The Act of April 30, 1802 ("Ohio Enabling Act"), 2 STAT 173, "enabling the people of the Eastern Division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a Constitution and State government and f
4/30/1802
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SEVENTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES;
AT THE FIRST SESSION,
Begun and held at the city of Washington, in the territory of Columbia, on Monday,
The seventh of December, one thousand eight hundred and one.
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An ACT [handwritten] to enable the people of the Eastern division of the territory north
west of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such
state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original states; and for all other purposes. [end
handwritten]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America, in Congress assembled, [remainder of document handwritten] That the inhabitants of
the eastern division of the territory north west of the river Ohio, be, and they are hereby
authorized, to form for themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name
as they shall deem proper, and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the union,
upon the same footing with the original states, in all respects whatever.
Sec. 2. And, be it further enacted, That, the said state shall consist of all the territory
included within the following boundaries, to wit, bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line,
on the south by the Ohio river, to the mouth of the great Miami river, on the west by the line
drawn due north from the mouth of the great Miami aforesaid, and on the north by an east and
west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting
the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the great Miami, until it shall intersect Lake Erie,
or the territorial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line,
aforesaid. Provided, That Congress shall be at liberty at any time hereafter, either to attach all
the territory lying east of the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Miami aforesaid, to the
territorial line, and north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake
Michigan, running east as aforesaid to lake Erie, to the aforesaid state, or dispose of it otherwise,
in conformity to the fifth article of compact between the original states and the people and states
to be formed in the territory north west of the river Ohio.
Sec. 3. And, be it further enacted, That all that part of the territory of the United States,
north west of the river Ohio, heretofore included in the eastern division of said territory, and not
included within the boundary herein prescribed for the said state, as hereby attached to, and
made a part of the Indiana territory, from and after the formation of said state, subject,
nevertheless to be hereafter disposed of by Congress, according to the right reserved in the fifth
article of the Ordinance aforesaid, and the inhabitants therein shall be entitled to the same
privileges and immunities, and subject to the same rules and regulations in all respects whatever,
with all other citizens residing within the Indiana territory.
Sec. 4. And, be it further enacted, That all male citizens of the United States, who shall
have arrived at full age, and resided within the said territory at least one year previous to the day
of election, and shall have paid a territorial or county tax, and all persons having in other respects
the legal qualifications to vote for representatives in the general assembly of the territory, be, and
they are hereby authorized to choose representatives to form a convention, who shall be
apportioned amongst the several counties within the eastern division aforesaid, in a ratio of one
representative to every twelve hundred inhabitants of each county, according to the enumeration
taken under the authority of the United States, as near as may be, that is to say, from the county
of Trumbull, two representatives; from the county of Jefferson, seven representatives, two of the
seven to be elected within what is now known by the county of Belmont, taken from Jefferson
and Washington Counties; from the county of Washington, four representatives; from the county
of Ross, seven representatives, two of the seven to be elected in what is now known by Fairfield
county, taken from Ross and Washington counties; from the county of Adams, three
representatives; from the county of Hamilton, twelve representatives, two of the twelve to be
elected in what is now known by Clermont county, taken entirely from Hamilton county; and the
elections for the representatives aforesaid, shall take place on the second Tuesday of October
next, the time fixed by a law of the territory entitled “An Act to ascertain the number of free
male inhabitants of the age of twenty one, in the territory of the United States northwest of the
river Ohio, and to regulate the elections of representatives for the same,” for electing
representatives to the general assembly, and shall be held and conducted in the same manner as
provided for by the aforesaid act, except that the qualifications of electors shall be as herein
specified.
Sec. 5. And, be it further enacted, That the members of the convention, thus duly elected,
be, and they are hereby authorized to meet at Chillicothe on the first Monday in November next,
which convention, when met, shall first determine by a majority of the whole number elected,
whether it be or be not expedient at that time to form a constitution and state government for the
people within the said territory, and if it be determined to be expedient, the convention shall be,
and hereby are authorized to form a constitution and state government, or if it be deemed more
expedient, the said convention shall provide by ordinance for electing representatives to form a
constitution or frame of government, which said representatives shall be chosen in such manner,
and in such proportion, and shall meet at such time and place, as shall be prescribed by the said
ordinance; and shall form for the people of the said state, a constitution and state government,
provided the same shall be republican, and not repugnant to the ordinance of the thirteenth of
July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven, between the original states and the people of
the territory northwest of the river Ohio.
Sec. 6. And, be it further enacted, That until the next general census shall be taken, the
said state shall be entitled to one representative in the House of Representatives of the United
States.
Sec. 7. And, be it further enacted, That the following propositions be, and the same are
hereby offered to the convention of the eastern state of the said territory, when formed, for their
free acceptance, or rejection, which if accepted by the convention, shall be obligatory upon the
United States:
First, That the section Number sixteen in every township, and where such section has
been sold, granted or disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, used and most contiguous to the
same
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same, shall be granted to the inhabitants of such township, for the use of schools.
Second, That the six miles reservation, including the salt springs, commonly called the
Scioto salt-springs, the salt springs near the Washington river, and in the military tract, with the
sections of land which include the same, shall be granted to the said state for the use of the
people thereof, the same to be used under such terms and conditions and regulations as the
legislature of the said state shall direct; provided the said legislature shall never sell nor lease the
same for a longer period than ten years.
Third, That one twentieth part of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said state
sold by Congress, from and after the thirtieth day of June next, after deducting all expenses
incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying out and making public roads, leading from the
navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic, to the Ohio, to the said state, and through the same,
such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several states
through which the road shall pass; provided always, that the three foregoing propositions herein
offered are on the conditions, that the convention of the said state, shall provide by ordinance
irrevocable, without the consent of the United States, that every and each tract of land sold by
Congress from and after the thirtieth day of June next, shall be, and remain exempt from any tax
laid by order, or under authority of the state, whether for state, county, or other purpose
whatever, for the term of five years forward after the day of sale.
[signed] Nathaniel Macon
Speaker of the House of Representatives
[signed] Abraham Baldwin
President of the Senate pro tempore
[signed] Approved April 30, 1802
I certify that this act did originate
in the House of Representatives
John Beckley
Clerk
[signed] Th JeffersonThis primary source comes from the General Records of the United States Government.
National Archives Identifier:
299949Full Citation: The Act of April 30, 1802 ('Ohio Enabling Act'), 2 STAT 173, 'enabling the people of the Eastern Division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a Constitution and State government and f; 4/30/1802; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/the-act-of-april-30-1802-ohio-enabling-act-2-stat-173-enabling-the-people-of-the-eastern-division-of-the-territory-northwest-of-the-river-ohio-to-form-a-constitution-and-state-government-and-for-the-a, April 26, 2024]