1. Westward Expansion of Georgia Pg. 74 Coach Book

2. Land Distribution Methods
Headright System ( )
White males who were 21 years old received 200 acres of land.
If you were the “HEAD” of the family, you had the “RIGHT” to land
For each additional family member and slave, you received 50 additional acres, up to 1000 acres total.
Veterans of the Revolutionary War received land for free.
However, this practice led to corruption and was stopped.
Land Lottery (1803)
Land was divided into plots.
Males (White & 21 yrs) could register for land at the courthouse.
Each plot was numbered and placed into a barrel; names of registered voters were placed into another barrel. Names & plots would be drawn.

3. Land Distribution Methods
Left: This is a display in the museum at New Echota. It contains an actual barrel used in land lottery drawings.
Below: This is a map of the original Cherokee County with plots outlined.
Link to picture: Google Image Result for

4. Land Deed This is an actual deed for land in Georgia.
160 Acres of land in Cherokee County was given to Rueben Warren on June 10, 1832

5. Yazoo Land Fraud (1795)
Georgia was having a difficult time protecting settlers to the west and were seeking ways to solve this problem.
Georgia extended to the Mississippi River at this time.
Speculators from four land companies bribed members of the General Assembly to pass a law allowing them to purchase 35 million acres of land extending to the Yazoo River (near the Mississippi River) for $500,000
That’s less than a penny per acre!!
Land speculators are people who buy land at a cheap price, and sell it at a higher price.
These land companies ended up selling the same tract of land to multiple families, and refused to rectify the situation.
This made many people angry… 

6. Yazoo Land Fraud continued
The People of Georgia demanded that the Legislators involved in the deal be punished.
Many of the Legislators fled Georgia, and the newly elected legislators decided to repeal the law and burn the act on the steps of the capital in Louisville, GA.
Georgia wanted to refund the money to buyers who purchased the land, but did not have enough money.
Moreover, a lot of the owners refused to sell the land back, and the U.S. Supreme Court had to intervene (1814).
Georgia needed a “bailout” from the U.S. Government

7. Map Of Georgia Before Territory Was Given Away

8. The Loss of Georgia Land
In 1795, Spain signed a treaty, which ceded land between the Chattahoochee & Mississippi Rivers.
Who was entitled to the land? Georgia or the U.S.?
It belonged to the U.S. & was named Mississippi Territory (1798).
In return for giving Georgia money for a “bailout,” the state also had to give up its lands between the Chattahoochee and Mississippi Rivers, and they requested that the U.S. Government helped to remove Native Americans.