Editing Fletcher v. Peck (section)

==Background==
Following the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] ending the [[American Revolution]], [[Georgia (U.S.)|Georgia]] claimed possession of the [[Yazoo lands]], a {{cvt|54000|sqmi|km2|abbr=out}} region of the [[Indian Reserve (1763)|Indian Reserve]], west of its own territory. The land later became the northern part of the states of [[Alabama]] and [[Mississippi]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Yazoo Land Fraud |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/yazoo-land-fraud/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1795, the [[Georgia legislature]] divided the area into four tracts. The state then sold the tracts to four separate land development companies for $500,000, about $0.014 per acre, a bargain even at 1790 prices. The Georgia legislature overwhelmingly approved this land grant, known as the Yazoo Land Act of 1795.<ref name=":0" /> However, it was later revealed that the Yazoo Land Act had been approved in return for [[Bribery|bribes]] in a scandal known as the [[Yazoo land scandal|Yazoo Land Scandal]].<ref>Lamplugh, George B. (3015). Yazoo Land Fraud. New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 May 2016</ref> The voters rejected most of the incumbents in the next [[election]]; the new legislature, reacting to the public outcry, repealed the law and voided the transactions made under it.

Robert Fletcher bought a tract of land from Peck after the 1795 act was repealed. Fletcher, in 1803, brought a suit against Peck, claiming that Peck had not had clear title to the land when he sold it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fletcher v. Peck |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/fletcher-v-peck-1810/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref>

There was collusion between the two. Both would have their land secured if the Supreme Court decided that Native Americans did not hold original title. Fletcher set out to win the case.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stuart |last=Banner |title=How the Indians Lost Their Land: Law and Power on the Frontier |location=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard |year=2005 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/howindianslostth00bann_0/page/171 171–172] |isbn=0-674-01871-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/howindianslostth00bann_0/page/171 }}</ref>