\Yaz"oo Fraud\ (U. S. Hist.)
The grant by the State of Georgia, by Act of Jan. 7, 1795, of
35,000,000 acres of her western territory, for $500,000, to
four companies known as the
{Yazoo Companies} from the region granted; -- commonly so
   called, the act being known as the
{Yazoo Frauds Act}, because of alleged corruption of the
   legislature, every member but one being a shareholder in
   one or more of the companies. The act granting the land
   was repealed in 1796 by a new legislature, and the
   repealing provision was incorporated in the State
   constitution in 1798. In 1802 the territory was ceded to
   the United States. The claims of the purchasers, whom
   Georgia had refused to compensate, were sustained by the
   United States Supreme Court, which (1810) declared the
   repealing act of 1796 unconstitutional. Congress in 1814
   ordered the lands sold and appropriated $5,000,000 to pay
   the claims.