Passage 1:
When the Revolutionary War ended, Georgia gained control of large amounts of land. Georgia
covered a massive area in the southeastern United States. The land stretched from the Atlantic Ocean
to the Mississippi River. The leaders of Georgia believed that people should have easy access to land
ownership, especially the veterans of the war. Ways in which the land was to be divided up became an
issue of much debate. The three mainland policies were the headright system, lotteries, and Yazoo
Land Fraud.
The first attempt to divide the land was known as the headright system and started in 1783. This
system was designed to give land to as many people as possible. Veterans were able to claim thousands
of acres of the new land of Georgia. Men who were not veterans could also claim the land. White men
that were over 21 years old could claim up to 200 acres. Men with enslaved people or families could also
claim land. The headright system ended up not working very well. Too many people claimed the land
and there was not enough land for all the claims.
The second idea to distribute land was called the Yazoo Land Act of 1795. The Yazoo was a river in
Mississippi. Under this land act, Mississippi and Alabama were sold to large land companies. This
system was plagued with fraud and bad deals. The men who represented the land companies bribed
the politicians to sell them the land. The citizens and some politicians were outraged. This Yazoo Land
Act was eventually canceled. The land was then sold to the U.S. government. In exchange for selling the
land to the federal government, the U.S. would be responsible for removing the Creek Indians from the
remainder of Georgia. The Creek Indians were an American Indian tribe that lived in parts of the land
that Georgia controlled. This act is sometimes referred to as the Yazoo Land Fraud due to the
controversy surrounding it. James Jackson was a senator from Georgia who was firmly against the
Yazoo Land Act and its corruption. Jackson even set a copy of the document on fire to show his
opposition and the opposition of many others.
The last idea to distribute the remainder of the land was a land lottery system. Between 1805 and
1833, Georgia offered eight land lotteries where the land offered was nearly free. For the cost of a ticket,
many average white people were able to enter the lottery for a chance to claim the land. Depending on
a person’s life situation, they could potentially enter more than once. War service, age, and marital
status increased your number of entries in the lottery. The land lotteries proved to be the fairest and
best of the three methods of distributing Georgia’s land. The land lotteries allowed over 100,000 people
to settle on the land.
Directions: Fill in the graphic organizer based on the passage.
Headright
System
Yazoo Land
Act
Land
Lottery
When
Explanation
Who could
claim land?
Successful?
Headright System
- Started in 1783
- Designed to give land to as many people as possible
- Veterans and non-veterans could claim land
- White men over 21 years old could claim up to 200 acres
- Men with enslaved people or families could claim land
- Not successful due to too many people claiming land and not enough land available
Yazoo Land Act
- Passed in 1795
- Mississippi and Alabama were sold to large land companies
- Land companies bribed politicians to sell them the land
- Act canceled due to controversy and fraud
- Land sold to U.S. government, with the condition of removing Creek Indians from Georgia
- Controversial and referred to as the Yazoo Land Fraud
Land Lottery
- Eight lotteries offered between 1805 and 1833
- Average white people could enter by purchasing a ticket
- Multiple entries possible depending on war service, age, and marital status
- Considered the fairest and best method of distributing land
- Over 100,000 people settled on the land through the lotteries