Georgia On My Mind

While you may be hearing Ray Charles singing this classic tune in your head, I have Georgia, the state, on my mind for a different reason. I will unravel the mystery of the former shape of Georgia. Yes, it used to be much larger and differently shaped than it is today.

Like most of the former colonies, Georgia claimed that it owned a part of America’s western territory. Georgia used to stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and we can confidently say that the Peach State kept this land claim, right? Not a chance!

Along came some land companies, only a dozen years after the end of the Revolutionary War, that bribed Georgian legislators to sell a large portion of their western land claims for much less than their actual value. This angered the people of Georgia, who gave up on the legislators almost as quickly as they gave up their land.

New legislators were elected the following year, which immediately attempted to nullify the sale of the land claim and tried to return the money. But most of the land had already been sold off to third parties by that point, and they refused the money and the demand to return the land.

The dispute over the land continued for several years, neither side gave up an inch. Georgia finally ceded the land, not to the companies, but to the federal government. Now that the government was involved, the ongoing dispute was taken to court and Georgia’s attempts to backtrack on their agreement were deemed unconstitutional.

The federal government payed millions to the companies and third parties and occupied the land. At this time, the government was forming many new territories and states, and with this formerly Georgian land, the US formed the new territory of Mississippi. This territory is now part of the states of Alabama and, very surprisingly, Mississippi.

Now that I have shown you Georgia’s former shape, how many states do you think have changed in shape over the years? Share your answer in the comments.

Onward American  🇺🇸

_{^{Source: Yazoo Land Fraud}}

P.S. I realized after this post went live that it was Georgia’s birthday, so I edited to say —

Happy 234th Birthday, Georgia!