The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 adressed the issue of statehood in the Northwest Territory by outlining the process for forming new states in the territory.
It was an act issued by the Confederation Congress in the United States of America. The ordinance was approved on July 13, 1787.
The first effect of the ordinance was the creation of a territory located in the northeastern United States of America called the Northwest Territory, recognized as the first organized territory of the USA outside the Great Lakes region, to the north and west of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. On August 7, 1789, the newly created US Congress confirmed the ordinance but modified it slightly.
This act established the precedent for which the United States of America would expand into North America with the admission of new States, rather than with the expansion of existing ones.
