Northwest Territory & Shay's Rebellion

Northwest Territory & Shay's RebellionS

by Ray Fortune

​Northwest Territory

• ​Consisted of the land between the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers

• ​Original 13 states argued over how to divide up this land

​Land Ordinance of 1785

• ​Land was divided into 6 square mile sections called townships

• Townships were  divided into 36 smaller lots (1 sq mile or 640 acres)

• One section was set aside for education

• Four sections were set aside for veterans

• Congress sold the land to provide income for the new country.

​Northwest Ordinance - 1787

• ​N.W. Territory was divided into 3 – 5 states

• Statehood was granted when:

  • Population of 60,000 reached

  • Freedom of religion guaranteed

  • Trial by jury guaranteed

  • No slavery allowed

Multiple Choice

According to the Northwest Ordinance, which condition did a U.S. territory have to meet in order to apply for statehood?

• Have a population of sixty thousand free settlers

• Hold a vote on whether to becom a free or slave territory

• Establish one public school per district

• Have a territorial governor appointed by the president

​Shay's Rebellion - 1787

• • Massachusetts farmers were unable to pay taxes

  • Massachusetts gov. responded by taking their land & throwing them in jail

  • Farmers led by Daniel Shay rebelled & attacked a federal arsenal

​Shay's Rebellion - Government Response

• ​Congress had no army to halt the rebellion

• Massachusetts was forced to use state militia to end rebellion proving the federal government had no power

• Convinced the country that we needed a new government

Multiple Choice

In 1787 the United States was at a crossroads. Farmers in western Massachusetts had rebelled the year before over property taxes. The state struggled to end the rebellion. Events such as this one contributed to the decision to - 

• sign the Treaty of Paris

• repeal the Intolerable Acts

• declare an embargo on imported goods

• restructure the federal government

Multiple Choice

Which of the following maps correctly illustrates the Northwest Territory?