SS8H5b Evaluate the impact of land policies pursued by Georgia; include the headright system, land lotteries, and the Yazoo land fraud.
Headright System (page 177)
Settlers in Georgia began wanting more land and began heading west. The land was given to the settler in what was called the “headright system”. Each white male was considered the “head” of the family and had the “right” to receive 1,000 acres of land. This system was replaced by the land lottery in 1803.
Land lotteries (page 177)
Public Domain- lands owned by the state or federal government.
When public domain lands were opened for settlement, Georgia surveyed land lots of different sizes. This land became known as lottery-land and was located west of the Oconee River. Any white male over the age of 21 could, for a small fee, enter a lottery to win land. If you were a head of household with children, a veteran, or a widow, you could get extra chances to win land. About 30 million acres of land were given out in the U.S. in these lander lotteries.
Yazoo Land Fraud (page 177-178)
1795 saw the peak in the growing hunger of Georgians for land. In 1795, Georgia’s western border was the Mississippi River and one of it tributaries, the Yazoo River. This territory included present day Alabama and Mississippi. South Carolina and Spain claimed parts of this land and went to court to settle the matter.
Before the court could make a settlement, four land companies went the GA governor George Matthews and members of the General Assembly and bribed them to pass a bill allowing the land companies to buy the western land. When the General Assembly enacted the bill, the land companies bought between 30-50 acres of land $500,000 (about 1.5 cents an acre).
When the public found out about this, there were protests all over the state. This became known as the Yazoo Land Fraud and many people demanded the resignation of the Governor and legislators involved.
Because of public anger and pressure, the legislators involved were voted out of office. The new legislature repealed the law that allowed the land to be sold and the records of the land sales were burned in public.
The state offered to refund money from the land sales, but there were people who bought land from the land companies and wanted to keep it. These people went to court and the federal government settled the matter by paying over $4 million to settle the Yazoo land claims.
Because of the Yazoo Land Fraud, Georgia lost land rather than gained land. There were many bad feelings among Georgia’s citizen’s and in the end, Georgia had to cede land west of the Chattahoochee River to the federal government for $1.25 million. The Chattahoochee River became Georgia’s western border.