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Chapter IV - Land Sales and Settlement
Land Sales and Settlement 1785
In spite of its conspicuous weaknesses, thought the Confederation did develop a model system of land sales and territorial governments. To ensure "orderly development," Congress wrote the Land Ordinance of 1785 which divided the Northwest Territory into townships six miles square, each one further divided into thirty-six sections of 640 acres or one square mile. Revenue from the sale of these townships supported public schools - the first instance of federal aid to education in American history. These land sales also yielded the first independent revenues available to national government. The minimum price per acre was one dollar, the minimum sale 640 acres. Of course, most small farmers could not afford the price of 60 acres, except for those foresighted veterans who had wisely allotted part of their army pay for land warrants.
Another settlement policy, the Northwest Ordinance, incorporated a bill of rights which guaranteed settlers "freedom of religion, right to a jury trial, and prohibition of slavery and cruel and unusual punishments." It also established the process by which settlers would organize state governments and eventually seek admission to the Union "on equal footing with the original states." Yet these and other policies of the Articles of Confederation were largely unenforceable without a more centralized, powerful national government.
When the Confederations inadequacies became apparently especially in its inability to resolve trade and currency problems, delegates from Virginia invited other states to a conference at Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss ways to improve useless trade policy. Although eight states designated representatives for the meeting in September 1786, only five states attended. Noah Webster of dictionary fame reproved the indifferent absentees, saying, "0ur pretended Union is but a name, and our confederation a cobweb," However, the persistent Alexander Hamilton called for another convention to be held in Philadelphia nine months later. He expressed a fervent hope that they would "devise and render the constitution of the Federal Government" adequate to the needs of the Union, thereby resolving pressing trade and commercial problems.
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