- Created a government in the Northwest Territory (which included Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota).
- Required new states carved out of the territory to be admitted to the Union on equal footing to existing states.
- Prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory.
- Established a procedure for surveying land and dividing it into townships and sections.
- Guaranteed freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and habeas corpus.
- Instituted a system of public education in which land was set aside for schools.