On this date in 1787, the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, which effectively excluded slavery from the Northwest Territory. This ordinance created a framework for governing the territory that would later become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. It established that “there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory,” marking a significant step toward limiting the expansion of slavery in the United States. This was an important milestone in the nation’s evolving stance on slavery.
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