USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 15
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The commissioners, thus baffled, returned to
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NEGOTIATIONS.
Augusta, and obtained from Governor Walton a' statement of the various negotiations between the Georgians and the Creeks, together with a list of the citizens who had been killed, and of the property stolen during the recent hostilities.
The answers of Governor Walton placed mat- ters in so very different a light, both as regarded the fair and open manner in which the treaties with the Indians had been made, and the great injuries sustained by their pitiless depredations, that, basing their report upon the evidence laid' before them, the commissioners expressed an opinion favourable to the three treaties made by Georgia, and Washington, urged by the demands of the Georgia delegation in Congress, was at first inclined to embark in a war against the In- dian confederacy.
More prudent counsels, however, prevailed. It was found that the expenses of such a war as would be necessary to bring the Creeks to terms would not be less than fifteen millions of dollars ; and it was reasonably feared that the general government would not be able to sustain so large an outlay while it was struggling with difficulty under the debts incurred during the war of the Revolution.
At length a secret negotiation was determined on. Colonel Willett was selected by Washington as the agent to visit the Creek nation by a cir- cuitous route, and endeavour to persuade McGil-
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livray to return with him to New York, which yet remained the seat of the federal government.
In this mission Willett was eminently success- ful. On the 13th of April, 1790, he reached the residence of General Pickens, on the Seneca River. Having explained to the latter the ob- ject of his journey, he was immediately furnished with letters to various chiefs and traders within the nation, by whom he was received and enter- tained with a generous warmth and hospitality, which contrasted strangely with the consciousness that the country through which he was passing was the constant scene of murder and robbery. After a journey of ten days through the Chero- kee country, Colonel Willett arrived at the house of a wealthy trader, by the name of Scott. This place was the first Creek settlement to which he had penetrated. Learning that McGillivray was then on a visit to Ocfuske, on the Tallapoosa River, Colonel Willett resolved to continue his journey, and at length came up with the Creek chief, at the house of Mr. Graison, in the Hil- labees.
When the letter from General Washington had been received and read by McGillivray, he de- tained Willett at Graison's for two days, during which time various conversations passed between the agent and McGillivray, which, without doubt, influenced the subsequent action of the latter.
Leaving Graison's, the party, accompanied by
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THE HOLLOWING KING.
McGillivray and his servant, arrived on the 4th of May at the Hickory ground-a portion of the Creek territory, which the Indians considered holy-where there was a large town, and in it one of the residences of the chief.
From this place McGillivray issued his sum- mons to the chiefs of the lower towns, to meet him at Ositchey on the 17th of May, for the pur- pose of consulting on public business.
The assembly met at the place appointed, and when Colonel Willett had delivered an address inviting them to the council-house at New York, where General Washington desired with his own hand to sign with Colonel McGillivray a treaty of peace and alliance, and offering many other inducements for the chiefs present to embrace the opportunity, he retired, leaving them to de- liberate upon his overtures.
In about an hour after, Colonel Willett was again called in, when the Hollowing King ad- dressed him in the following speech :
" We are glad to see you. You have come a great way, and as soon as we fixed our eyes upon you we were made glad. We are poor, and have not the knowledge of the white people. We were invited to the treaty at the Rock Landing. We went there. Nothing was done. We were disappointed, and came back with sorrow. The road to your great council-house is long, and the weather is hot; but our beloved chief shall go
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
with you, and such others as we may appoint. We will agree to all things which our beloved chief shall do. We will count the time he is away, and when he comes back, we shall all be glad to see him with a treaty that shall be as strong as the hills and lasting as the rivers. May you be preserved from every evil."
The voice of the upper Creeks expressing sentiments similar to those of the lower, no time was lost in arranging for the departure of the deputation.
On the 1st of June, Colonel McGillivray, with his nephew and two servants, accompanied by Colonel Willett, set out from Little Tallasse for New York. They were all mounted on horse- back, and attended by pack-horses. At the Stone Mountain, the Coweta and Cusseta chiefs joined them ; and at the house of General Pick- ens, they were met by the Tallasse King, Chin- nobe, the « great Natchez warrior," and several other chiefs. The deputation being complete, twenty-six warriors started for New York in three wagons, and four others on horseback. Colonel McGillivray and his suite were mounted, the agent riding in a sulky.
Taking the route by way of Guildford, North Carolina, the party passed through Richmond and Fredericksburg, and arrived at Philadelphia on the 17th of July ; having been received every-
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CREEK EMBASSY IN NEW YORK. 265
where on their journey with marked kindness X and attention.
Sailing thence to New York, the chiefs were recived by the Tammany Society of that city in the full Indian dress of their order, were marched in full procession up Wall street, past the Federal Hall, where Congress was then in session, and from thence to the house of General Washington, to whom they were introduced with much pomp and ceremony.
The St. Tammany Society next entertained the chiefs at a public dinner. As being the son of a Scotsman, McGillivray was chosen an hono- rary member of the St. Andrew's Society.
Spain now began to feel uneasy. The au- thorities in Florida and Louisiana no sooner learned that McGillivray had departed for New York, than the governor-general at Ha- vana was notified. of the circumstance. After some correspondence upon the subject, an agent was sent from East Florida with a large sum of money, ostensibly to purchase flour, but in reality to embarrass the negotiations with the Creeks. Washington, apprized of the presence of this officer, had his movements so closely watched that the object of his mission was defeated.
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Having first advised with the senate as to the terms of an arrangement, Washington appointed Henry Knox to negotiate with McGillivray and the chiefs, and a treaty having been concluded,
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
it was solemnly ratified the day after the adjourn- ment of Congress.
By this treaty, all the lands south and west of the Oconee,-including the tract recently claimed and partly occupied by Georgia,-were solemnly guaranteed to the Crecks; the latter resigning all pretensions to any lands north and east of that river, and acknowledging themselves to be under the sole protection of the United States.
As an inducement to the Indians to come into this arrangement, and to secure their fidelity, it was provided that the sum of fifteen hundred dol- lars should be paid annually to the Creek nation ; while by a secret article agreed upon between McGillivray and Washington, annuities of one hundred dollars were to be paid to each of the principal chiefs, and to McGillivray, as agent of the United States, the sum of twelve hundred dollar's per annum, with the rank of Brigadier- general.
That provision in the treaty of New York, by which the United States guaranteed to the In- dians the possession of the Oconee lands, created an intense excitement in Georgia. An associa- tion was formed for settling the lands in defiance of the treaty ; but the fire of resistance gradually burned itself out. The legislature of the state severely criticised the articles of the treaty, but recognised its validity, and pledged the faith of the state to support it.
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BOWLES THE FREEBOOTER.
On the other hand, the Creeks themselves were far from satisfied, and instigated by one Bowles, a noted freebooter, who aspired to rival McGil- livray in the affections of the Indians, the in- fluence of the great chief appeared for some time to be gradually on the wane.
McGillivray, however, was not idle. Knowing that his treaty with the United States could not be otherwise than most distasteful to the Spanish authorities in Louisiana and Florida, he quitted the nation and descended to New Orleans, leav- ing Bowles and his emissaries to exult in the be- lief that he would never dare to show his face upon the Coosa again. But the rejoicing of the freebooter did not last long. His piratical seizure of vessels trading under the protection of the Spanish flag soon brought him under the notice of that nation, which only waited a favourable opportunity for his capture.
In the mean time, McGillivray, who was visit- ing Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans, suc- ceeded in establishing himself in as great favour as ever with the Spanish authorities. Here he arranged for the capture of Bowles, who was shortly afterward brought to New Orleans in chains, and sent from thence a prisoner to Spain ; while McGillivray, returning to the banks of the Coosa, was speedily restored to the affections of his nation, and the full exercise of his former power.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA. -
CHAPTER XXIII.
New Constitution adopted-Synopsis-Indian territory-Specu- lations in wild land-Combined Society-Yazoo companies -Sale of Yazoo lands-Sale annulled-Seat of government removed to Louisville-Education-University of Georgia -Congress passes the fugitive slave law-Liability of states. to individuals-Land speculations-Fraudulent sale by the legislature of Yazoo lands-Sale ratified by Congress-Great excitement in Georgia-Yazoo land sales repudiated-Records burned-Difficulties in relation to the Yazoo sales-Congress appoints commissioners to negotiate for the public territory of Georgia-Compact entered into-Report of commissioners concerning the Yazoo claims-Randolph's resolutions.
THE old constitution of Georgia being neither suited to the wants of the people nor the progres- sive spirit of the age, a convention was called for the purpose of framing a constitution better cal- culated to promote the interests of an independent state.
This convention met in 1789, and was in session simultaneously with the first session of Congress. Taking the Federal Constitution in some respects as a model, the legislative power, instead of being vested, as before, in a single assembly, was under the new instrument to be exercised jointly by a . senate and house of representatives : the senators to be chosen for three years, one by each of the eleven counties. They were required to be twenty- eight years of age, and to be qualified, like the
NEW CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. 269
representatives under the first constitution, by the possession of two hundred and fifty acres of land, or other property to the value of twelve hundred dollars. The qualification of members of the house, which body was to consist of thirty- five members, was the possession of two hundred acres of land, or other property to the value of seven hundred dollars.
No clergyman could be a member of either house. The test of Protestantism, required by the first constitution, was dispensed with. The elective franchise was extended to all male tax- paying freemen, the former property qualification being dropped.
The governor was to be chosen biennially ; the house to nominate three persons as candidates, one of whom the senate was to select ; the candi- dates to be thirty years of age, the owners of five hundred acres of land within the state, and of other property to the value of four thousand four hundred and forty-four dollars and forty-four cents.
The powers of the governor were considerably enlarged. He was to have the pardoning power, except in cases of treason ; the appointment of all militia officers, and a veto on all laws not re passed by a two-thirds vote.
The judges and other civil officers were to be chosen by the assembly in the same way with the governor ; the judges for three years. The same
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
system of county courts was continued as before, to be held by the chief-justice of the state, assisted by three local judges for each county ; but the assembly was authorized to constitute out of these judges a court of errors and appeals, empowered to grant new trials.
This constitution, like the old one, prohibited entails, and provided, when there was no will, for an equal distribution of all estates, landed as well as personal, among all the children.
All persons were to enjoy the free exercise of religion, without being obliged to contribute to the support of any religious profession but their own.
Georgia was rapidly increasing in population, and as further constitutional changes might soon become necessary, it was provided that a conven- tion of three persons from each county should meet for that purpose at the end of five years.
The part of Georgia to which, at this time, the Indian title had been extinguished, and which had begun to be occupied by settlers, was limited to a tract along the Savannah a considerable dis- tance above Augusta, and extending westward to the Alatamaha, and its eastern branch the Oconee.
The Indians had also ceded the sea-coast be- tween the Alatamaha and the St. Mary's, but this tract was almost destitute of inhabitants. By far the larger part of what now constitutes the state was in possession of the Creeks and
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THE COMBINED SOCIETY.
Cherokees. The Georgians, however, claimed in sovereignty, with exclusive right of pre-emption from the Indians, not only the whole of the pre- sent state, but also the district west of the Chat- tahoochee, out of which the two states of Alabama and Mississippi have since been formed.
The closing of the Revolutionary war involving the older states in great pecuniary embarrass- ments, led many persons, who desired to avoid the heavy taxation which was the consequence, to migrate in search of new lands. An extraor- dinary spirit of land speculation was the natural result.
Some ambitious spirits, looking to the western and southwestern territory, as offering an oppor- tunity for acquiring immense wealth and noble domains, formed an association under the name of the " Combined Society," and exacted from every individual connected with it an oath of secrecy as to their plans and movements. 1
This society was composed of many persons occupying high stations in civil life, who were influenced by the love of personal aggrandize- ment rather than by sentiments of pure patriot- ism, and of soldiers connected with the war of the Revolution, who had fought against the British arms more from a desire for an oligarchy in America, than to throw off a foreign yoke. The secrets, however, of this dangerous combination becoming known, and the intentions of the mem-
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
bers deservedly stigmatized, the society was dis- banded.
In the year 1789, a notorious swindler, calling himself Thomas Washington, but whose real name was Walsh, set on foot a speculation in public lands, which was subsequently known as the Yazoo fraud.
This man associated himself with others, and, instigated by the descriptions of one Sullivan, formerly a captain in the Revolutionary army, and who had been compelled to fly to the Missis- sippi for his life, persuaded the Virginia Yazoo Company to apply to the new legislature of Geor- gia for permission to purchase an extensive tract of wild land beyond the Chattahoochee. The South Carolina and the Tennessee Yazoo Com- , panies made application at the same time, and for the same purpose. All three of the appli- cants were successful. The legislature agreed to sell out the pre-emption right of seven millions of acres to the Virginia Yazoo Company, for ninety-three thousand seven hundred and forty- two dollars ; five millions of acres to the Carolina Yazoo Company, for sixty-six thousand nine hun- dred and sixty-four dollars; and three and a half millions of acres to the Tennessee Yazoo Company, for forty-six thousand eight hundred and seventy-five dollars.
It was one of the conditions of sale that the money should be paid within two years; but as
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PROMOTION OF EDUCATION.
the companies insisted upon paying, not in cash, but in depreciated Georgia paper, a succeeding legislature took advantage of that circumstance to declare the bargain at an end. All the pur- chasers did not assent to this view ; but the con- troversy on this subject was soon overshadowed by another, which sprang up a few years later, growing out of another sale of these same lands to other companies.
The new legislature fixed the seat of govern- ment at Louisville, a new town west of Augusta, and pretty nearly a central point to the then inhabited territory.
As early as the year 1784, an attempt was made to promote the cause of education, by Abraham Baldwin, a graduate of Yale, and one of the best classical scholars of his time. Though he had not been long settled in Georgia, his popularity was already so great as to obtain for him a seat in the assembly. During the session, he originated the plan of the University of Geor- gia, and obtained from the legislature a grant of forty thousand acres of wild land toward its endowment. A board of trustees was organized the following year, but the land being situated on the northwestern frontier, the danger of In- dian hostilities, joined to the difficulty of finding purchasers, kept the fund for many years un- available. . The country was new, land abundant and cheap ; much even of a good quality could
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
be obtained by merely surveying it, and paying the fees for granting. The lands, therefore, of the university could not be made available for any valuable purpose, and the trustees were unable to commence the institution. By the treaty of Beaufort, five thousand acres were lost by falling into the state of South Carolina. None of the lands belonging to the university were sold until 1803, and then only a small por- tion, and at a low price. Most of them remained unsold and unproductive till 1816, when they found purchasers, and one hundred thousand dollars were vested in bank, as a permanent fund for the support of the institution.
In connection with this subject, it may not be improper in this place to show what Georgia has done to promote the cause of education through- out the state. On the 31st of July, 1783, the legislature appropriated one hundred acres of land to each county for the support of free schools. In 1792, an act was passed appropri- ating one thousand pounds sterling for the endow- ment of an academy in each county.
In 1817, two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars were appropriated to the support of poor schools. The following year, every tenth and one hundredth lot of land in seven new counties were set apart for educational purposes ; and in 1821, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were devoted to the support of county academies.
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FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.
But although the appropriations by the legis -. lature have been so liberal, and private subscrip- tions to the amount of six hundred thousand dollars have aided in advancing so wise and humane an object, education has never been more than partial, owing to an apathetic indifference on the part of the great mass of the popula- tion.
During the session of 1793, the Congress of the United States passed an act which, although it attracted but little attention at the time, has since acquired peculiar importance from its be- coming, in its revised and more stringent form, the test of harmonious action between the North and South. It was an act regulating the sur- render of fugitives from justice, and the restora- tion of fugitives from service, as provided for in the constitution.
Fugitives from justice, on the demand of the executive of the state whence they had fled upon the executive of any state in which they might be found, accompanied with an indictment or affidavit charging crime upon them, were to be delivered up, and carried back for trial.
' In case of the escape out of any state or ter- ritory of any person held to service or labour under the laws thereof, the person to whom such labour was due, his agent, or attorney, might seize the fugitive and carry him before any United States judge, or before any magistrate of the
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
city, town, or county in which the arrest was made ; and such judge or magistrate, on proof to his satisfaction, either oral or by affidavit before any other magistrate, that the person seized was really a fugitive, and did owe labour as alleged, was to grant a certificate to that effect to the claimant, this certificate to serve as a sufficient warrant for the removal of the fugitive to the state whence he had fled.
Any person obstructing in any way such sei- zure or removal, or harbouring or concealing any fugitive after notice, was liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars, to be recovered by the claimant.
Shortly before the termination of the session, the Supreme Court of the United States decided the first great constitutional question brought before it. One Chisholm, being a citizen of another state, had brought an action against the State of Georgia, to recover a sum of money alleged to be due him by that state. This raised the question whether the states were liable to be sued by individual citizens of other states. Judge Iredell, who seemed to lean against the jurisdiction, wished to escape a decision on an objection to the form of the action. The other judges overruled the objection, and held that, as the' United States constituted one nation, the alleged sovereignty of the separate states must be considered to be so far modified thereby as to
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LAND SPECULATIONS. 1
subject them, under the terms of the Constitution, to suits in the national courts.
The day after this decision was pronounced, Sedgwick offered a resolution in the house of representatives for an amendment to the Consti- tution, protecting the states against suits by in- dividuals. No action was had on the motion at this time, but, subsequently, such an amendment prevailed.
The speculations in wild lands still continued. Between the years 1791 and 1795, most of the public domain, which had passed into the hands of particular states, had become exhausted. All the most valuable tracts held by Massachusetts had become individual property. Out of seven millions of acres owned by New York, five and a . half millions had been disposed of at a single sale. Almost the whole of the large tracts which, upon the confiscation of the proprietary estates, had come into the possession of Penn- sylvania, had been bought up by speculators. ..
The latter now turned their attention to the lands claimed by Georgia west of the Chattahoo- chee, and between that river and the Mississippi. In 1794 and 1795, the general assembly passed an act conveying to four associations, called by the respective names of the Georgia, the Geor- gia Mississippi, the Upper Mississippi, and the Tennessee Companies, thirty-five millions of acres of land, for five hundred thousand dollars,
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
lying between the Mississippi, Tennessee, Coosa, Alabama, and Mobile Rivers. The bill authorizing the sale was contested in both houses of Con- gress. It was passed by a majority of ten in the house of representatives and two in the senate. The sale of this land, and its ratification by Congress, produced great excitement through- out Georgia, where it was known that all in the state legislature who voted for the bill, with one or two exceptions, were directly or indirectly bribed.
From the very beginning of this fraudulent scheme, General James Jackson, of Georgia, who was then in the senate of the United States, used all his influence in opposition to its consummation. The defeat of the Yazoo act was the absorbing subject of his thoughts. In 1795, yielding to the wishes of many of his fellow-citizens, he resigned his seat in the senate, and, returning home, was elected a member of the legislature, by which he was appointed a member of the committee authorized to investigate the conduct of their predecessors. The whole corruption was exposed and overturned; the odious act was repealed, and it was determined to obliterate the remembrance of it from history by committing the records to the flames. The burning was executed with great formality. The two houses, moving in procession for that purpose, were pre- seded by a committee bearing the obnoxious
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BURNING OF THE YAZOO LAND ACT.
parchments. A fire having been kindled in front of the state-house, the committee handed the do- cuments to the president of the senate, he to the speaker of the house, he to the clerk, and the clerk to the doorkeeper; who, while thrusting them into the flames, cried out with a loud and decisive voice : " God save the state, and long preserve her rights, and may every attempt to injure them perish, as these wicked and corrupt acts now do !"
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