The Northwest Ordinance dictated that the first territory would be a “free” territory – forbidding slavery.īut the Northwest Ordinance did not apply to the original thirteen states, and any new state taken from their original bounds had to have custom enabling acts by Congress, as well as the parent state. This method was used for the creation of virtually all territories, beginning with the Northwest Territory and followed for all subsequent territories. First, Congress would have to pass an enabling act which called for a local convention to be convened, a state constitution prepared, and a local vote of approval. Specifically, the Northwest Ordinance set up the methods by which new states could be admitted into the Union. The division line was extended in 1787 to the length of the Ohio River upon the creation of the Northwest Territory as part of The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio), the most important legislative act to come out of the Continental Congress prior to the Constitution of the United States of 1789. The Mason-Dixon Line became the division between the northern free states and southern slave states. The line remains the current east-west Pennsylvania-Maryland border, and that part of the Maryland-Delaware border which runs approximately north-south. This review (in eleven parts) identifies places to look for ancestors during that decade, first for the national name lists, and then a state-by-state listing (in parts two through eleven).īut first, it may be useful to look at the jurisdictions (keepers of records) of the Civil War era, and some history of how these jurisdiction evolved.įree vs Slave States: A Line Divides the NationĪ joint survey of the boundary line between the proprietary lands held by William Penn and Charles Calvert was conducted by surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1763 to 1767.

But there are numerous records relating to the entire population of the states as well.

Most genealogical records created during the decade of the Civil War are related to the soldiers and regiments of the Union and Confederate states. Finding 1861–1869 Names of Residents & Civil War Soldiers – Part One,

War divides the nation 1861 map