Then, suddenly, in July, 1787, after a brief period of adjournment, Congress took up this subject and within a week adopted the now famous Ordinance of 1787.
The stimulus which aroused Congress to activity seems to have come from the Ohio Company.

From the very beginning of the public domain there was a strong sentiment in favor of using western land for settlement by Revolutionary soldiers.

Some of these lands had been offered as bounties to encourage enlistment, and after the war the project of soldiers' settlement in the West was vigorously agitated.

The Ohio Company of Associates was made up of veterans of the Revolution, who were looking for homes in the West, and of other persons who were willing to support a worthy cause by a subscription which might turn out to be a good investment.

The company wished to buy land in the West, and Congress had land which it wished to sell.