Barbara's response nicely summarizes the difficulties inherent in using
land patents and headrights for genealogical purposes. The larger
historical significance of the system is pretty clear, though. The idea
was to reward--with land grants--those immigrants who paid for their own
passage to the colony and for that of others, whether family members,
servants, or (for several decades, at least) slaves, at the rate of 50
acres per person transported (self plus others). Those whose passage was
thus paid did not get the land, except for a spell in certain other
colonies, such as Maryland where it was part of a servant's freedom dues
(until 1683, if I remember correctly). For most of the colonies,
including Virginia, the headright system rewarded the wealthiest with
even more wealth. In Virginia, it helped build a landed elite that,
conveniently, was rewarded for bringing more labor into the colony.
Political conflict in the decades before and after 1700 revolved, much
of the time, around the abuses and inequalities that the practices of
land distribution entailed. Anthony Parent's recent book, Foul Means,
treats some of this story in detail.

Doug Deal
History/SUNY-Oswego

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