Provided that both the temporary & permanent governments be established on these principles as their basis. 1, That they shall forever remain a part of the United States of America. 2, That in their persons, property & territory, they shall be subject to the Government of the United States in Congress assembled and to the articles of confederation in all those cases in which the original States shall be so subject. 3, That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted 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. 4, That their respective governments shall be in republican forms, and shall admit no person to be a citizen, who holds any hereditary title. 5, That after the year 1800 of the Christian Era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty.

That whenever any of the said States shall have, of free inhabitants as many as shall then be in any one the least numerous of the thirteen original States, such State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the said original States: After which the assent of two-thirds of the United States in Congress assembled shall be requisite in all those cases, wherein by the Confederation the assent of nine States is now required. Provided, the consent of nine States to such admission may be obtained according to the eleventh of the Articles of Confederation. Until such admission by their delegates into Congress, any of the said States, after the establishment of their temporary government, shall have authority to keep a sitting Member in Congress, with the right of debating, but not of voting.

That the territory Northward of the 45th degree, that is to say of the completion of 45 degrees from the Equator & extending to the Lake of the Woods, shall be called SYLVANIA:

That of the territory under the 45th & 44th degrees that which lies West ward of Lake Michigan shall be called MICHIGANIA, and that which is East ward thereof within the peninsula formed by the lakes & waters of Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie, shall be called CHERRONESUS, and shall include any part of the peninsula which may extend above the 45th degree.

Of the territory under the 43d & 42d degrees, that to the Westward thro' which the Assenisipi or Rock river runs shall be

called ASSENISIPIA, and that to the Eastward in which are the fountains of the Muskingum, the two Miamis of Ohio, the Wabash, the Illinois, the Miami of the lake and Sandusky rivers, shall be called METROPOTAMIA.

Of the territory which lies under the 41st & 40th degrees the Western, thro which the river Illinois runs, shall be called ILLINOIA; that next adjoining to the Eastward SARATOGA, and that between this last & Pennsylvania & extending from the Ohio to Lake Erie shall be called WASHINGTON.

Of the territory which lies under the 39th & 38th degrees to which shall be added so much of the point of land within the fork of the Ohio & Missisipi as lies under the 37th degree, that to the Westward within & adjacent to which are the confluences of the rivers Wabash, Shawnee, Tanisse, Ohio, Illinois, Missisipi & Missouri, shall be called POLYPOTAMIA, and that to the Eastward farther up the Ohio otherwise called the PELISIPI shall be called PELISIPIA.

That the preceding articles shall be formed into a charter of Compact, shall be duly executed by the President of the U. S. in Congress assembled under his hand and the seal of the United States, shall be promulgated, and shall stand as fundament al constitutions between the thirteen original States, & those now newly described unalterable but by the joint consent of the U. S. in Congress assembed and of the particular state within which such alteration is proposed to be made.13

7. Ordinance of Government (April 23, 1784).

The plan of government embodied in the report of March 1, 1784, was designed to apply to all of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains and extending from the 31st parallel of latitude northward to the international boundary line. This plan of government was not entirely satisfactory to Congress and was recommitted to the same committee for amendment and revision on March 17. On March 22, a new report was submitted. The plan recommended in this second report was not essentially different from the first plan, except that the fanciful names assigned to the putative States were eliminated. Both reports contained a paragraph excluding slavery and involuntary servitude after the year 1800. This provision was obnoxious to the southern delegates, and on April 19, on motion of Mr. Richard Dobbs Spaight of North Carolina, the provision was stricken out. On April 20 and 21, the report was considered further and amended. On April 23, 1784, the Resolutions for the Government of the Western Territory were adopted.

13. The plan of government designed by this proposed ordinance was intended to operate in a strip of territory just west of Pennsylvania and in addition the whole domain between the meridian running through the western cape of the mouth of the Great Kanawha on the east and the Mississippi on the west, and extending from the 31st parallel of latitude to the international boundary line on the north.

On the final vote, agreeing to the resolutions without the clause prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude after the year 1800, ten states voted "aye" and one "no." The Ordinance of April 23, 1784, though practically inoperative, remained in force as a plan of government for the Western Territory until specifically repealed by the last clause of the Ordinance of July 13, 1787.

[Journals of Congress, IV, 379.]

Resolved, That so much of the territory ceded or to be ceded by individual States to the United States, as is already purchased or shall be purchased of the Indian inhabitants, and offered for sale by Congress, shall be divided into distinct States, in the following manner, as nearly as such cessions will admit; that is to say, by parallels of latitude, so that each State shall comprehend from north to south two degrees of latitude, beginning to count from the completion of 45 degrees north of the equator; and by meridians of longitude, one of which shall pass through the lowest point of the rapids of Ohio, and the other through the western cape of the mouth of the great Kenhaway: but the territory eastward of this last meridian, between the Ohio, lake Erie and Pennsylvania, shall be one State whatsoever may be its comprehension of latitude. That which may lie beyond the completion of the 45th degree between the said meridians, shall make part of the State adjoining it on the south: and that part of the Orio, which is between the same meridians coinciding nearly with the parallel of 39° shall be substituted so far in lieu of that parallel as a boundary line.

That the settlers on any territory so purchased, and offered for sale, shall, either on their own petition or on the order of Congress, receive authority from them, with appointments of time and place, for their free males of full age within the limits of their State to meet together, for the purpose of establishing a temporary government, to adopt the constitution and laws of any one of the original States; so that such laws nevertheless shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary legislature; and to erect, subject to a like alteration, counties, townships, or other divisions, for the election of members for their legislature.

That when any such State shall have acquired 20,000 free inhabitants, on giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive from them authority with appointments of time and place, to call a convention of representatives to establish a permanent constitution and government for themselves, Provided that both the temporary and permanent governments be established on these principles as their basis.

1st. That they shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America.

2nd. That they shall be subject to the articles of confederation in all those cases in which the original States shall be so subject, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto.

3d. That they in no case shall interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with the ordinances and regulations which Congress may find necessary, for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers.

4th. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, 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. 5th. That no tax shall be imposed on lands, the property of the United States.

6th. That their respective governments shall be republican. 7th. That the lands of non-resident proprietors shall, in no case, be taxed higher than those of residents within any new state, before the admission thereof to a vote by its delegates in Congress.

That whensoever any of the said States shall have, of free inhabitants, as many as shall then be in any one the least numerous of the thirteen orginal States, such State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the said original States; provided the consent of so many States in Congress is first obtained as may at the time be competent to such admission. And in order to adapt the said articles of Confederation to the State of Congress when its numbers shall be thus increased, it shall be proposed to the legislatures of the States, originally parties thereto to require the assent of twothirds of the United States in Congress assembled, in all those cases wherein, by the said articles, the assent of nine States is now required, which being agreed to by them, shall be binding on the new States. Until such admission by their delegates into Congress, any of the said States, after the establishment of their temporary government, shall have authority to keep a member in Congress, with a right of debating but not of voting.

That measures not inconsistent with the principles of the Confederation, and necessary for the preservation of peace and good order among the settlers in any of the said new States, until they

shall assume a temporary government as aforesaid, may, from time to time, be taken by the United States in Congress assembled.

That the preceding articles shall be formed into a charter of compact; shall be duly executed by the president of the United States in Congress assembled, under his hand, and the seal of the United States; shall be promulgated; and shall stand as fundamental constitutions between the thirteen original States, and each of the several States now newly described, unalterable 'rom and after the sale of any part of the territory of such State, pursuant to this resolve, but by the joint consent of the United States in Congress assembled and of the particular State within which such alteration is proposed to be made.14

8. Slavery and Involuntary Servitude Clause (March 16, 1785).

The proposed ordinance of March 1, 1784, contained a clause prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude after the year 1800. Before Congress had had an opportunity to express its approbation or disapprobation of this proviso, the ordinance was recommitted to the same committee for reconsideration. On March 22, the ordinance was reported back to Congress with a few changes, but still retaining the anti-slavery clause. On April 19, on motion of Mr. Richard Dobbs Spaight of North Carolina, the proviso was stricken out, and the institution of slavery was thus specifically recognized by the measure as adopted. The exclusion of this provision was a source of profound regret and humiliation to Jefferson. and its adoption would, as he said, have prevented the further extension of "this abominable crime." On March 8, 1785, Colonel Timothy Pickering wrote to Rufus King, deprecating the omission of the anti-slavery clause, and pleading that one more effort might be made to forestall the "calamity" of slavery extension. Manifestly in response to this intercession, a week later, on March 16, 1785, the clause prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude was, on motion of Rufus King, seconded by William Ellery of Rhode Island, committed to a committee of the whole house as a separate and independent proposition. The motion was offered with the intention of restoring the proviso to the ordinance of April 23, 1784. On the motion to commit, the vote stood eight States "aye" and three States "no." After its commitment, the proposition was not subsequently considered until July 12, 1787, when the Ordinance of that year was being per

14. Aside from comparatively unimportant verbal changes, the chief differences between the proposed Ordinance of March 1, 1784, and April 23, 1784, were a few changes in the boundaries of the proposed states, the elimination of the fanciful names assigned to the putative states, the omission of the anti-slavery proviso, and the excision of the clause providing that no person should be admitted to citizenship who held an hereditary title. This latter change was made, not from an approbation of such honors'' but because it was thought to be an improper place to encounter them.'' New provisions were enacted reserving to the United States the primary disposition of the soil, prohibiting the imposition of local taxes on property belonging to the United States, pledging the United States to enact laws for the government of the territory until a temporary government could be established, and prohibiting the taxation of the lands of non-residents at a higher rate than residents.