Provision was then made for the sale of townships alternately entire and by sections of one mile square, or 640 acres each.

In every township a section was reserved for educational purposes; that is, the land was to be disposed of and the proceeds used for the development of public schools in that region.

And, finally, the United States reserved four sections in the center of each township to be disposed of at a later time.

It was expected that a great increase in the value of the land would result, and it was proposed that the Government should reap a part of the profits.
It is evident that the primary purpose of the public land policy as first developed was to acquire revenue for the Government; but it was also evident that there was a distinct purpose of encouraging settlement.

The two were not incompatible, but the greater interest of the Government was in obtaining a return for the property.
The other committee of which Jefferson was chairman made its report of a plan for the government of the western territory upon the very day that the Virginia cession was finally accepted, March 1, 1784; and with some important modifications Jefferson's ordinance, or the Ordinance of 1784 as it was commonly called, was ultimately adopted.