The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by
the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a
standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the
undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have the power to raise revenue
by direct taxation, so land sales provided an important revenue stream. The
Ordinance set up a survey system that eventually covered over three-fourths of
the area of the continental United States.
