<P> The most significant intended purpose of this legislation was its mandate for the creation of new states from the region . It provided that at least three but not more than five states would be established in the territory, and that once such a state achieved a population of 60,000 it would be admitted into representation in the Continental Congress on an equal footing with the original thirteen states . The first state created from the Northwest Territory was Ohio, in 1803, at which time the remainder was renamed Indiana Territory . The other four states were Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin . A portion (about a third) of what later became the state of Minnesota was also part of the territory . </P> <P> The ordinance of Congress called for a public university as part of the settlement and eventual statehood of the Ohio Territory, further stipulating "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged ." In 1786, Manasseh Cutler became interested in the settlement of western lands by American pioneers to the Northwest Territory . The following year, as agent of the Ohio Company of Associates that he had been involved in creating, he organized a contract with Congress whereby his associates (former soldiers of the Revolutionary War) might purchase one and a half million acres (6,000 km2) of land at the mouth of the Muskingum River with their Certificate of Indebtedness . Cutler also took a leading part in drafting the Ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest Territory, which was finally presented to Congress by Massachusetts delegate Nathan Dane . To smooth passage of the Northwest Ordinance, Cutler bribed key congressmen by making them partners in his land company . By changing the office of provisional governor from an elected to an appointed position, Cutler was able to offer the position to the president of Congress, Arthur St. Clair . In 1797, settlers from Marietta traveled upstream via the Hocking River to establish a location for the school, choosing Athens due to its location directly between Chillicothe (the original capital of Ohio) and Marietta . Originally named in 1802 as the American Western University, the school never opened . Instead, Ohio University was formally established on February 18, 1804, when its charter was approved by the Ohio General Assembly . Its establishment came 11 months after Ohio was admitted to the Union . The first three students enrolled in 1809 . Ohio University graduated two students with bachelor's degrees in 1815 . </P> <P> Before the population of a territory reached 5,000, there would be a limited form of government . There would be a governor, a secretary, and three judges, all appointed by Congress . The governor will have a "freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land,". The secretary and the judges will have a, "freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land". The governor would be commander - in - chief of the militia, appoint magistrates and other civil officers, and help create and publish laws as they see fit for their territory . They would have a three - year term . The secretary would be in charge of keeping and preserving the acts and laws passed by the territorial legislatures, the public records of the district and to transit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every six months to the secretary of the Continental Congress . They would have a four - year term . The judges would be in charge will help the governor create and pass acts and laws and in making official court rulings . Their terms did not have a set time period . As soon as the population of a territory reached 5000 free, male inhabitants, then they would receive authority to elect representatives from their counties or townships for the general assembly . For every 500 free, males there would be one representative, until there were 25 representatives . Then the Congress will control the number and proportion of the representatives from that legislature . No male can be a representative unless they have been a citizen of the United States for at least three years or lived in the district for three years . In both cases the male in question would have to own at least 200 acres of land within the same district . These representatives shall serve for a term of two years . If a representative died or was removed from office, a new one would be elected to serve out the remainder time . </P> <P> The natural rights provisions of the ordinance foreshadowed the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution . Many of the concepts and guarantees of the Ordinance of 1787 were incorporated in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights . In the Northwest Territory, various legal and property rights were enshrined, religious tolerance was proclaimed, and it was enunciated that since "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 right of habeas corpus was written into the charter, as was freedom of religious worship and bans on excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment . Trial by jury and a ban on ex post facto laws were also rights recognized . </P>

The northwest ordinance (1787) prohibited slavery in the northwest (ohio) territory