Georgia Studies Unit 4 Georgia and the Westward

Georgia Studies Unit 4 – Georgia and the Westward Expansion Lesson 2: Land Policies Study Presentation

Georgia Studies “Unpacking the Standards”: Georgia and the Westward Expansion

Unit 4: Georgia and the Westward Expansion Lesson 2: Land Policies Verbs Nouns

Lesson 2: Land Policies SS 8 H 4 The student will explain significant factors that affected westward expansion of Georgia between 1789 and 1840.

Lesson 2: Land Policies Find the major verbs and nouns and label them on your “T” Chart. Element b. Evaluate the impact of land policies pursued by Georgia; include the headright system, land lotteries, and the Yazoo Land Fraud.

Unit 4: Ga and the Westward Expansion Lesson 2: Land Policies Verbs Nouns • Evaluate • Impact of land policies pursued by GA: 1. Headright System 2. Land Lotteries 3. Yazoo Act 4. Yazoo Land Fraud • Other: 5. Creek Indians

Lesson 4: Westward Expansion • Essential Question – What was the impact of land polices followed by Georgia?

Land Polices • After the American Revolution, Georgia gained access to a large amount of land from the American Indians who sided with the British. • The land Georgia claimed stretched all the way to the Mississippi River. • Revolutionary War veterans, among others, believed that all citizens had the right to land ownership in these newly claimed lands.

Land Polices • People and their leaders were in agreement about the people’s need for land to support a healthy democracy. • The division of the land to the people became a debatable issue.

Land Polices List the three land polices used by Georgia to give land to its people? • Headright system • Yazoo Land Act • Land lotteries

Headright System • Headright System= Every white male counted as a head of household. • Land allocation approach that provided the head of a family up to 200 acres of free land in the Georgia frontier.

Headright System • Indian land in Georgia east of the Oconee River was given to settlers

Headright System What impact did the Headright System have on Georgia and its citizens? • By 1783, under this system, Georgia gave thousands of acres of land to soldiers who had fought during the Revolution. • Under this system, men who did not fight in the Revolution could also receive free land. • This system ended when there were too many claimants and not enough land to give.

Yazoo Act • The second land policy approach was called the Yazoo Act (1795) • Named after a river in the present state of Mississippi.

Yazoo Act • Yazoo Act sold much of the land that would become Alabama and Mississippi to four land companies for $500, 000.

Yazoo Act What impact did the Yazoo Act have on Georgia and its citizens? • Georgia governor, George Mathews, signed the Yazoo Act into law and transferred 35 million acres of land to four land companies. • Land companies bribed members of the Georgia General Assembly to sell the land. • Almost immediately, Georgians protested the sale.

Yazoo Land Fraud • Around 1795, four companies bribed the governor and legislators • Bought millions of acres in western Georgia (today’s Alabama and Mississippi) for 1½¢ an acre

Yazoo Land Fraud • The public found out and protested • The legislators involved were voted out of office

Yazoo Land Fraud What impact did the Yazoo Land Fraud have on Georgia and its citizens? • The General Assembly (GA’s legislative branch) cancelled the law approving the sale; • Georgia give up the land to the U. S. government for $1. 25 million dollars.

Land Lottery System • The final approach Georgia used to allocate land was the land lottery system. • From 1805 -1833, Georgia had eight land lotteries. • These lotteries gave the average Georgian the opportunity to gain a large amount of land for pennies on the dollar.

Land Lottery System • To take part in a land lottery, a person would simply have to submit their names to the state and pay for a ticket. • On the day of the lottery, the participants’ names were placed in one drum while the land lots bearing a number would be placed in a second drum. • Participants could have their name placed in the drum more than once based on characteristics such as their age, marital status, and war service.

Land Lottery System What impact did the land lotteries have on Georgia and its citizens? • Headright system generally replaced by by a land lottery for government-owned land west of the Oconee= All white heads-ofhousehold could buy a lottery chance and win land; • The land lotteries gave three quarters of Georgia’s land to 100, 000 families.

Creek Indians • American Indian tribe that lived in southern Georgia.

Creek Indians • Removed from the state through treaties in the 1820’s.

Creek Indians What impact did the land polices have on Creek Indians? • In 1802, after the Yazoo Land Fraud, Georgia give up the land to the U. S. government for $1. 25 million dollars • Promise that the U. S. would turn down Indian land claims in the state • Remove the Creek Indians from Georgia.