Gleaves Whitney, executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, speaks to a group gathered Saturday at The Start Westward Memorial on Front Street in Marietta for the 237th Anniversary Celebration of the Northwest Territory Ordinance of 1787. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

The significance of the Northwest Ordinance was highlighted at the 237th Anniversary Celebration of the Northwest Territory Ordinance of 1787 in Marietta Saturday.

The ceremony was held at The Start Westward Memorial on Front Street, where speaker Gleaves Whitney, executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, discussed the historical importance and lasting impact of the foundational document.

“I think the Northwest (Ordinance) origins was such a progressive and meaningful document on the world stage in 1787,” Whitney said. “If you do a comparative analysis of other freedom documents, or ordered freedom documents, you don’t see anything else quite like this.”

The National Archives says The Northwest Ordinance chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. Whitney said the writers of the documents were thinking about every individual in this new nation when they were drafting it.

“They were worried, can all of us be happy? And that’s where the rest of the Northwest Ordinance fills in the blanks,” Whitney said. “It’s possible in this new upstart Republic, in these terribly difficult conditions, it is possible for more of our brothers and sisters to be happy if they have a clear conscience, if they have a community, a well ordered community. If they know there’s reliable, quick justice, if they know there’s internal peace, if they provide for the common defense.”

The Marietta Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution posted the colors Saturday at The Start Westward Memorial on Front Streer in Marietta during the 237th Anniversary Celebration of the Northwest Territory Ordinance of 1787. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Whitney said these were the things the Northwest Territory Ordinance of 1787 put in place for the pioneers of this new nation. He said the ordinance’s provisions for establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, and promoting general welfare were crucial in laying the groundwork for the U.S. Constitution.

Whitney said Marietta played a big part in the nation’s expansion west and noted that it is often overlooked compared to other historic sites on the East Coast, such as Boston, Washington D.C., and Colonial Williamsburg.

He talked about The Start Westward Memorial and how he felt it honored the pioneers of Marietta.

“I think this is a wonderful monument to honor the Patriot soldiers, the Patriot farmers. shopkeepers, the clergy, who picked up and moved here,” Whitney said. “Folks, I don’t think I’ve ever had a more beautiful background. What a backdrop. The Muskingum River there, the beautiful architecture, you have something so special here. You really do. This is a very special place.”