Georgia Land Lottery
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Georgia Land Lottery was an early Nineteenth-Century system of land re-distribution for Georgia's citizens. Under this system, qualifying citizens could register for a chance to win lots of land that had formerly (and in most cases recently) belonged to the Cherokee Indians and Creek Indians. This lottery system was utilized by the State of Georgia between the years 1805 and 1832. These lotteries were unique to the State of Georgia. No other state used a lottery system to distribute land. The lots distributed were 490 acres in the 1805 and the 1820 land lottery. The size of the lots during the lottery of 1821 was 202.5 acres. Other lots were the 40-acre "gold lands" distributed during the Gold Lottery of 1832 at the time of the Georgia Gold Rush.
Prior to 1803, Georgia distributed land via a headright system. Though designed to prohibit corruption, that system actually encouraged it. During early administrations, the government abused this system and created what today is generally known as the Yazoo Land Fraud. The much-abused "headright" system resulted in the adoption of the lottery system in May, 1803 under governor John Milledge. The first lottery under the new system 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. According to the State Archives, there are presently no records remaining of any of the "fortunate drawers" (as they were called at the time)--citizens who drew the tickets in each lottery--for any lottery after the 1805 lottery.
In October 1831, Georgia voters went to the polls to vote between Governor George Gilmer (who wished to reserve the gold mines for the State of Georgia, to pay for government projects and to reduce taxes), and Wilson Lumpkin, who strongly supported the lottery system of giving away the Cherokee land (in what would become the State's last land lottery).
In an effort to keep their lands, certain Cherokee Indians (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 1831 through 1832: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia. Though the Cherokees actually won the court battles, U.S. President Andrew Jackson and the State of Georgia chose instead to ignore the Supreme Court ruling--Georgia, by continuing its division of the Cherokee lands surveyed, through the final "1832 Land and Gold Lotteries", and--with the help of President Jackson--by requesting the U.S. Army's "removal" of the Cherokees.
The hapless Cherokee Indians, then, though victorious in their court fight, were nonetheless forced to be "resettled" in the "Indian Territory" (which would later become the State of Oklahoma) due to the greed of the citizens of the State of Georgia for their lands and "gold". This forced resettlement became known almost immediately as the infamous "Trail of Tears", during which many of the Cherokee died from exposure, disease, or starvation. It was a very sad and regrettable chapter in the history of the State of Georgia.
Land speculation in these land lotteries was common. Many lots were sold sight-unseen by the winners for other lots or for gold. Real estate agents, individual citizens, and even unscrupulous lottery officials attempted in every way imaginable to secure promising gold belt lots or valuable Cherokee plantation lots. During the 1832 lottery alone, some 85,000 people competed for 18,309 land lots to be given away, and at least 133,000 people competed for 35,000 gold belt lots to be given away. During the 27 years that the State of Georgia used the lottery system, the rules and the methods of the system remained virtually unchanged. Lottery fees depended on the winning ticket and the size of the lot won, but in general, they only covered the cost of running the lottery. The State did not profit from allocating these lands. Fractional lots were sold in each of the lotteries, and some lands, especially those near major rivers, were exempt from the lottery. These were distributed by the State using alternate, frequently corrupt, methods.
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[edit] Records of 1805-1832 Land Lottery
1805 Land Lottery (First) This encompassed Creek Indian lands just west of the Oconee River ceded to the state in 1802 and a small strip of land in the southeast section of the state.
1807 Land Lottery (Second) Included additional Creek lands.
1820 Land Lottery (Third) After the Creek War (1814), President Jackson demanded from the Creeks an immense area of land which would become the southern third of the entire state of Georgia. A second section of land in northeast Georgia was included. This other, smaller section defined the eastern end of the Cherokee Nation for 12 years.
1821 Land Lottery (Fourth) Further Creek cessions
1827 Land Lottery (Fifth) Signaled the end of the Creek Indians in Georgia.
1832 Land Lottery (Sixth) This lottery, along with the 1832 Gold Lottery, gave the Cherokee Nation to Georgia settlers. Sparked the "Trail of Tears."
1832 Gold Lottery (Seventh) By the time of the gold lottery the Georgia Gold Rush was already beginning to wind down. The state did not guarantee that gold existed on the lots given away.
[edit] Final Land Lottery in 1833
The State of Georgia held one final land lottery in December, 1833. The 1833 Land Lottery (Eighth) was held to distribute lots and fractions from the 1832 Land Lottery and from the 1832 Gold Lottery not placed in the prize wheels during earlier lotteries.
[edit] References
- Smith, James F., The Cherokee Land Lottery. Published 1838
