The Northwest Ordinance is noteworthy not only for its provision of stages of development and eventual admission of new states into the Union but also for provisions which protected civil liberties of the inhabitants. In the latter part of the ordinance there are six articles of "compact" that declare fundamental principles of liberty. Free exercise of religious faith, prescriptions for a fair system of criminal justice (such as trial by jury), no interference with existing contracts, protection of Indians, and prohibition of slavery are included in the Articles of Compact. Nathan Dane, a young congressional delegate, drafted the ordinance in its final form and included these basic liberties. The bills of rights in the state constitutions appears to have had the greatest influence on Dane in including these basic rights. A comparison of the ordinance and the state constitutions on civil liberties reveals striking similarities between the state constitutions and the ordinance. Article Six of the compact, prohibiting slavery, became significant as the controversy about the extension of slavery into the west persisted prior to the Civil War. In historical context, the articles on civil liberty expressed few new ideas but reiterated a cluster of already determined principles. Still, these articles are foundation stones in the structure of U.S. liberty. (SM)