On this day in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was enacted, setting the stage for Michigan and other Midwest states to move from territory to statehood with guaranteed rights.
TRANSCRIPT
On this day in 1787, One of the most important pieces of legislation ever was enacted in the United States, the Northwest Ordinance. It provided for the orderly division and governance of what would eventually become the states of the Upper Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It laid out the steps to be followed in the progression from territory to statehood, beginning with a territorial period of limited self-government. When the population of free adult males reached 5,000, voters were to elect a territorial legislature, and once the population reached 60,000 the territory could enact its own constitution and petition for US statehood. The Ordinance also guaranteed basic political rights such as trial by jury, freedom of religion, and prohibited slavery, although that was sadly not always strictly enforced.