With the American Revolution over and the Proclamation Line of 1763 now removed, Americans wish to begin encroaching upon the western lands that belong to First Nations' people. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set up a number of guidelines for territories to have in place before they can qualify as actual states. Look at those requirements mentioned in our readings and respond to this prompt in the comments section. If our notes missed this, feel free to look back at the textbook itself:
Which requirement to become a state that is placed upon a territory do you see as important, maybe even the most important? Tell us why you think that requirement mattered.
As is our practice, we will reply to the comments of two others.
The most important requirement to become a state in the Northwest Ordinance was a minimum population of 60,000. This became very important later, because in the constitution, each state had two votes in the senate, and thus people in smaller states would have more of a say. This population minimum meant there were fewer states, and that the population (and thus the say each person got) was regulated.
ReplyDeleteThe minimum amount of people required is important not only for votes but also so a society can function well with its surrounding states.
DeleteHaving equal representation in congress was key to the states, not only the states own population, but also others who may have been of different population sizes.
DeleteI agree that the population requirement became important for voting and the votes each state received became more regulated.
DeleteThe population was important because states that were small would still thrive and they can have equal representation in the senate.
DeleteI agree because this way the small states would not be two over represented but would also have some power
DeleteI agree, this would limit inequalities in terms of this system
Deletei also agree because its true about smaller states will have more of a say then that of larger bigger sates where you ideas might not always be heard between all of the others.
DeleteI agree as the population minimum also meant that smaller states would have an equal say compared to larger states.
DeleteMost most prominent requirement for a territory to become a state would be its population requirements. Not only was it key to have. base population of 60,000 people, as to form a community that could support itself and provide for others as well as qualify for delegates in legislature. But back then it was also important that area had to be a certain ratio of freemen to slaves. This would ensure that African Americans couldn't rebel let alone form their own community.
ReplyDeleteHaving a population that could handle a rebellion must have been very important when slavery existed, and having a large population also made the representation in congress more fair.
DeleteI agree, especially about the community part.
DeleteThe population had a big impact on the slaves. To keep order, the population of freemen to the slaves was highly controlled.
DeleteI agree, and I didn't really understand the reasoning and impact of the ratio of freemen to slaves, before reading this comment.
DeleteThe most clear requirement for a territory to become a state was a minimum population of 60000. This was important because every state would have two votes regardless of population, so the amount of people could make or break how much of a say each person counted for.
ReplyDeleteThis baseline enabled the territories to have functioning society with a reasonable amount of resources and people who could provide representatives.
DeleteI agree the population minimum requirement became important for how much power people had when voting.
Deletei agree because in a sate with more people or with less they would still have the same of impact either way.
DeleteThe most important requirement to achieve statehood was the minimum population on 60,000. This was important mainly for legislative reasons, but also to help have a functioning community and society. The legislative aspect was important as the population limit made sure representation in congress was fair. It made sure that with a fixed two representative system some people would not have too much of a say with a lower representative to population ratio, and vice versa with too high of a ratio. Along with that, having a population of 60,000 made sure that the state could have a functioning and somewhat self-sufficient community. It was key that each state had a population big enough to sustain itself legislatively and economically.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this states minimum pop. would allow for it to lean less on the national government b/c of its size.
DeleteThe most important requirement to become a state in the Northwest was the population required. The population had to be at least 60,000 and every state had the same power when voting because no matter its size it had 2 votes. Controlling the population of states like this made representation when voting more fair.
ReplyDeleteI agree population was a big factor in things such as voting.
DeleteI agree becasue otherwise the senate would become dominated by tiny states
DeleteI agree that the main requirement was the population, and the entire policy was aimed at making representation fairer.
DeleteI agree, with the population minimum requirement as well as the two votes for each state, this made everything easier for the smaller states.
DeleteI think an important requirement and the right to trial by jury to residents of the Northwest. I think this was important because it would stop a corrupt judge or Court system if there were third parties involved to make everything less one sided.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is important because it does not allow judges to abuse their power.
DeleteI agree that the right to trial by jury was important. This would make decisions more fair and represented what the rest of the country believed. They feared the power of any monarch so this made it clear that the people were the ones to decide who committed crimes.
DeleteOne of the Americans beliefs was that they shouldn't get the government corrupted as well
DeleteThe most important requirement is the population of 60000, This means that the senate cannot be two unbalanced with a tiny state having as much representation as huge ones. Also this meant the state was not such a backwater because it had a decent population
ReplyDeleteThe population plays a huge role in the government. The population of a state didn't really matter in the voting system, which was a huge disadvantage for the bigger states and an advantage for the smaller states.
DeleteDefinitely -- given how the government was set up, population mattered a ton in legislation.
DeleteThe population played a major part in the voting process (or at least would at a later time)
DeleteIn the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 I think the most important requirement is that the minimum pop. would be sixty thousand. With this requirement in place it would make sure that all states pop. couldn't be significantly low and therefor all states (theoretically) would have similar value in government. This requirement would also lead to fewer states, making America easier to organize and control.
ReplyDeleteI agree that having this requirement would stop there from being small states fighting for equal representation in government.
DeleteI agree that having each state having a bar for the population would lead to less states and it would balance out the representation of larger states versus smaller states.
DeleteI agree this affected the future of this country and changed everything.
DeleteI agree. This was important in ensuring there weren't too many states and that establish values.
DeleteThe most important requirement was the population requirement. This was necessary because a state needs a good size population to actually get things going, in terms of economy and community
ReplyDeleteI agree and think it would be harder for a state of a smaller size to be mostly self-sufficient.
DeleteI agree as it's important to have a certain population requirement in order for a state to function.
DeleteYeah, states could be formed to abuse getting 2 votes towards law.
DeleteThe most important requirement was the rule of not having any slaves or involuntary servitude unless it was for the punishment of crimes. This requirement was important because the bill of rights introduced inalienable human rights. If a new state was allowed to force labor onto others, it could make the people question whether these rights were protected or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement, because not only is it ethical, it also makes the states not have to depend on enslaved people's labor, therefore becoming more united as a people as well.
DeleteI agree that the prohibiting of slavery was the most important requirement. This might set a precedent for all states, not just those in the territory, that might join the union from then on.
DeleteArguably, the most important requirement for a state in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 could be related to the population. The minimum amount of people that needed to be living in a state during this time was 60,000. This meant that the more land that a state had, the more settlers will get attracted and settle onto that state. This was a huge disadvantage for the big states, since the voting system was extremely flawed, since each state had only one vote, and the population didn't count as a part of the voting system.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's very important to have a large enough population in a state so that the voting power of people's citizens aren't too skewed.
DeleteThe most important requirement for a state in the Northwest Ordinance was that a territory had to have a minimum population of 60,000 people in order to become a state. With too small of a population, the state would not be able to function as a community. It is also very important from a legislative perspective, because all citizens would (in theory) have similar voting power no matter the state.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and I did not think of the fact that a smaller group wouldn't function as a community.
DeleteI agree. The population number was crucial.
DeleteI agree, also people would try to form states to get extra votes toward their beliefs
DeleteI think that the most important is the fact that the territory had to have a minimum population of 60,000 because in smaller states the people would have more representation of what they wanted rather then the bigger states.
ReplyDeleteThe most important requirement to become a state in the Northwest Ordinance was the minimum population requirement of 60,000. With this population requirement later in the future in the constitution, each state had two votes in the senate but because of it being based upon population, the states with smaller populations close to the requirement are more accurate with their answers. The population requirement paved the way to the decision to many things in congress in the future, making it a very important requirement that changed everything.
ReplyDeleteThe most important requirement for a territory to become a state would be the 60,000 population minimum, as it gave a number on when a territory could become a state. This meant that no one could claim to be a state with only a population of 1,000, and set a baseline on which lands could become states.
ReplyDeletePotentially the most important requirement was for each state to have a minimum of 60,000 civilians. This was crucial in the future as each state could have a set of number of votes in the Senate. This requirement ensured that the state could have a voice in America.
ReplyDeleteI agree, especially with the last sentence, because it was left out in a lot of the other answers and I thought that was pretty important as well.
DeleteThe most important part would be the population requirement of 60000 because otherwise people would be trying to make states of their own with very small amounts of people to get 2 votes toward whatever cause they supported.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone else said, the population is pretty important as it produces lots of ways of living, etc. I also believe that military/police power is important so that the citizens don't act rashly without being reprimanded.
ReplyDeleteThe most important requirement for a state to become a state is probably a population quota, probably around 60k. There could be a lot of small states that could arise with 20k people, and that would be bad because then there would be 2 people for 20k people and 2 people for 100k people. It would just be simply unfair.
ReplyDeleteThe most important specification in the Ordinance was that slavery was prohibited in the territory. At the time, there were still states that allowed slavery and those that did not. If new states were admitted that prohibited slavery, the majority of states would then be anti-slavery and they could outvote those that favored slavery.
ReplyDelete