The lands became part of the Federal domain, and were nationalized so far as they could be under the Confederation; but there was no national treasury into which to turn the proceeds from the sale until the Constitution was adopted.

[Footnote: Hinsdale, 250.] The Land Policy of Congress.
Having got possession of the land, Congress proceeded to arrange for its disposition, even before providing the outline of the governmental system for the states that might grow up therein.

Congress regarded the territory as forming a treasury chest, and was anxious to sell the land in lots, whether to individuals or to companies.

In 1785 it passed an ordinance of singular wisdom, which has been the basis of all our subsequent legislation on the subject.
This ordinance was another proof of the way in which the nation applied its collective power to the subdual and government of the Northwest, instead of leaving the whole matter to the working of unrestricted individualism, as in the Southwest.

The pernicious system of acquiring title to public lands in vogue among the Virginians and North Carolinians was abandoned.