The Northwest Expansion Ordinances of 1784, 1785, and 1787 were enacted by the U.S. Congress to establish equitable procedures for the settlement and incorporation of the Northwest territory. The Ordinance of 1787 influenced U.S. expansion into other areas since it established the procedure for the admission of its constituent parts as states into the union. Each district would be governed by a governor and judges appointed by Congress until it can reach a population amount of 5,000 free adult men. After reaching that number they could become a territory.