<P> 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 ." </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

In the land ordinance of 1785 the income from the sale