Student Worksheet Packet
The Northwest Ordinance: America's First Framework for Expansion
Marietta, OH
This lesson uses the founding of Marietta and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to explore the mechanisms by which the United States expanded westward and the compromises embedded in that expansion. Students analyze the Ordinance's three key provisions — equal statehood, a bill of rights, and the anti-slavery clause — and examine how Manasseh Cutler's lobbying shaped legislation with century-long consequences. The lesson also confronts the gap between the Ordinance's "utmost good faith" language about Native nations and the actual dispossession that followed.
This Packet Includes
- Learning Objectives & Essential Questions
- 5 Primary Source Analysis Worksheets
- 3 Reading & Activity Handouts
- Assessment Quiz (5 questions)
Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
- Students will explain the three main provisions of the Northwest Ordinance and why each was significant
- Students will analyze how the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance shaped the political geography of the Midwest
- Students will evaluate the tension between the Ordinance's republican promises and the dispossession of Native peoples
- Students will trace the connection between the Revolutionary War veterans who founded Marietta and the governance framework they created
Essential Questions
Keep these questions in mind as you work through this packet:
- What makes a framework for expansion successful, and successful for whom?
- How did the Northwest Ordinance's anti-slavery clause shape American history beyond the Northwest Territory?
- Is it possible to create a new republic on land that belongs to someone else? What are the consequences of trying?
An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio (Northwest Ordinance), July 13, 1787
Analysis Questions
Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.
Who created this source and why?
When was this source created?
What perspective does this source represent?
What was happening when this was written?
How might the author's position affect their account?
Reflection
How does this source connect to what happened in Marietta, OH? What does it tell you about the people involved?
Analysis Questions
Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.
Who created this source and why?
When was this source created?
What perspective does this source represent?
What was happening when this was written?
How might the author's position affect their account?
Reflection
How does this source connect to what happened in Marietta, OH? What does it tell you about the people involved?
Analysis Questions
Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.
Who created this source and why?
When was this source created?
What perspective does this source represent?
What was happening when this was written?
How might the author's position affect their account?
Reflection
How does this source connect to what happened in Marietta, OH? What does it tell you about the people involved?
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park: Marietta Earthworks
Analysis Questions
Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.
Who created this source and why?
When was this source created?
What perspective does this source represent?
What is the institution's mission?
How does that mission shape the presentation?
Reflection
How does this source connect to what happened in Marietta, OH? What does it tell you about the people involved?
Analysis Questions
Read the document carefully, then answer each question in complete sentences.
Who created this source and why?
When was this source created?
What perspective does this source represent?
What primary sources does this draw from?
What interpretation does the author offer?
Reflection
How does this source connect to what happened in Marietta, OH? What does it tell you about the people involved?
Marietta Event Timeline
timeline
Students place key events in chronological order and add details
# Marietta Revolutionary Timeline
Instructions: Place the following events in order and add one detail about each.
- [ ] Northwest Ordinance Enacted
- [ ] First Ohio Company Settlers Arrive at the Confluence
- [ ] Battle of Fallen Timbers Ends the Frontier War
- [ ] Ohio Company Land Purchase Completed
- [ ] Campus Martius Fortification Constructed
---
| Event | Date | Significance |
|-------|------|-------------|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
Primary Source Analysis
graphic organizer
Structured analysis of Revolutionary-era documents
# Primary Source Analysis Worksheet
## Source Information
- Title: _________________
- Author: _________________
- Date: _________________
- Type: _________________
## Observation
What do you notice? (List 3 things)
1.
2.
3.
## Reflection
What do you wonder? (List 2 questions)
1.
2.
## Analysis
What does this source tell us about Marietta during the Revolution?
_______________________________________________
## Perspective
Whose voice is represented? Whose might be missing?
_______________________________________________
Key Figures Profile
worksheet
Research template for Revolutionary figures
# Revolutionary Figure Profile
## Basic Information
- Name: _________________
- Birth/Death Years: _________________
- Occupation(s): _________________
## Role in the Revolution
### Reverend Manasseh Cutler
Massachusetts Congregationalist minister and self-taught scientist who lobbied Congress for the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and negotiated the Ohio Company land purchase. His July 1787 lobbying campaign in New York — conducted while the Constitutional Convention was simultaneously meeting in Philadelphia — produced both the Ordinance and the land deal that made Marietta possible. He never permanently settled there himself.
My questions about this person:
1.
2.
### Ephraim Cutler
Son of Manasseh Cutler who settled permanently in the Marietta area and became one of the most important figures in Ohio's constitutional convention of 1802. Ephraim Cutler, despite being ill with a fever, cast the decisive vote that kept slavery out of the Ohio state constitution, preserving the Northwest Ordinance's prohibition and cementing Ohio's status as a free state.
My questions about this person:
1.
2.
## Reflection
Which figure interests you most and why?
_______________________________________________
Marietta in the American Revolution
Answer the following questions based on our study of Revolutionary history.
1. What makes Marietta significant in Revolutionary history?
2. Primary sources are documents or objects created during the time period being studied.
3. Name one event that occurred in Marietta during the Revolutionary period and explain its significance.
Answer:
4. Why is it important to consider multiple perspectives when studying history?
5. Describe one connection between this town and another Revolutionary-era town we discussed.
Answer: