The (old) Northwest Territory was an area bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes.   It had an indefinite northwest boundary because that area had not yet been explored and surveyed by either the British or the Americans.   The Territorial Ordinance of 1784 provided for a Governor, appointed by Congress, judges, appointed by Congress, a Council appointed by Congress and an elected General Assembly.   The Governor could call or dissolve the legislature and his approval was required to pass a law.   When the population reached 20,000, a convention could be called on a date set by Congress to establish a state constitution.   This ordinance was never implemented, but its principles became part of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 specified how new territories were to be divided and sold. It applied to the (old) Northwest Territory.   The lands were to be divided into square townships 6 miles per side. Springs and mineral deposits were to be noted on the surveys.   A township would then be subdivided into a number of rectangular parcels not less than 1 square mile (640 acres) in area.   The minimum price per acre was $1.00.   One section in each township was to be set aside for a school.   These principles were incorporated into the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

There were 11 British-American colonies in 1700: Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, S. Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and N. Carolina.   Their combined population was about 275,000.

There were 13 American colonies in 1776 when the colonists declared their independence from Great Britain.   The combined population was about 1,500,000.