b'The Importance ofthe NorthwestOrdinanceIt is said that the threegreatest documents in Americanhistory are the Declaration ofIndependence, the Constitution, andthe Northwest Ordinance of 1787.In fact, much of the Constitutioncame about as a direct result ofwritings in the NorthwestOrdinance. The Bill of Rights (thefirst 10 amendments of theConstitution) actually had its begin-ning in the six articles of theNorthwest Ordinance.The survey of Northwest Ohio used the Ohio-Indiana state line as a First PrincipalMeridian. The 41st parallel of north latitude became an intersecting, east-west base lineused in surveying. Graphic (QQ)page 38'