(March 1, 1803), was the 17th State admitted to the Union. On August 7, 1789, President George Washington signed into law an Act of Congress which prohibited slavery from entering the territory, entitled “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio,” Article VI.2185 On April 30, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed The Enabling Act for Ohio, which required the government being formed in that territory to be:
… not repugnant to the [Northwest Ordinance].2186
The Northwest Ordinance stated:
SECTION 13. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected: to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of states, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils in an equal footing with the original states, at as early period as may be consistent with the general interest:
SECTION 14. It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact, between the original states and the people and states of the said territory, and forever remain unalienable, unless by common consent, to wit:
ARTICLE I. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said territory. …
ARTICLE III. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.2187
The Constitution of the State of Ohio, adopted November 1, 1802, stated:
Article VIII, Section 3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience;
that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no man shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent; and that no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of worship, and no religious test shall be required, as a qualification to any office of trust or profit.
But religion, morality, and knowledge being essentially necessary to the good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of instruction shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision.2188
The Constitution of the State of Ohio, adopted 1852, stated:
Preamble. We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common welfare, do establish our Constitution.2189
Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 7. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience.2190