America 250 at the Library: Land Grants

One of the most sought after commodities in the 18th century American colonies was land. Land ownership was the key to higher status in society. When the Revolutionary War started, land was used as an incentive for young men to enlist as soldiers and be recognized for their service.

In 1776, men who enlisted for three years were awarded $20 and 100 acres. After the war, each state controlled the distribution of land. Virginia gave its soldiers land in the Ohio Territory.

When the United States federal government was established in 1789, it assumed responsibility for the pensions of Revolutionary War veterans. Grants were signed by the president himself, and used to encourage westward expansion. Every president before Andrew Jackson personally signed such grants.

In our America 250 Main Exhibit, "A Republic -- If We Can Keep It," exhibit, you will see authentic, vintage examples signed by Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, as well as by Secretaries of State James Madison and John Marshall.

You will also see an example from the Military Bounty Land Acts from 1796, signed by President James Monroe.

And from Virginia, signed by governors Patrick Henry and (on loan from the Dicoese of Wheeling Charleston) Edmund Randolph, a signer of the Constitution. These are land grants that prove a settler bought parcels of land in the Ohio territory. They contain interesting landmarks, including specific types of trees, to mark the boundaries of the parcels.

You may view scans of these documents below and click to read downloadable transcriptions in our document center.

Click to Read Transcription

The two federal grants (above and below) signed by Jefferson and Adams mention a series of Acts passed by Congress from 1796 to 1800, titled, “An Act regulating the grants of Land appropriated for Military service, and for the society of the United Brethren for propagating the gospel among the Heathen.”

The latter term refers indirectly to victims of the "Gnadenhutten Massacre," during which 96 Christian pacifist Lenape (Delaware) native people were murdered by members of the Pennsylvania militia during the Revolutionary War in 1782. This atrocity took place just outside an Ohio village founded by the Moravian Christian missionaries who had converted the Lenape. This was only 58 miles from Wheeling in the Tuscarawas Valley. SEE MAP

These laws were intended in part to provide reparations for this massacre, which Benjamin Franklin wrote, had given him "infinite Pain and Vexation."

Read more about the massacre.