upon the Land : The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country ( 1977 ) Geib , George W ... `` The Land Ordinance of 1785 : A Bicentennial Review , '' Indiana Magazine of History , March 1985 , Vol. 81 Issue 1 , pp 1 -- 13 External links ( edit ) Wikisource has original text related to this article : Land Ordinance of 1785 Wikisource has original text related to this article : Land Ordinance of 1785 ( supplement ) Library of Congress -- Ordinance Text Indiana Historical Bureau -- Ordinance Text Ohio History Central -- Land Ordinance of 1785 Bureau of Land Management -- Principal Meridians and Base Lines Map The Great American Grid -- 1785 Land Ordinance Diagram Photographs of the Principal Meridians Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Land_Ordinance_of_1785&oldid=798226509 '' Categories : 1785 in law 1785 in the United States History of the Midwestern United States United States federal public land legislation History of the United States ( 1776 -- 89 ) Land surveying of the United States Ordinances of the Continental Congress Pre-statehood history of Ohio Settlement schemes Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2010 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Français 한국어 日本 語 Edit links This page was last edited on 31 August 2017 , at 17 : 45 . 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1. Land Ordinance of 1785
2. Public Land Survey System
3. Townships and sections
4. Public education
5. Westward expansion