The council represented the second stage of Michigan's evolution from a territory administered by a governor and judges to full statehood.
The governor and judges had the authority to adopt laws from already-existing states to their own use in the territory, and so collectively formed the legislative branch.
The names of the top eighteen vote-earners in a general election were to be sent by the governor to the president of the United States, who would nominate nine of them to serve on the council, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
[8] The act stopped short of creating a general assembly comprising both a legislative council and house of representatives, as stipulated in the Northwest Ordinance.
[10] At its extra session in November 1834, the council authorized the election of delegates to a state constitutional convention in April 1835.