What did the Northwest Ordinance do?

• A. Banned slavery in new territories.
• B. Established a monarchy.
• C. Created the bank.
• D. Ended war with Native Americans.

Answer: (A)

The main idea the Northwest Ordinance introduces is how newly acquired western lands would be governed and brought into the United States as states, with a clear path from territory to statehood. It created a structured process: initial territorial government, then a path to self-government as the population grew, and finally admission to statehood once a threshold was reached. It also enshrined civil liberties and education as guiding principles for those territories.

The defining action that matches this question is the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory. The ordinance stated that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in that territory, signaling a territorial stance against the expansion of slavery there. This provision shaped how the region would develop and set a precedent for how new territories could be organized.

It did not establish a monarchy, create a national bank, or end war with Native Americans, so those options don’t align with what the ordinance actually did.