Surveying and Selling the Land

After the American Revolution, the United States held or claimed most of the land between the Canadian border and the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The Land Ordinance of 1785 provided for sale of land in the Northwest Territory at a minimum price of $1.00 per acre. Only surveyed land could be sold, and only in units of 640 acres or more. Although these rules made land too expensive for many small farmers, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 began the process of organized settlement in what was to become the State of Ohio.