what did the northwest ordinance of 1787 prohibit in the northwest territories
Northwest Ordinance The language of the ordinance prohibits slavery, but also contained a clear fugitive slave clause as well.[14] Efforts in the 1820s by pro-slavery forces to legalize slavery in two of the states created from the Northwest Territory failed, but an "indentured servant" law allowed some slaveholders to bring slaves under that status; they could not be bought or sold.[15][16] Southern states voted for the law because they did not want to compete with the territory over tobacco as a commodity crop; it was so labor-intensive that it was grown profitably only with slave labor. Additionally, slave-states' political power would merely be equalized, as there were three more slave-states than there were free-states in 1790.[17]