One unique feature of the project is the fact that most of the illustrations are the work of students in the schools of the states which evolved from the old Northwest Territory. These were made possible as a result of an illustration contest sponsored by the commission. The readers of this book are referred to the pictorial map of the Northwest Territory issued by the Northwest Territory Celebration Commission to which reference is made on page 4. This map tells the story of the evolution of the old Northwest Territory and also contains a copy of the Ordinance of 1787. HARLOW LINDLEY, _Chairman_. Columbus, Ohio July 1, 1937 CHAPTER I PRE-ORDINANCE SUMMARY While much of the history of the American colonies has been ably presented in other school history texts, and it is not the province of this book to rehearse it, there is reason for a brief summary which will place in the mind of the reader the background for the events of which this book treats. It is not easy to value or even to understand the forces which were at work in America unless we consider what _types of people_ were involved. While most of the colonies were settled by Englishmen, this did not mean that they were always congenial. The Puritans of New England, radical in their beliefs and zealous in their doctrines, had little in common, even while they were in England, with their fellow countrymen who settled Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. In between these discordant groups were the Dutch of New York, the Swedes of Delaware, the Catholics of Maryland, and the Quakers and Germans of Pennsylvania. Beyond these national and social differences were the trends brought about by their environments in this new land. The rocky and discouraging soils of the northern colonies, even the climate itself, tended to widen the gulf between these people and the pleasure-loving folk of the South, with its broad fertile acres and mild climate. It was inevitable that the New Englanders should turn to manufacture and trade, while the South should remain agrarian, and equally inevitable that this should result in jealousy and rivalry. But a still more vital force was at work to encourage distrust and dislike. People of that day took their religious beliefs very seriously. Even those who fled from a state church could not escape the idea of state and religion being inexorably related.