Northwest Ordinance (1787) Officially titled "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio," the Northwest Ordinance was adopted on July 13, 1787, by the Confederation Congress, the one-house legislature operating under the Articles of Confederation. From The National Archives. A similar page is Primary Documents in American History Northwest Ordinance at The Library of Congress.
Indiana Territory 16 page document in the Indiana Historian A magazine Exploring Indiana History at IN.gov has Indiana information such as the first section titled: Surveying and selling the land.
Adoption by the U.S. Congress in 1787 of this ordinance established the Northwest Territory consisting of today's states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.
In the Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 16, 1999)] [House] [Pages H12066-H12076] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF THE GREAT LAKES HERITAGE AREA The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. SOUDER. Madam Speaker, as a member of the Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, and as a representative of historic Ft. Wayne, Indiana, I rise this evening to introduce a bill to create the Northwest Territory of the Great Lakes Heritage Area.
On December 13, 1799, the Northwest Territory General Assembly passed the 1799 Road Law, which required signposts at...
Posted by Indiana Historical Bureau on Tuesday, December 13, 2022Tuesday, December 13, 2022 post by the Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook:
On December 13, 1799, the Northwest Territory General Assembly passed the 1799 Road Law, which required signposts at important intersections, outlined road construction specifications, and dictated that all men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty must work two days per year on public roads.
Highway supervisors, who were appointed by the courts, notified all qualified men in a township three days before work was to begin. On the specified day, residents were to present themselves or a “substitute to the acceptance of the supervisor” at the given location with all required tools. If a man neglected his duty to appear or provide a substitute, he was fined 75 cents.
Read about the law here: Laws of the Territory of the United States, North-west of the River Ohio By Northwest Territory, 1800 on Google books.
The 1865 image below showing Hendricks County workers at a construction site for U.S. 40 is courtesy of Hendricks County Museum Collections, accessed Indiana Memory.
Laws of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio : adopted and published at a session of the legislature begun in the town of Cincinnati, county of Hamilton and territory aforesaid, upon the 23rd day of April in the year of Our Lord 1798 and continued by adjournments to the seventh day of May in the same year by Northwest Territory (U.S.) Publication date 1798 on
Laws passed in the Territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio, : from the commencement of the government to the 31st of December, 1791. : Published by authority by Northwest Territory Publication date M,DCC,XCII. [1792 on Archive.org.