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Professor
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Yazoo land deal
Introduction
The Yazoo Land Fraud is one of Georgia’s biggest political scandals of all time. The fraud took place in 1795, a time during which Georgia’s legal boundary had stretched west to the Mississippi River. This time was filled with extensive real estate speculation. Many lobbyists made ties with greedy politicians in making insider deals to take advantage of various legislations. This paper will seek to determine how the Yazoo Land Deal came into existence. It will also seek to show the various consequences that translated to shaping the Native Americans, Georgia, and the Nation (Aboutnorthgeorgia.com).
The First Yazoo Act
Three companies were created by land speculators with a view of buying land at a cheaper prices and selling it at a higher price to get high-profit margins. The companies were the Yazoo Land Company, Tennessee Land Company, and Virginia Yazoo Land Company. The shareholders of the above companies were not Georgians. The land speculators were eyeing Georgia’s extended west area, as it had large tracts of land. In November 1789, a petition was made by the companies for the purchase of around 15.5 million acres of land. The terms of the purchase did not involve any deposit payment. The rich residents in Georgia created the Georgia Yazoo Company as a means of luring the Georgia legislature into selling them the land at a higher price. The Georgia legislature sold the land to the three companies that were the first bidders. An Act was passed after Governor Edward Telfair signed the legislation.
President Washington was not happy with the sale of the land since the land had its issues with both the Native Americans and the Spaniards. A countermeasure of the sale of Georgia land was made. The state treasurer declined to accept the payment of the purchase of land that was made by the three companies. The state did not issue title deeds and nullified the entire transaction (Encyclopedia Britannica).
The Second Yazoo Act
The greedy land developers did not give up their race to acquire the Georgia lands. In 1974, four companies petitioned to purchase land in the west of the state. These companies were comprised of some of the members of the other companies that tried to take the Georgia land in 1789. They were very careful not to commit the same mistake they did in the past. During the same time, another company was formed and made higher bids to the Georgia legislation compared to the four companies. This company was known as the Georgia Union Company. A bill named “An Act Supplementary to an Act” made it possible for the four companies to purchase the land. The companies sold the land at higher prices than the purchase price, making many profits.
The Aftermath
The sale of the land to the companies received a negative reception from the public. In 1796, the Yazoo Act was repealed by a new legislature. All copies of the Yazoo legislation were publicly burnt. The people who had purchased the land did not want to give it back to the state; this led to war(Georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu). The land dispute ended in 1814 after the Supreme Court refunded people all the money they had paid. The Native Americans got back their land, making it easier for them to co-exist peacefully with the other people. The nation learnt from its mistakes, and great care has been maintained when dealing with public land. Georgia and the nation at large are concerned with great considerations when passing land legislations.
Conclusion
The events that lead to the Yazoo land deal are a clear indication that there will always be greedy individuals in the society. It is therefore very important for a nation to consider the wellbeing of the public instead of benefiting the rich minority groups (Infoplease.com).
Works Cite
Aboutnorthgeorgia.com,. 'The Pine Barrens Speculation And Yazoo Land Fraud'. N.p., 2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
Encyclopedia Britannica,. 'Yazoo Land Fraud | United States History'. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
Encyclopedia Britannica,. 'Yazoo Land Fraud | United States History'. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
Georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu,. 'History - Yazoo Land Fraud - Georgiainfo'. N.p., 2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
Infoplease.com,. 'Yazoo Land Fraud'. N.p., 2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.