and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.

There shall be appointed, from time to time, by congress, a sec- Secretary. retary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every six months, to the secretary of congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, Court. any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behaviour.

laws.

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt Governor and and publish, in the district, such laws of the original states, crimi- judges to adopt nal and civil, as may be neces-ary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to congress from time to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by congress; but afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.

mander.

The governor for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief Governor, comof the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by congress.

until it is or

Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the gov- Governor to ap ernor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in point officers, each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the pres- ganized. ervation of peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of the magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the governor. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted Counties, town or made, shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district, in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature.

ships, etc.

So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of When to elect full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, tives. representathey shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in the general assembly; provided, that for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on pro- Ratio. gressively with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representa

tives shall amount to twenty-five, after which, the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature; provided, that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative, unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United Qualification. States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years, and in either case shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same; provided also, that a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold, and two years' residence in the district shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.

sentative.

The representative thus elected shall serve for the term of two Term of repre- years; and in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.

bly, how constituted. Legislative council.

The general assemb'y, or legislature, shall consist of the govGeneral assem- ernor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by congress; any three of whom to be a quorum. And the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: as soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and when met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to congress; five of whom congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid. for each vacancy, and return their names to congress; one of whom congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to congress; five of whom congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council, eral assembly. and house of representatives, shall have authority to make laws, in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance establishe 1 and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly, when in his opinion it shall be expedient.

Powers of gen

Bills.

The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such Oath of office. other officers as congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation, of fidelity and of office; the governor before the president of congress, and all other officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled, in one room, shall have author

Delegate in congress.

ity, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to congress, who shall have a seat in congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.

And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and reli- Preamble. gious 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 governinents therein, and for their admission to 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:

pact.

It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, Articles of comThat 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, to wit:

ARTICLE 1. No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and Religion. orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or religious sentiments, in the said territory.

ART. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be common law entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and trial by rights secured. jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for criminal offenses, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land; and should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall in any manner whatever interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide and without fraud, previously formed.

Education.

ART. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their The Indians. lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent, and in their property, rights, and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars, authorized by congress; but laws, founded in justice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

main part of

ART. 4. The said territory, and the states which may be formed Territory to retherein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the the confedUnited States of America, subject to the articles of confederation, eracy. and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts,

The soil.

Taxes.

Navigable waters.

New state may be formed.

contracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other states; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in congress assembled. The legisla tures of those districts or new states, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in congress assembled, nor with any regulations congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands, the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory, as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other states that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.

ART. 5. There shall be formed, in the said territory, not less than three, nor more than five states; and the boundaries of the states, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: the western state in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash riveis; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle state shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line; provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, That the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to be altered, that if congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the When to be ad- southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any mitted into the of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants

union.

Slavery.

therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original. states, in all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government; provided, the constitution and government so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand.

ART. 6. 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 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 Repeal. of the twenty-third of April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed, and declared null and void.

DONE by the United States, in congress assembled, the thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of their sovereignty and independence the twelfth.

WILLIAM GRAYSON, Chairman.

CHARLES THOMPSON, Secretary.