The New State of Georgia

1. The New State of Georgia SS8H5b. Evaluate the impact of land policies pursued by Georgia; include the headright system, land lotteries, and the Yazoo land fraud.

2. Georgia’s Land • Native Americans once controlled much of present-day Georgia. • Against the wishes of their people, many Native American leaders sometimes gave up their land in treaties with the British. • Much of this Native American land was later given to the colonists.

3. Headright System • Colonists received land grants under the headright system. • Under this system, each white male “head” of a family had the “right” to receive up to 1,000 acres. • By giving men land, they were able to obtain power. • Farmers soon came looking for fertile farmland.

4. Headright System • Ranchers also flocked to Georgia in search of grazing areas for their livestock. • These ranchers and farmers often got their businesses off the ground with land grants that were given to Revolutionary War veterans. • Although parts of this system lasted until the early twentieth century, it was largely replaced by a land lottery in 1803.

5. Yazoo Land Sale • The government of Georgia had been weakened by the Revolutionary War. • It was not strong enough to defend settlements in the western part of the state. • The Georgia government thought it had found a solution to this problem with the Yazoo land sale in 1795. • Remember that at this time the western boarder of Georgia was the Mississippi River.

6. Yazoo Land Sale • The Yazoo River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Mississippi. • In the Yazoo land sale, the state government planned to sell 35 million acres of land in western Georgia, near the Yazoo River, to four companies for $500,000.

7. Yazoo Land Sale • In return for this cheap land, the companies would be able to establish a presence in the western part of the state. • This presence would help keep the frontier of Georgia safe. • Settlers would be more likely to move to western Georgia if the area was secure and had the jobs and products that the companies had to offer. • Georgia Governor George Mathews signed the Yazoo Act on January 7, 1795.

8. Yazoo Land Fraud • The Yazoo land sale backfired. • Bribes had been paid to many important Georgians in exchange for their support of the Yazoo Act. • When the bribery came to light, Many Georgians were shocked by the corruption. • They protested in the streets and collected signatures on petitions that opposed the Yazoo land and sale. • Despite the public outcry, the Yazoo land sale was completed.

9. Yazoo Land Fraud • As a result of public anger and pressure, the legislators involved were voted out of office. • The new legislature repealed the law. • All records of these land sales were burned in public at the capital.

10. Yazoo Land Fraud • This act reversed the Yazoo land sale. • As part of the agreement that reversed the Yazoo land sale, the United States government promised to help remove the remaining Creek Indians from within Georgia’s borders. • In this way, the Yazoo land fraud led to the Trail of Tears in 1838.

11. Yazoo Land Fraud • Contrary to its initial hopes, Georgia lost rather than gained from the Yazoo land scheme. • The state lost a large part of its land and a lot of money because of the failed plan. • The legislature eventually gave in to the federal government and in 1802 ceded its land west of the Chattahoochee River.

12. Land Lottery • After the disaster of the Yazoo land fraud, the state of Georgia implemented a lottery system to determine who could buy land. • A person’s age, war service, marital status, and years of residence in Georgia were all factors that determined who was eligible for the land lottery. • The land lottery was restricted to white men, orphans, and widows.

13. Land Lottery • Georgia held multiple land lotteries between 1805 and 1833. • During this time, Georgia sold three-fourths of the state to 100,000 families and individuals. • These Georgians paid an average of seven cents per acre.

14. Land Lottery • Ordinary Georgians could gain control of large areas of land through these lotteries. • This led to a shift in power. • As a colony, Georgia had been ruled by wealthy planter aristocrats. • Through the land lottery, almost any man could become a landowner. • Power and wealth began to be distributed more evenly among white men of Georgia.

15. Results of the Land Lottery • Much of the land that was sold in Georgia’s land lotteries was originally sold in the Yazoo land fraud and the War of 1812, the creek and Cherokee Indians were effectively eliminated from within Georgia’s borders. • Much of land purchased through these land lotteries was used for tobacco farming. • The introduction of cotton and the invention of the cotton gin would change that, and the history of Georgia.

16. Results of the Land Lottery • Agriculture soon shifted from small farms to large plantations. • These plantations required a great deal of labor. • Within twenty years of the first land lottery in Georgia, enslaved people made up 44% of Georgia’s population.