"Headright" was a rudimentary system of granting lands to able-bodied men (women were pretty much excluded from holding land at the time) dating back to the early 1600's in the Virginia colony. One of the earliest problems faced by Georgia under the trustee rule was the lack of ability to attract men who were willing and able to produce crops. Men were unwilling to work for the meager sums of money, but give them land and they came in droves, for with land came power.

Georgia was faced with hostile Creek and Cherokee Indians, and the headright system seemed to be the perfect solution. By granting lands to settlers they would build a buffer zone around the state on the backs of upcountry farmers ("crackers> to the coastal wealthy, because their products had to be cracked before being used).

Georgia passed a number of headright laws, but it was in 1782 that headrights were granted, almost all to those who fought for the state during the Revolution.

Revolutionary War soldiers merely had to bring a piece of paper signed by their commanding officer to get a headright grant (grant size depended on the time the paper was turned in and the rank of the soldier). The practice was almost immediately corrupted by some very prominent men including Elijah Clark, Edward Telfair and Ignatius Few, who signed vouchers for men who would claim headright land then deed it to their former commanders.

After the Revolution land speculation was rampant in the new states. Georgia's contribution was land scandal that that is mentioned by most history books to illustrate the practice, the Yazoo Land Fraud. Respected Georgia politicians decided to line their pockets with graft money, first in 1789 (this one fell through when the politicians realized that they were dealing with men who were shadier than themselves, including Patrick Henry) and again in 1795. Georgia passed a law granting land (20 million acres the first time, almost 40 million dollars the second time)