The Ohio Country 1790–1803

1n 1787 Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, which established the boundaries of the different areas within the northwestern territories. These included Michigan Territory, Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. In 1802, the Ohio Enabling Act called for Ohio to be admitted into the United States of America. There had been a long-running dispute over Ohio’s east–west boundary line, which had been drawn to extend as far as the tip of Lake Michigan. The Michigan Territory disputed this, stating that the line should not extend beyond the northwest cape of Maumee Bay. Ohio had less than the minimum 60,000 population needed to form a state, but on the assumption that its numbers would increase by the time its statehood was approved the process of seeking statehood was begun in 1801. This proved to be the case and Ohio became a state in 1803, with the east–west boundary still disputed by Michigan Territory.