Chapter 7 Lesson 2

Ordinance And

Shays’ Rebellion

Two actions by Congress that were related to the settlement

of land

WEST of the Appalachian Mountains

Congress passed two laws:

1) THE LAND ORDINANCE OF 1785

It set up a system for settling the Northwest Territory.

2) THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE (1787)

It set up a government for the Northwest Territory.

What did the Land Ordinance of 1785 mandate?

Land would be divided into townships then each

township into 36 sections of 1 square mile each.

Four sections were to be set for the federal

government, and one section in each township was

dedicated to public schools. This law laid the

foundation for the public education system in the

US today.

What did the 1787 Ordinance state?

• The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

• set guidelines for how the Northwest Territory would be governed,

• guaranteed basic rights to settlers,

• outlawed slavery.

When the population reached 60,000 inhabitants, the citizens could

write their own constitution and apply for statehood. The states of

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were created from

the Northwest Territory.

What important accomplishments

did the government have under the Articles?

1) Created a system to add new states (Land Ordinance and the Northwest Ordinance),

2) Outlawed slavery

in the new states,

3) Led to the idea

of “free states”

“slave states.”

ECONOMIC Depression

• period when business

activity slows, prices

and wages fall, and unemployment rises

DO NEXT: looking at the first picture, CAN YOU PREDICT why THE SECOND ONE

SHOWS fighting?

1st 2nd

Please read “Farmers Revolt”

on page 204 in your textbook

• Fill in DO LATER on your 2 LEFT page.

What was Shays’ Rebellion and why was it important?

• In 1786, Daniel SHAYS organized more than 1,000 farmers in Massachusetts to prevent the state from taking farms for unpaid taxes or loans.

• Many Americans saw Shays’ Rebellion as a sign that the Articles of Confederation did not work and needed a revision.

What did they do to fix the Articles?

• They called a convention to meet in Philadelphia in 1787.

What problems did the Articles have

that led to a new government?

• States began to issue own money.

• Debt from the war that could not be paid back (no taxes).

• Foreign nations began to invade America (Ohio River

Valley).

• States began to argue with each other and almost went to

war with each other.

• Shays’ Rebellion – rebellion in Massachusetts that showed

how weak the government was.