Headright System Yazoo Land Sale Land Lottery Land Fever! Headright System Yazoo Land Sale Land Lottery

Headright System Native Americans once controlled much of present- day Georgia Many Native American leaders sometimes gave up their land in treaties and this land was later given to colonists The headright system granted 200-1000 acres of land to the heads of families This increased Georgia’s population

Headright System Cont. By 1782 most of the land grants were given to Revolutionary War veterans Georgia’s government was weakened by the War and was not strong enough to defend settlements in the western part of the state Remember: this was something Georgia hoped to gain by signing the Constitution-government help removing Native Americans

Yazoo Land Sale

Yazoo Land Fraud In 1795, Georgia’s western borders were the Mississippi River and one of its tributaries, the Yazoo River Included in this territory were the present states of Alabama and Mississippi South Carolina and Spain also claimed some of this territory and the matter went to court for settlement

Yazoo Land Fraud cont. Before a settlement was reached, four companies approached Governor Matthews and member of the Georgia Assembly and bribed them to pass a bill allowing them to buy the land The land companies bought between 35 and 50 million acres for about 1 ½ cents per acre, turning a nice profit when they sold the land

Yazoo Protest Once the public found out about the deal the companies got AND how they bribed members of the Georgia Assembly, protests and public anger ensued leading to the legislators involved being voted out of office! All records of the lands sales were burned in public in the capital of Louisville

Refunds? The state offered a refund from the land sales but many people who bought the land wanted to keep it These people went to court and the federal government resolved the matter by paying over $4 million to settle the claims

Land Lost Instead of gaining land from the Yazoo deal, Georgia lost land and money In 1802 Georgia ceded (gave up) its lands west of the Chattahoochee River to the federal government for $1.25 million, making the river Georgia’s western boundary As part of the governments deal, they agreed to remove Creek Indians from Georgia’s borders These actions inadvertently led to the Trail of Tears