What did the Northwest Ordinance establish regarding new states and slavery?

• A. It created a framework for admitting new states and prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory.
• B. It allowed slavery in all U.S. territories.
• C. It established the federal income tax.
• D. It created the first national bank.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how the Northwest Ordinance shaped both how new states would join the Union and how slavery was treated in new territories. It set up a clear path for turning western lands into states: a territory would be governed under Congress, and once its population reached 60,000, it could draft a constitution and apply for statehood, becoming an equal member of the United States. It also prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, stating that there would be no slavery or involuntary servitude there (except as punishment for crimes). This ban, while limited to that territory, established an important precedent that Congress could restrict the spread of slavery in new areas as the country expanded. The Northwest Territory included lands north of the Ohio River—areas that would become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota—and the ordinance, passed in 1787, was a foundational step in how new states joined the Union. It wasn’t about taxes or a national bank; those came in different contexts.