Yesterday’s Food for Thought

With land being in such high demand,

what are some other problems Georgia may encounter?

MR. THOMPSON8 T H GRADE GEORGIA HISTORY

Land Policies

The Headright System

Late 1700s early 1800s

The HEAD of the family had the RIGHT to own land

Initially, 200 acres would be given. For each additional family

member or slave, you could earn 50 acres per person up to 1000 acres

Mostly replaced in 1803 by….. Wait for it…..

LAND

LOTTERIES!

Land Lotteries

Land west of Oconee River was divided up

Pay for a chance to win land Spin of a wheel Draw from a barrel

White males over 21 could participate

Yazoo Land Fraud

Georgia’s original border Mississippi River and a

tributary the Yazoo River

South Carolina and Spain laid claim to parts of the Yazoo territory

4 land companies bribed the Governor and General Assembly to sell the land

35-50 million acres 1 Acre = 75 yards on a

football field $500,000 1 ½ cents/acre

Public outrage Those who signed it

were run out of town!!!!

Disputed Yazoo Land

Aftermath of Yazoo

Many people didn’t want to sell the land back Lengthy court dispute

US Government pays $4 million to settle Think “Government Bailout”

Georgia loses credibility with the people People lose trust in the Legislature - those who

signed the Yazoo Land Deal lost their jobs, and are run out of the state

Makes Chattahoochee River Western boundary Lose the land that today is Alabama & Mississippi

Thumbs up/down Review

1) Only men could participate in the land lottery2) The Headright system came after the

Revolutionary war3) Land companies only paid 1 ½ cents an acre for

Mississippi and Alabama during the Yazoo land fraud

4) You could get up to 500 acres under the Headright system

5) The land lottery was replaced by the Headright system

6) South Carolina and Tennessee both had claims to the Yazoo land

7) Yazoo was the name of the Georgia Governor’s dog

8) Georgia benefitted from the Yazoo land fraud