1. Settling the Western Lands
Land Ordinance of 1785

2. Land Claims
After Independence states claimed land to the west

3. Once the Articles of Confederation became the official government in 1781 the states had to cede or give up that land. The land become national land which is then under the control of Articles of Confederation Government.

4. U.S. Territories
A territory is land owned by the U.S. which is not a state. (Modern Map)
Puerto Rico
Guam
Samoa

5. Land Ordinances
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a way of surveying the land. What's now Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided the rules for a territory to become a state.

6. In territories such as Ohio
land was divided up
into neat townships of 36
square miles.

7. The government sold land to farmers usually at very low prices.
Each lot was sold for
about a dollar an acre.

8. Google Maps