Southwest Territory
The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory or the old Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee. The Southwest Territory was created by the Southwest Ordinance; its lands were taken from western areas beyond the mountains of the Commonwealth of Virginia (later to be separated and erected into the new 15th state of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.) Western lands were also ceded by the State of North Carolina from lands of the Washington District that had been already ceded to the U.S. federal government by North Carolina.