Question

how was the Northwest territory initially governed under the Northwest ordinance of 1787?

Answer 1

Northwest Ordinance. The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, and also known as the The Ordinance of 1787) was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States (the Confederation Congress), passed July 13, 1787

Answer 2

The Northwest ordinance of 1787 was an act enacted by the Confederation's Congress as a way to organize the western lands, the act aimed for the settlement and political incorporation of the Northwest Territory in a peaceful and orderly way.

The ordinance established a division of the Northwest Territory into not less than three and nor more than five States, and that each state was to be governed by a governor, secretary, and three judges appointed by Congress until it attained a population of 5,000 adult free males, at which time it would become a territory and could form its own representative legislature.