jS ECONOMICS OF LAND TENURE IN GEORGIA [16 



pancy and possession were easy, for, owing to the abund- 

 ance of the land and the scanty population, it was the 

 purpose of the acts to induce settlers to come. 



The other part of the state was parceled, and came 

 into the possession of individuals under the operation of 

 land lottery acts. In order to encourage the peopling 

 of the western part of the state a liberal system of land 

 distribution was practiced as fast as the Indian claims 

 were extinguished. In all there were eight distributions 

 of land made at intervals from 1803 to 1833. 1 The gen- 

 eral plan, according to which these allotments were made, 

 is not only interesting as a bit of history, but has an 

 essential bearing upon the central theme of this essay. 

 The spirit of the plan may be seen from the provisions 

 of the first land lottery act, that, namely, of May, 1803, 

 providing for the disposition of the lands acquired the 

 preceding year from the Creek Indians. 2 The lands con- 

 sisted of two separate strips, one in the central part of 

 the state and the other in the southeastern corner. The 

 first tract, including parts of what are now Morgan, Put- 

 nam, Baldwin, Wilkinson and Laurens counties, was to be 

 surveyed and divided into ten land districts, and these 

 into square lots of two hundred and two and one-half 

 acres each. Likewise a second tract was to be laid 

 off into three land districts, and these into lots con- 

 taining four hundred and ninety acres each. Since 

 there were not enough plots to grant one to each 

 person, and since it was considered desirable to give 

 each man equal chances of sharing in the state's 

 bounty, and since the lottery idea was characteristic of 

 the times, it is not surprising to find that the act pro- 

 lottery Acts may be found in Prince, Digest of Ga. Laws (1837), 

 PP. 545-568. 

 2 Prince, Digest of Ga. Laws (1822), p. 284. 



