Page 178 - American Stories, A History of the United States

Read the Document Northwest Ordinance (July 13, 1787) 6.1

6.2

6.3
MINN. CANADA
6.4

WISCONSIN G r e a t L a k e s
Mississippi R.
MICHIGAN
NORTHWEST
TERRITORY
ILLINOIS INDIANA OHIO

Missouri R.
Ohio R.
Map shows present-day boundaries.

Map 6.2 nOrthwest territOry The U.S. government auctioned off the land in the Northwest Territory,
the region defined by the Ohio River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River. Proceeds from the sale of one
section in each township were set aside for the construction of public schools.

“Have We Fought for this?”

6.3 Why did Constitutional delegates compromise on representation and slavery?
B y 1785, the country seemed to have lost direction. The optimism that sus-

tained revolutionary patriots had dissolved into pessimism and doubt. Many
Americans, especially those who had provided leadership during the Revolu-
tion, agreed something had to be done. In 1786, Washington observed, “What
astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing. Have we fought for this?
Was it with these expectations that we launched into a sea of trouble, and have bravely
struggled through the most threatening dangers?”

The Genius of James Madison
The conviction of people such as Washington that the nation was in crisis reflected ten-
sions within republican thought. They supported open elections and the right of indi-
viduals to advance their own economic well-being. But when these elements seemed to
undermine social and political order, they feared that liberty had been carried too far.
The situation had changed rapidly. As recently as the 1770s, republicans had insisted
that the greatest threat to the American people was concentration of power in the
hands of unscrupulous rulers. They therefore transformed state governors into figure-
heads and weakened the Confederation.
By the mid-1780s, persons of property and standing saw the problem in a different
light. Recent experience suggested that ordinary citizens did not possess sufficient virtue
145