{"product_id":"1790-the-beginnings-of-the-yazoo-land-scandal-david-ross-discusses-georgia-s-western-territory","title":"1790 The Beginnings of the Yazoo Land Scandal—David Ross Discusses Georgia’s Western Territory,","description":"\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eROSS, DAVID.\u003c\/strong\u003e Autograph letter signed \u003cstrong\u003e“David Ross,”\u003c\/strong\u003e two pages, Arrowfield, Virginia, March 13, 1790, to a correspondent in Augusta, Georgia. Accompanied by an older typewritten transcription.\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn important firsthand account of the earliest phase of the \u003cstrong\u003eYazoo land controversy\u003c\/strong\u003e, written by one of Virginia’s most prominent Revolutionary-era merchants and western speculators.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScottish-born David Ross became a major Virginia merchant, industrialist and landowner. During the Revolutionary War, he provided essential commercial and manufacturing services to Virginia and was appointed a state commercial agent by Thomas Jefferson. His extensive holdings included mills, ironworks, plantations and thousands of acres of land.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this revealing letter, Ross discusses the severe financial pressures confronting post-Revolutionary Virginia:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Money is the great object with most people in this Country—the weight of our old debts publick and private fall very heavy upon us.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoss then turns to \u003cstrong\u003e“the Country lately purchased from the State of Georgia,”\u003c\/strong\u003e a vast western territory claimed by the Virginia Yazoo Company. Although acknowledging his limited knowledge of the region, he predicts that it may be productive and healthy and writes that members of the company will soon explore it “in order to form an adequate idea of the value of the Lands.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoss identifies fellow company agent \u003cstrong\u003eCaptain John B. Scott\u003c\/strong\u003e, then in Georgia conducting company business, and asks the recipient to assist Scott in securing payment on two bonds. Ross’s statement that payment might be made either in money or in acceptable Georgia financial instruments illustrates the speculative financing that supported these enormous western land ventures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Virginia Yazoo Company included politically prominent investors such as Patrick Henry, Abraham B. Venable, William Cowan and John B. Scott. Its 1789–1790 purchase preceded the more notorious Georgia Yazoo sale of 1795, which produced one of the early republic’s greatest political and financial scandals and ultimately led to the landmark Supreme Court decision \u003cem\u003eFletcher v. Peck\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA historically significant letter documenting, in real time, the financing, proposed exploration and valuation of Georgia’s disputed western lands at the beginning of the Yazoo controversy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginal folds, toning, scattered staining, ink show-through and old reinforcement along a weakened fold; writing remains legible and Ross’s signature is bold. Accompanied by a typewritten transcript.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Signature Documents LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52740934205722,"sku":null,"price":2750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2221\/0931\/files\/IMG_2510.jpg?v=1787659324","url":"https:\/\/www.thearchiveauthority.com\/products\/1790-the-beginnings-of-the-yazoo-land-scandal-david-ross-discusses-georgia-s-western-territory","provider":"Signature Documents LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}