Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed
from time to time by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue
in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress;
he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in
1,000 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.
There shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a secretary,
whose commission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked;
he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein in
500 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his
duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature,
and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor
in his executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts
and proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary of Congress: There
shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of
whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside
in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres of
land while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall
continue in force during good behavior.
The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish
in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as
may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district,
and report them to Congress from time to time: which laws shall be in force
in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein,
unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the Legislature shall
have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the
militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank
of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned
by Congress.
Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall
appoint such magistrates and other civil officers in each county or township,
as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order
in the same: After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers
and duties of the magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated
and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers
not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary
government, be appointed by the governor.
For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or
made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution
of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions
thereof; and he shall proceed from time to time as circumstances may require,
to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have
been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject however to such
alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature.
So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full
age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall
receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their
counties or townships to represent them in the general assembly:
Provided, That, for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there
shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of
free male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase, until
the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five; after which,
the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the
legislature:
Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative
unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years,
and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the
district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own
right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same;
Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district,
having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district,
or the like freehold and two years residence in the district, shall be
necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years;
and, in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office,
the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he
was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of
the term.
The general assembly or legislature shall consist of the governor, legislative
council, and a house of representatives. The Legislative Council shall
consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner
removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum: and the members
of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner,
to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the Governor shall
appoint a time and place for them to meet together; and, when met, they
shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed
of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to
Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as
aforesaid; and, whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death
or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two
persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names
to Congress; one of whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the
residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before
the expiration of the time of service of the members of council, the said
house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their
names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to
serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And
the governor, legislative council, and house of representatives, shall
have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good government of the
district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance
established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in
the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor
for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any
force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue,
and dissolve the general assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient.
The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other
officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath
or affirmation of fidelity and of office; the governor before the president
of congress, and all other officers before the Governor. As soon as a legislature
shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled in one
room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress,
who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating but not of
voting during this temporary government.
And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious
liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions
are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all
laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be
formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of
States, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a
share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original States,
at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest: It
is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following
articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original
States and the people and States in the said territory and forever remain
unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:
ART. 1 . . . . . No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner,
shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments,
in the said territory.
ART. 2 . . . . . The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled
to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury;
of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature; and
of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All
persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof
shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate;
and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be
deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or
the law of the land; and, should the public exigencies make it necessary,
for the common preser-vation, to take any person's property, or to demand
his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same.
And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood
and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said
territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect
private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously
formed.
ART. 3 . . . . .
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government
and the happiness of mankind
schools and the means of education shall
forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards
the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without
their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall
never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized
by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time
to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving
peace and friendship with them
ART. 4 . . . . . The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America,
subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in
Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be
contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to the same common rule and measure
by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and
direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress
assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled,
nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property
of the United States; and, in no case, shall nonresident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and
St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the
citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.
ART. 5 . . . . . There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three
nor more than five States. . . . And, whenever any of the said States shall
have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted,
by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing
with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty
to form a permanent constitution and State government: Provided, the constitution
and government so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity
to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as it can be
consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission
shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number
of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
ART. 6 . . . . .
There shall be neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude in the said territory
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person
escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed
in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed
and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.