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Acts of U.S. Congress that establish a United States territory and how it will be governed
Northwest Territory of the United States, 1787
This 1856 map shows slave states (gray), free states (pink),
U.S. territories (green), and Kansas in center (white).
In
United States law , an organic act is an
act of the
United States Congress that establishes a
territory of the United States and specifies how it is to be governed,
[1] or an
agency to manage certain federal lands. In the absence of an organic law a territory is classified as
unorganized .
The first such act was the
Northwest Ordinance , passed in 1787 by the U.S.
Congress of the Confederation (under the
Articles of Confederation , predecessor of the
United States Constitution ). The Northwest Ordinance created the
Northwest Territory in the land west of
Pennsylvania and northwest of the
Ohio River and set the pattern of development that was followed for all subsequent territories. The Northwest Territory covered more than 260,000 square miles and included all of the modern states of
Ohio ,
Indiana ,
Illinois ,
Michigan ,
Wisconsin , and the northeastern part of
Minnesota .
The
District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 incorporated
Washington, D.C. , and placed it under the exclusive control of the
United States Congress .
The Organic Act for the
Territory of New Mexico was part of the
Compromise of 1850 , passed September 9, 1850. Primarily concerned with
slavery , the act organized New Mexico as a territory, with boundaries including the areas now embraced in New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado.
List of organic acts
Territorial organic acts have included (in chronological order):
The
Northwest Ordinance
The
Indiana Territory Organic Act
The
District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801
The
Organic Act of 1804 , with respect to the
Territory of Orleans
The
Michigan Territory Organic Act (1805)
The
Illinois Territory Organic Act (1809)
The
Arkansas Territory Organic Act (1819)
The
Oregon Bill of 1848 , created the
Territory of Oregon
The
Utah Territory Organic Act (1850)
The
New Mexico Territory Organic Act (1850)
The
Kansas–Nebraska Act created
Kansas Territory and
Nebraska Territory
The
Colorado Organic Act , 1861, created the
Territory of Colorado out of eastern Utah Territory, western Kansas Territory, southwestern Nebraska Territory, and a small portion of northeastern New Mexico Territory
The
Nevada Territory Organic Act, 1861
The
Dakota Organic Act of 1861
The
Arizona Organic Act , created the
Territory of Arizona in 1863 from western New Mexico Territory
The
Montana Organic Act , created the
Territory of Montana in 1864
The
District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 , amalgamated Anacostia, Georgetown and Tenley Town to the City of Washington; and consolidated the County of Washington, City of Washington and District of Columbia into one governmental unit
The
Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872)
The
First Organic Act for Alaska , 1884
The
Oklahoma Organic Act of 1889, established the
Oklahoma Territory
The
Hawaiian Organic Act , enacted in 1900, established a government for the
Territory of Hawaii
The
Foraker Act or Organic Act of 1900, established civilian government in
Puerto Rico . It was superseded in 1917 by the
Jones–Shafroth Act .
The
Second Organic Act for Alaska , 1912
The
Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of the United States of 1936 (
Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)
74–749 , 49
Stat.
1807 , enacted June 22, 1936 ) established a government for the
U.S. Virgin Islands , replacing previous temporary provisions (
Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)
64–389 , 39
Stat.
1132 , enacted March 3, 1917 ). It was superseded by the
Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1954 (
Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)
83–517 , 68
Stat.
497 , enacted July 22, 1954 ).
The
Guam Organic Act of 1950 , codified
Guam as an unincorporated territory and established civilian government ending Guam's administration by the U.S. Navy.
The
Philippines :
Others:
See also
References