| Land ceded by Great Britain in 1783, known as the Northwest Territory, greatly extended the territory of the United States. The following year, Thomas Jefferson, then a Continental Congressman, drafted a plan to divide the region into several smaller territories that would be eligible for statehood under certain conditions. The plan, modified by Congress into the Ordinance of 1787, allowed division of the region into three to five states. Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota were eventually formed within the Northwest Territory. |
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