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what was the yazoo land fraud
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The Yazoo land fraud (often called the Yazoo land scandal) was a major American land-and-corruption scandal in the 1790s involving the sale of large tracts of land that Georgia claimed in what are now Alabama and Mississippi.
What happened
- In 1794–1795 the Georgia legislature passed laws authorizing the sale of huge tracts of western land (along the Yazoo River and west to the Mississippi) to several private land companies. The area sold totaled on the order of tens of millions of acres.
- It was later revealed that many Georgia legislators and other officials had been bribed with company stock and other payoffs to approve extremely cheap sales. Public outrage followed when the corruption became known.
- In 1796 a newly elected Georgia legislature repealed the sales in the Rescinding Act and tried to void the contracts and cancel the transfers. Meanwhile the land companies had already sold parcels to many third-party purchasers.
Legal and political consequences
- The dispute produced a long series of lawsuits that culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court case Fletcher v. Peck (1810). The Court held that Georgia’s act of rescinding the grants was an unconstitutional impairment of contracts (a significant early use of the Contracts Clause) and affirmed that state laws could be reviewed by the federal courts.
- The controversy also helped lead to Georgia’s 1802 cession of its western land claims to the federal government (the Compact of 1802), clearing the way for the organized creation of the Mississippi and Alabama territories and eventual states.
Significance
- The scandal exposed the risks of rampant land speculation and corruption in the early Republic.
- Fletcher v. Peck was an important early decision establishing the sanctity of contracts and the Supreme Court’s power to strike down state laws that violate the Constitution.
The name “Yazoo” comes from the Yazoo River (and the Yazoo tribe) in the region involved.
What happened
- In 1794–1795 the Georgia legislature passed laws authorizing the sale of huge tracts of western land (along the Yazoo River and west to the Mississippi) to several private land companies. The area sold totaled on the order of tens of millions of acres.
- It was later revealed that many Georgia legislators and other officials had been bribed with company stock and other payoffs to approve extremely cheap sales. Public outrage followed when the corruption became known.
- In 1796 a newly elected Georgia legislature repealed the sales in the Rescinding Act and tried to void the contracts and cancel the transfers. Meanwhile the land companies had already sold parcels to many third-party purchasers.
Legal and political consequences
- The dispute produced a long series of lawsuits that culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court case Fletcher v. Peck (1810). The Court held that Georgia’s act of rescinding the grants was an unconstitutional impairment of contracts (a significant early use of the Contracts Clause) and affirmed that state laws could be reviewed by the federal courts.
- The controversy also helped lead to Georgia’s 1802 cession of its western land claims to the federal government (the Compact of 1802), clearing the way for the organized creation of the Mississippi and Alabama territories and eventual states.
Significance
- The scandal exposed the risks of rampant land speculation and corruption in the early Republic.
- Fletcher v. Peck was an important early decision establishing the sanctity of contracts and the Supreme Court’s power to strike down state laws that violate the Constitution.
The name “Yazoo” comes from the Yazoo River (and the Yazoo tribe) in the region involved.
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