Public Domain Land in the United States

Public Domain Land in the United States

Public domain land in the United States was originally territory located outside of the thirteen colonies and the present state of Texas – acquired by treaties entered into with European crowns, by purchases from foreign governments, or by grants from one or more of the original 13 states.

The Peace of Paris of 1783

At the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, the former American colonies entered into a peace treaty with the British government on September 3, 1783 – known as the Peace of Paris of 1783.

That same year, the King’s representatives also entered into separate peace treaties with other European governments, which had consequences for their respective claims to lands in the Americas.

The Mississippi River marked the boundary line between the lands claimed by Great Britain and Spain, at the close of the Revolutionary War.

British Concessions to the Former American Colonies

In the Peace of Paris of 1783, the British government relinquished its claims over that part of America located:

east of the Mississippi River,
north of the Florida territory claimed by Spain, and
south of Canada – which was retained by the British.

However, those former American colonies having previous claims over such relinquished lands – acquired either:

by charter from the King of England,
by treaties entered into with Native American tribes, or
by conquest

considered their claims to still be valid – which was a problem for the new Confederation of States.

In addition, certain Native American tribes had continuing recognizable claims over the lands relinquished by the British government, as did thousands of private individuals having received grants from English, French, Virginian, or American governments.

Preexisting Native American Claims

Native American Indian land claims had been confirmed by

the Treaty of Paris and Proclamation of 1763,
the Quebec Act of 1774,
the Proclamation of the Continental Congress of 1783,
the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and
the Treaty of Greenville of 1795.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had specifically prohibited Indian land rights from being

“invaded or disturbed”

and

“their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress.”

The Treaty of Greenville of 1795 recognized Indian rights over all of the Illinois territory – other than certain lands held pursuant to French land grants.

Other lands were acquired by treaty from Indian tribes – including millions of acres acquired by treaties in 1803 and 1804.

Preexisting Individual Claims

Thousands of individuals had claims to public domain land in the United States, based upon previous grants awarded by:

the King of France – prior to 1763,
the King of England – prior to 1778,
“improvement” grants by the Commonwealth of Virginia – prior to 1784,
“head-of-family” grants by the United States – in 1788, and
“militia” grants by the United States – in 1791.

France had granted large tracts of land in the Illinois territory to its military commanders – who had freely awarded village land in such locations as they saw fit – and to missionary groups.

The Kings of England had made a limited number of small land grants – preferring instead to stay on good terms with, and to establish trade relations with, the Native American Indian tribes – prohibiting new settlements west of the Allegheny Mountains, pursuant to:

the Treaty of Paris and Proclamation of 1763, and
the Quebec Act of 1774.

However, England did recognize the validity of previous land grants made by the King of France – providing that American settlers then residing in such lands swore allegiance to the English Crown.

In addition, speculators were allowed to purchase large tracts of lands from the Indian tribes.

Preexisting Colonial Claims

In 1776, the Commonwealth of Virginia declared that land which is now located in the State of Kentucky was a county belonging to Virginia, and in 1778 had designated certain land northwest of the Ohio River as another Virginia county.

In addition, North Carolina claimed ownership of land which is now located in the State of Tennessee.

Both Virginia and North Carolina had opened offices to handle the sale of lands located in such territories, and had also made land grants therein to soldiers in payment for services rendered during the Revolutionary war.

In conflict with Virginia’s claims to territory north of the Ohio River, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York also made claims over such lands.

Seven of the original thirteen states – Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia – claimed that their western boundary lines extended into the former British possessions located south of Canada.

However, the other six members of the American Confederation of States disputed claims by the “landed states,” and believed that the United States itself should become the successor of the western lands formerly governed by the British – because the Revolutionary war victory had been achieved by the combined forces of all 13 of the former British colonies.

Public Domain Lands

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the original agreement among the thirteen former colonies which established the United States of America, and went into effect as of March 1, 1781, after its ratification by all of the states.

During 1780-1781, New York ceded to the United States of America – for the common good of the country – its disputed claims to the unsettled territory extending west to the Mississippi River.

However, the claims of Virginia were was not released to the United States of America until 1784.

Other states eventually followed – with Georgia the last state to do so – in 1802.

Therefore, by 1802 all of the public lands west of the original 13 colonies – from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River – became “public domain” lands owned by the federal government.

The Northwest Territory

The territorial land claimed by the Commonwealth of Virginia lying easterly of the Mississippi River was ceded to the United States on March 1, 1784, as the Northwest Territory.

One of the conditions imposed by the Commonwealth of Virginia with respect to the land ceded in 1784 was that the existing inhabitants in such lands who professed themselves “citizens of Virginia” should have:

“their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties.”

Virginia’s condition was accepted by the United States Congress, and incorporated into the Land Ordinance of 1787.

St. Clair County

In 1790, the first County in the Illinois territory was established – St. Clair County – named after Arthur St. Clair, its governor.

In 1801, St. Clair County was extended northward to Lake Superior, and westward to the Mississippi River, by William Henry Harrison – then governor of the Indiana territory – and later President of the United States.

Land Ownership by the United States

Prior to 1782, the United States federal government had never been the owner of any land.

However, after the various states had ceded to the United States of America their claims over the western territory previously governed by the British, the United States had acquired public lands totaling 488,248 square miles – an area which was larger than the original thirteen colonies.

Confederation Land Ordinances

After the United States of America became the largest landowner in the country, the Congress of the Confederation successively passed three ordinances – in 1784, 1785, and 1787 – in order to administer such lands.

1784 Land Ordinance

The Land Ordinance of 1784 was originally a proposal for legislation developed by Thomas Jefferson – which:

provided for a division of the western lands of the United States of America into states, and
as intended by Jefferson – would have prohibited slavery in the western territories.

However, the final version of the legislation did not receive the necessary votes to prevent the introduction of slavery in the states which were to be subsequently admitted to the union.

1785 Land Ordinance

Early methods for allocating unsettled land outside the original 13 colonies were imprecise, and boundaries were often established by pacing distances from geographical landmarks.

As a result, overlapping boundaries and border disputes were not uncommon.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 implemented a standardized system of Federal land surveys which was designed to reduce boundary conflicts:

dividing the public domain land in the United States into townships – six miles square,
with each township subdivided into Sections, which were intended to be one square mile – roughly 640 acres each – numbered from 1 to 36.

However, much of the land in the southern states – including that located in Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and parts of Georgia, Florida, and California – was never subject to the Land Ordinance of 1785.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 prohibited the sale of public domain lands in the affected territories until a Federal land survey had been completed in a certain area.

Federal land surveyors did not arrive in the Illinois territory until 1804 – after the Native American tribes had surrendered such lands to the United States by treaties.

Under the Land Ordinance of 1785, the proceeds from the sale of lot number 16 in each township were reserved for the support of public schools – reflecting a New England influence – as were the proceeds from lot number 36 in many of the states.

The price of public land sales was initially fixed at $1.00 per acre.

When the Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted on May 20, 1785, the federal government did not yet have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation – and the proceeds of the public land sales provided the federal government with considerable revenue.

1787 Ordinance – the Northwest Territory

The Land Ordinance of 1787 addressed in part the organization and government of what was then known as the Northwest Territory – which was to be divided into at least three, but not more than five, new states – to be admitted into the United States of America when their respective populations were sufficiently large.

Under that legislation, Ohio was admitted to the Union in 1803, Indiana in 1816, and Illinois in 1818.

Public Domain Land Sales

In order to foster the continued growth of the national economy, possession of the public domain land in the United States needed to be taken by farmers and other persons who would put the land to productive use – which was accomplished sequentially through two approaches having different objectives.

Revenue Generation from the Public Domain Land Sales

From 1785 to 1820, the primary objective of the United States was selling public domain lands in order to generate revenue for the federal government, which would allow for the reduction of taxes, and payment of the public debt.

Accordingly, during this 35 year time period the land was typically sold only in large quantities at low prices – with 640 acres as the minimum amount that one person would be allowed purchase – at a price of $1.00 per acre.

However, the revenue received from such land sales barely exceeded the survey and title transfer expenses, and land holdings became concentrated in the hands of speculators, rather than actual settlers.

Facilitating Public Domain Land Sales

After 1820, the public policy with respect to the western lands changed – from primarily generating revenue, to encouraging settlers and others to possess and develop the land.

Squatters

Some settlers could not afford the price of available public domain land, and simply occupied it without the benefit of title.

Other persons settled on lands prematurely before such lands had been surveyed by the government and offered for sale through official land offices, which would have opened them up to lawful settlement.

In either case, these persons had the legal status of squatters – who often built houses and made other improvements to the land on which they settled.

Such improvements would have been forfeited when the land was offered for sale under federal auction systems established by various land acts – at which anyone was legally entitled to bid up the price of cleared and improved land as soon as the federal sales office had opened in that region.

Claim Committees

In order to protect their interests from forfeiture, squatters in some regions organized defensive claim committees, and members of a committee would threaten violence against any prospective purchaser of land then occupied by the squatters – which would often result in intimidated purchasers giving up their legitimate rights to the land just purchased.

The Preemption System

In order to discourage the use of violent self-help claim committees, and to provide the squatters with legal protection against “claim jumpers“, a preemption system was gradually developed.

which guaranteed to the squatters:

a prior right to purchase the land which had been occupied by them,
at the official government price – without competition of any sort,
in order that the squatter might not forfeit the value of improvements made to the land.

The preemption system allowed the squatter to pay for land over time, allowing the squatter to defer payment for the land until after it had been improved.

The Preemption Act of 1841

While the first generally applicable preemption act was passed in 1830, a permanent preemption law was adopted in 1841.

The Preemption Act of 1841 permitted squatters who were living on land to purchase up to 160 acres of land at a price of not less than $1.25 per acre, before the land could be offered for sale to the general public.

To qualify under the law, the purchaser claiming rights under the act had to be:

a “head of household“, a single man over 21, or a widow;
a citizen of the United States (or intending to become naturalized); and
a resident of the claimed land for a minimum of 14 months.

While the Preemption Act of 1841 declared that a person was allowed to acquire federal land and claim it as private property, the purchaser was required to actively reside on the land, and continuously work to improve it for five years.

If the land remained idle for six months, the government could reacquire ownership and possession of the property.

Homestead Laws

The first homestead bill was introduced in Congress in 1846 by Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, who would later become the 17th President of the United States in 1865.

For sixteen years, the homestead bill was debated in Congress, with southerners generally opposing the idea because they feared it would result in an increase in ownership by farmers in the new territories who were opposed to slavery.

Therefore, a homestead bill did not become law not until the southern states had seceded from the Union.

The Homestead Act of 1862

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law on May 20, 1862.

Before passage of the Homestead Act, eleven of the southern states had left the Union.

Persons who had “borne arms against the United States” were ineligible from making a claim under the Act – meaning that claimants under the Homestead Act and their supporters were mostly northern Union supporters, rather than southern Confederate supporters.

The Timber Culture Act of 1873

The Timber Culture Act – passed by Congress in 1873 – was an amendment to the Homestead Act, and allowed homesteaders to obtain an additional 160 acres of land if they planted trees on one-fourth of the land.

The 160 acres of additional free land could be obtained if the claimant set aside 40 acres to grow trees – which was deemed desirable in order to solve the problem of the lack of wood on certain public domain lands.

After planting trees, a land purchase under the Timber Culture Act could only be finalized if the land had been occupied by the same family for at least 5 years.

Subsequently, the amount of land that needed to be set aside for trees was reduced to ten acres.

Any potential settler, including foreign immigrants, could claim land under both the Timber Culture Act, and the Homestead Act, provided the claimant had become a U.S. citizen by the time that the claims needed to be established.

Gary C. Dahle – Attorney at Law – Real Estate

2704 Mounds View Blvd., Mounds View, MN 55112

Phone: 763-780-8390 Fax: 763-780-1735

gary@dahlelaw.com

——— Gary C. Dahle Attorney at Law ———

Public Domain Land in the United States

The Peace of Paris of 1783

British Concessions to the Former American Colonies

Preexisting Native American Claims

Preexisting Individual Claims

Preexisting Colonial Claims

Public Domain Lands

The Northwest Territory

St. Clair County

Land Ownership by the United States

Confederation Land Ordinances

1784 Land Ordinance

1785 Land Ordinance

1787 Ordinance – the Northwest Territory

Public Domain Land Sales

Revenue Generation from the Public Domain Land Sales

Facilitating Public Domain Land Sales

Squatters

Claim Committees

The Preemption System

The Preemption Act of 1841

Homestead Laws

The Homestead Act of 1862

The Timber Culture Act of 1873