How was the process in which the the northwest territories became states different from the 13 colonies

The Northwest Ordinance was adopted in 1787 and created a set of rules for admission of new territories. The Ordinance established that the territory would be divided into self-governing districts, each one of those districts would send one representative to Congress upon its attaining a population of 20 thousand and it would become eligible for statehood when its population equaled the least populous existing state.

the tallest building in the western hemisphere and the sixth tallest building in the world