This week we explore African-American history in the start of the United States of America. The first major piece of legislation passed was a blueprint for settling territory west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 actually came before the US Constitution and it is also the first national legislation to limit slavery in a part of the US. The state of Ohio was settled as part of the northwest territory and thus it was established as a non-slave state. If you are one of the architects of the new republic of the US, how would you set things in motion to end chattel slavery/