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Description and Holding Information
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Joint Special Comm. on the Resolutions of Tennessee. Report, 1833
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Senate No. 29 Report of the Joint Special Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts on so much of the Governor's address as relates to the
resolution of Tennessee on the subject of public lands of the United States. Boston : Dutton & Wentworth, 1833. Nine men studied the subject and reported
that the public lands, being far away, were not often on the public mind. The Committee provided a long history of public land possession and sales
since 1780. The current system worked well and was to all the states' benefit. Generally, land was surveyed into six mile square townships, then
into thirty-six sections, reserving one for education, and could be further subdivided into forty acre lots if appropriate. The land was sold at auction
for a minimum of $1.25 per acre. [The Homestead Act came later.] There was a formula for dividing a percentage of the proceeds among the existing
states. Tennessee wanted to put all the public land within its borders up for sale, keep the proceeds, and whatever did not sell belonged to that state
for later sale. The Committee sent four Resolves: Congress is the trustee of the land and no other, the present land system should not be disturbed,
don't reduce the price of the land, and Massachusetts supports the bill before Congress. That bill had a formula for the sale and distribution of
some public lands and payment to the states soon to come into the Union, such as Ohio and Illinois. At the end was a chart assuming annual sales of
public lands of $3,000,000 yielding $X to each state and another large chart showing the various categories of public lands by state. (Digitized from a
microfilm copy of title originally held by the Massachusetts State Library).
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Title:
Report of the Joint Special Committee of the legislature of Massachusetts, on so much of the Governor's address as relates to the resolutions of Tennessee on the subject of the public lands of the United States.
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OCLC Number:
1396610470
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Vol. 1 | | Yes | No |
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