The Land Ordinance of 1785 established which of the following?

• A. A law that set up a national banking system
• B. A law that made a plan for equally distributing land to the west of the Appalachian Mountains
• C. A policy for slavery expansion
• D. A framework for education funding

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is how the new government organized western expansion. The Land Ordinance of 1785 created a uniform method for surveying and selling lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. It established a grid system where land was surveyed into townships of six miles square and subdivided into sections that could be sold to raise revenue and promote orderly settlement. This is why the best choice describes a plan for distributing land to the west: it captures the purpose of creating an orderly framework for land distribution and sale. The ordinance did not establish a national banking system, address slavery expansion, or provide a framework for education funding, so those options don’t fit how the land west of the Appalachians was organized at that time.