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 preservation, 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. 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.
