Birth of the Nation: The First Federal Congress, 1789-1791 | Next Page
Expansion of the Empire
Map of a township in Meigs County, Ohio
Map of a township in Meigs County, Ohio
(Courtesy of the Clements Library)

This is a map of a portion of the huge purchase of land in the Northwest Territory made by the Ohio Company. The Confederation Congress had agreed upon a policy of dividing the lands to be sold into townships, each six miles square, with four sections reserved for future sale by Congress. In the bargain struck by the Ohio Company, Congress gave up one of its squares so that the Company could reserve it for religious purposes. Square 16 was always reserved for the support of a public school.

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