<P> The 1785 ordinance laid the foundations of land policy until passage of the Homestead Act in 1862 . The Land Ordinance established the basis for the Public Land Survey System . The initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins . After he died in 1789 , responsibility for surveying was transferred to the Surveyor General . Land was to be systematically surveyed into square townships , six miles ( 9.656 km ) on a side . Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty - six sections of one square mile ( 2.59 km2 ) or 640 acres . These sections could then be further subdivided for re-sale by settlers and land speculators . </P>
<P> The 1785 ordinance laid the foundations of land policy until passage of the Homestead Act in 1862 . The Land Ordinance established the basis for the Public Land Survey System . The initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins . After he died in 1789 , responsibility for surveying was transferred to the Surveyor General . Land was to be systematically surveyed into square townships , six miles ( 9.656 km ) on a side . Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty - six sections of one square mile ( 2.59 km2 ) or 640 acres . These sections could then be further subdivided for re-sale by settlers and land speculators . </P>
the size of a township and section in the land ordinance
the size of a township and section in the land ordinance
six miles ( 9.656 km ) on a side one square mile ( 2.59 km2 ) or 640 acres
six miles ( 9.656 km ) on a side one square mile ( 2.59 km2 ) or 640 acres