AI Tutor
Imagine winning a giant backyard the size of several countries, but there are no street signs, no fences, and no rules for who owns what.
Right after the Revolutionary War, the brand-new United States owned a huge region north of the Ohio River called the Northwest Territory.
How could the government sell this wild land fairly without settlers fighting over every hill and stream?

Measuring with a Giant Grid

In 1785, Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 — an ordinance is simply a government law or rule.
Before anyone could buy land, government surveyors used compasses and chains to divide the territory into tidy, square blocks called townships.
Each township was exactly 6 miles long by 6 miles wide, neatly split into 36 smaller squares called sections.
Why did lawmakers make sure to highlight section number 16 in every single township?

Section 16: Free Schools for Everyone

Early American leaders like Thomas Jefferson believed that for a democracy to survive, ordinary citizens needed to be educated.
The law ordered that the money earned from selling or renting Section 16 had to pay for a public school, open to all local children.