yazoo companies

Yazoo Fraud \Yaz"oo Fraud\ (U. S. Hist.)
   The grant by the State of Georgia, by Act of Jan. 7, 1795, of
   35,000,000 acres of her western territory, for $500,000, to
   four companies known as the

   {Yazoo Companies} from the region granted; -- commonly so
      called, the act being known as the

   {Yazoo Frauds Act}, because of alleged corruption of the
      legislature, every member but one being a shareholder in
      one or more of the companies. The act granting the land
      was repealed in 1796 by a new legislature, and the
      repealing provision was incorporated in the State
      constitution in 1798. In 1802 the territory was ceded to
      the United States. The claims of the purchasers, whom
      Georgia had refused to compensate, were sustained by the
      United States Supreme Court, which (1810) declared the
      repealing act of 1796 unconstitutional. Congress in 1814
      ordered the lands sold and appropriated $5,000,000 to pay
      the claims.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]