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Thomas Jefferson
1788 miniature by John Trumbull
"The Northwest Ordinance of 1787-one of the most important decisions Congress every made."
-David McCullough
Did the Northwest Ordinance support democracy in the expansion of the United States? How did the Northwest Ordinance impact the settlement of Indiana?
Thomas Jefferson began the discussion of democratic westward expansion in 1784 which led to the creation of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787 and the Quaker settlement of Indiana.
The Old Northwest Territory
preceding and following
the Ordinance of 1787
"The Ordinance is secondary only to the Constitution" - Frederick Paxson
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