Which 1785 law established a systematic process for surveying and selling land in the Northwest Territory?

Which 1785 law established a systematic process for surveying and selling land in the Northwest Territory?

• A. Northwest Ordinance
• B. Ordinance of 1787
• C. Land Ordinance
• D. Land Act of 1784

Answer: (C)

The main idea being tested is how the new United States organized land in the Northwest Territory by creating a uniform method for measuring and selling it. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established a grid-based system: land was surveyed before sale and laid out in townships six miles on each side, with each township divided into 36 sections of one square mile (640 acres) each. This made the land easy to quantify, price, and transfer. Purchasers could buy sections, and the money from these sales helped pay the national debt. This approach also introduced the enduring Public Land Survey System that shaped how most western lands were organized for settlement. Context helps: this was about organizing territory north of the Ohio River, and setting a clear, predictable process for how land would be measured, divided, and sold, rather than about government structure or rights in the territory. Other laws from the era addressed governance or proposed general policy, not the surveying-and-selling framework established here.

The main idea being tested is how the new United States organized land in the Northwest Territory by creating a uniform method for measuring and selling it. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established a grid-based system: land was surveyed before sale and laid out in townships six miles on each side, with each township divided into 36 sections of one square mile (640 acres) each. This made the land easy to quantify, price, and transfer. Purchasers could buy sections, and the money from these sales helped pay the national debt. This approach also introduced the enduring Public Land Survey System that shaped how most western lands were organized for settlement.

Context helps: this was about organizing territory north of the Ohio River, and setting a clear, predictable process for how land would be measured, divided, and sold, rather than about government structure or rights in the territory. Other laws from the era addressed governance or proposed general policy, not the surveying-and-selling framework established here.