Northwest Territory
Pre-provincial Canadian region
The Northwest Territory was the first organized territory of the United States, established in 1787 and encompassing land northwest of the Ohio River.
It eventually became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.
The Northwest Ordinance that created it established precedents for territorial governance and prohibited slavery in the region.
Those who establish homes
- homesteadFamily farm and dwelling
- land grantGovernment-given real estate
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- frontierEdge of settlement
surveying · agriculture · cabin · missionary · proclamation · ordinance · statehood · encroachment
Organized exploratory journey
- Lewis and ClarkEarly 1800s expedition leaders
- SacagaweaShoshone interpreter for westward expedition
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
- cartographyCreating geographic representations
surveying · uncharted · voyageurs · mapping · Meriwether Lewis · explorers · navigation · journey
Dam-constructing aquatic rodent
- peltsFurred animal skins
- trappersThose who snare wildlife
- Hudson's Bay CompanyColonial Canadian fur merchant
- trading postsFrontier merchandise exchange stations
voyageurs · barter · muskrat · mink · furrier · rendezvous · canoes · birchbark
Obvious, inescapable fate
- migrationMovement to new territory
- land rushMass race for territory
- settlersThose who establish homes
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
annexation · frontier settlement · American expansion · acquisition · expansionism · Ohio Valley · Great Lakes region · public lands
settlers
Those who establish homes
- homesteadFamily farm and dwelling
- land grantGovernment-given real estate
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
frontier · surveying · agriculture · cabin · missionary · proclamation · ordinance · statehood · encroachment · treaty
expedition
Organized exploratory journey
- Lewis and ClarkEarly 1800s expedition leaders
- SacagaweaShoshone interpreter for westward expedition
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
cartography · surveying · uncharted · voyageurs · mapping · Meriwether Lewis · explorers · navigation · journey · trek
beaver
Dam-constructing aquatic rodent
- peltsFurred animal skins
- trappersThose who snare wildlife
- Hudson's Bay CompanyColonial Canadian fur merchant
trading posts · voyageurs · barter · muskrat · mink · furrier · rendezvous · canoes · birchbark · Métis
manifest destiny
Obvious, inescapable fate
pioneers · annexation · frontier settlement · American expansion · acquisition · expansionism · Ohio Valley · Great Lakes region · public lands · land speculation
- American frontierfrontier, pioneers, homesteading, homesteads, pioneer trails
- U.S. TerritoriesGuam, territories, overseas territories, colonial territories
- Northwest Indian WarTreaty of Greenville, Shawnee, native resistance, Fort Wayne, tribal alliances
- Northwest TerritoryOhio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin
- Former StatesPrussia, Czechoslovakia, Austria-Hungary, Soviet Union, Byzantine Empire
- territoriesprovince, state, region, country, colony
Northwest Territoryprovince
Regional administrative district
state · sovereign state · Ontario · Quebec · British Columbia
territory, northern, westward, northwest, northerly, northward, territorial, westerly, northwards