The 1805 Georgia Land Lottery was the first experiment of its kind in the United States. Partly in response to the Yazoo and Pine Barrens Land Frauds of the 1790s, the people of Georgia decided to distribute newly acquired lands using a lottery, thereby minimizing opportunities for corruption. Land lotteries had been used previously on a limited basis, but the distribution of public lands on a mass scale by lottery is unique to Georgia. New land was surveyed into square lots using public funds and then distributed by chance to eligible citizens. Widows and orphans, classes typically...