Emergence of the Northwest

The area west of the Appalachians, north of the Ohio, and east of the Mississippi- the "Northwest" The immigration in the North bore considerable similarities to its southern counterpart. First of all, many of the settlers to the Northwest came from the states of the Upper South. Some southern migrants to the North professed themselves eager to move out of the states with slavery, while others merely followed the easiest routes to good land. As in the Southwest, settlers to the Northwest did not move in a simple westward wave, but rather flowed up the rivers and spread from there, sometimes back to the east. Those who remained in a community became its leading citizens, consolidating land into larger farms, setting up grist mills and sawmills, running for office, establishing the small towns that serves as county seats and trading centers. In many cases storekeepers were among the first to arrive and among those whose fortunes flourished best. Courthouses were built early on to formalize land sales and taxation.