Yazoo Land Fraud document


Descriptive Summary
Title: Yazoo Land Fraud document
Creator: Randolph, Edmund, 1753-1813
Creator: United States. Congress (4th : 1795-1797)
Inclusive Dates: 1795 March 3, 1795 July 28
Language(s): English
Extent: 1 folder(s) (2 items)
Collection Number: ms1457
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

The Yazoo land fraud was one of the most significant events in the post-Revolutionary history of Georgia. The bizarre climax to a decade of frenzied speculation in the state's public lands, the Yazoo sale of 1795 did much to shape Georgia politics and to strain relations with the federal government for a generation.

From the New Georgia Encyclopedia, Yazoo Land Fraud (Accessed March 10, 2009)

Scope and Content

The collection consists of two documents related to the Yazoo Land Fraud. The first piece, dated March 3, 1795, is the enrolled copy of the congressional resolution authorizing "that the President of the United States be, and hereby is requested to give directions to the Attorney General, to collect, digest, report to the next Congress, the Charters, treaties and other documents relative to, and explanatory of the title to the land situate in the south-western parts of the United States, and claimed by certain companies, under a law of the State of Georgia...". Accompanying it is a manuscript circular letter dated July 28, 1795, signed by Edmund Randolph as Secretary of State to Thomas Pinckney, Minister Plenipotentiary in London discussing the resolution.