Georgia Land Lotteries
The Georgia land lotteries were an early nineteenth century system of land distribution in Georgia. Under this system, qualifying citizens could register for a chance to win lots of land that had formerly (and in most cases recently) been occupied by the Creek Indians and the Cherokee Nation. The lottery system was utilized by the State of Georgia between the years 1805 and 1833. Although some other states used land lotteries, none were implemented at the scale of the Georgia contests.
Land lots were surveyed in five different sizes based on the perceived quality of the land. In 1805, land lots were 202.5 acres (0.8 km2) and 490 acres (2.0 km2). In 1807, land lots were 202.5 acres (0.8 km2). In 1820, land lots were 250 acres (1.0 km2) and 490 acres (2.0 km2). In 1821, land lots were 202.5 acres (0.8 km2). In the 1832 Land Lottery area, land lots were 160 acres (0.6 km2), while in the 1832 Gold Lottery area, land lots were 40 acres (0.2 km2).
Prior to 1803, Georgia distributed land via a headright system. Though designed to prohibit corruption, the system actually encouraged it. During early administration, the government abused this system and created what today is generally known as the Yazoo land scandal. The much-abused "headright" system resulted in the adoption of the lottery system in May 1803, under governor John Milledge. The first lottery occurred in 1805. For each person subscribing to a lottery, a ticket was placed in the barrel or wheel. Since each lottery was over-subscribed, tickets were added to compensate for the over-subscription.
In October 1831, Georgia voters went to the polls to vote between Governor George Gilmer who wished to reserve the Cherokee land, which contained several gold mines, for the State of Georgia, in order to pay for government projects and reduce taxes, and Wilson Lumpkin, who strongly supported giving away the lands (in what would become the State's last three land lotteries).
In an effort to keep their lands, certain Cherokees (and other interested parties)—including John Ross, Samuel Worcester and Major Ridge—took their fight against the State of Georgia to the United States Supreme Court. There were two major cases heard by the Court during the years of 1831 through 1832: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia. Although the U.S. Supreme Court initially ruled against the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme later granted sovereignty in Worcester v. Georgia, resulting in the invalidation of the Indian Removal Act. The U.S. President Andrew Jackson and the State of Georgia chose instead to ignore the Supreme Court ruling. Georgia continued its surveying and division of the Cherokee lands through the final "1832 Land and Gold Lotteries". President Jackson utilized the U.S. Army, forcing the "removal of the Cherokees.
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