The Franklin Mint History Of The United States, 1776-1973
Manufacturer
The Franklin Mint
CultureAmerican
DateNo Date
MediumSilver
DimensionsOverall: 1 3/4 in. (45 mm.)
Credit LineGift of Dr. Eugene F. Poutasse
Object number76.81.10
Not on view
DescriptionOne of collection of 200 silver medals.The 1785 medal: The Land Ordinance Becomes Law
Land! Western lands! These words have always brought excitement in America and the year 1785 was no exception. Settlers were moving into the Old Northwest above the Ohio River and a new ordinance implmenting the Territorial Ordinance of 1784 was needed to provide for the survey and sale of the lands.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 passed by Congress on May 20 stipulated that the land was to be surveyed on the basis of New England townships six miles square containing 36 sections, each of which is one square mile equal to 640 acres. Four sections were to be set aside for the United States and one for a public school. The rest were to be sold at no less than a dollar an acre.
This meant that a buyer had to have a least $640 in cash or U.S certificates of indebtedness. As a result the large land speculators, through their lobbists in congress, obtained much of the land, rather than the actual settlers.
Purchasing the land was comparatively easy. Surveying it was a much slower process. By 1787 a small part of eastern Ohio had been surveyed.
