ry, which guaranteed religious liberty, made grants of land and
other liberal provisions for schools and colleges, and forever
prohibited slavery in the territory or the States which should be made
out of it. Thus were laid broad and deep the foundation for the full and
free development of humanity in a region larger than the whole German
Empire.

The passing of the Ordinance was probably due in large measure to the
influence of the Ohio Company, a colonist society organized in Boston
the year before. It was composed of the flower of the Revolutionary
army, and had wealth, energy, and intelligence. When its agent appeared
before Congress to arrange for the purchase of five million acres of
land in the Ohio Valley, a bill for the government of the territory,
containing neither the antislavery clause nor the immortal principles of
the compacts, was on the eve of passage. The Company, composed mostly of
Massachusetts men, strongly desired their future home to be upon free
soil. Their influence prevailed with Congress, eager for revenue from
the sale of lands, and even the Southern members voted unanimously for
the remodelled ordinance. The establishment of a strong and enlightened
government in the territory led to its rapid settlement. Marietta, 0.,
was founded in April, 1788, and other colonies followed in rapid
succession.

CHAPTER X.

RISE OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION

[1787]

The anarchy succeeding the Revolution was as sad as the Revolution
itself had been glorious. The Articles of Confederation furnished
practically no government with which foreign nations could deal; England
still clung to the western posts, contrary to the treaty of peace, with
no power anywhere on this side to do more than protest; the debt of the
confederacy steadily piled up its unpaid interest; the land was flooded
with irredeemable paper money, state and national; the confederacy's
laws and constitution were ignored or trampled upon everywhere; and the
arrogance and self-seeking of the several States surpassed everything
but their own contemptible weakness.

In 1786 Shays' rebellion broke out in Massachusetts. Solid money was
very scarce, and paper all but worthless, yet many debts contracted on a
paper basis were pressed for payment in hard money. The farmers swore
that the incidence of taxes upon them was excessive, and upon the
merchants too light. But the all-powerful grievance was the sudden
change from the distressing monetary in