Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Largely Shaped our Nation’s Development…

…FOR BETTER OR WORSE. The 1783 Treaty of Paris (which somehow gave the Colonies all the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi, in ADDITION to their independence), began a chain of events, including the granting of these lands to veterans. These land grants are little-known to history, yet 1) They paid off much of our new Nation’s debts 2) Secured (some say stole) land from uncooperative Native Americans, 3) Fulfilled a Jeffersonian vision for education and good governance, and 4) Limited slavery in 1787. Many recipients were Revolution and War of 1812 volunteers who may have fought only a few months in highly survivable skirmishes, and ended up wealthy men. Civil War veterans were not so lucky.

Young Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett, and future Presidents Polk, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Garfield were born in Bounty Land log cabins, owing to theirs or their father’s service in the Revolution and/or the War of 1812, and various other early American conflicts.

1783 Treaty of Paris: The recently concluded Apple TV miniseries “Franklin” (about Ben Franklin’s efforts to get France’s support for our Revolution, starring Michael Douglas) somehow compelled Britain to grant the Colonies the lands between the Appalachians and the Mississippi, in addition to our Independence. This was in rather shocking contrast to the wishes of our French allies, who wished to keep this land as a Native American buffer region, while the Americans took Canada. The British were able to negotiate separately with the American ambassador trio of John Jay, John Adams, and Franklin, thereby screwing the French. To Franklin, this was a large betrayal to the Nation that helped us win independence, though on the other hand he must’ve been delighted with the British largesse. The British, of course, had ulterior motives, knowing that the Colonists had mostly British blood, and settlement of these lands would keep the French at bay (while they got to keep Canada). What ensued was a new Nation with almost no cash, and plenty of land. The result was that in the next 50 years or so, many war veterans would get “payment” in the form of 160 acre war bounty grants, which was the impetus for settling much of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, along with the Western portions of New York, Pennsylvania, and most of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris (ending the Revolution) saw the British generously granting the lands between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River to the American Colonies (mostly to foil the French). This included Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and much of Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama.