Enacted on <em>July 13, 1787</em>, The Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the U. S. that created the first organized region of the U. S.: the Northwest Territory. The ordinance prohibited slavery and included a fugitive slave clause although there was a servant agreement law that permitted anti-abolitionist to have slaves but could not be bought or sold.
The prohibition of slavery in this region helped to establish the <em>Ohio River</em> as the boundary between abolitionist and anti-abolitionist territories, between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.