England found itself territorially and financially falling behind its rival Spain in the early seventeenth century. The reason, they believed, was due to the Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico and Central America in the New World. Spain was reaping the benefits of a seemingly unlimited supply of gold, silver, and other metals from these colonies. England began to charter explorations for permanent settlements in America in the 1580s, but its first permanent colony, Jamestown, was not established by the Virginia Company until 1607.
How would the Virginia Company attract more people to come to the New World? The headright system was their answer.
Summary of the Headright System
What exactly was the headright system? A headright was a land grant given to settlers, usually 50 acres, as an incentive to move to the colonies in America.
Those who could afford to pay for their passage- who were considered “Head of Household”- from Europe were granted a headright, as were those who were already settled into the colony and paid for the transport of those who couldn’t afford it. They could be granted two headrights for doing so. Any other men, such as family members, servants, or laborers, who the Head of Household could afford to charter with them, would grant them additional acreage per person they brought.
Fig. 1 Indenture Certificate
People whose passage was paid for by existing colonists usually migrated as indentured servants; in return for their passage, they would work for planters for periods ranging from four to seven years.
Purpose of the Headright System
The purpose of the system was to attract new settlers, particularly in Jamestown. It aimed to fill the region's labor needs, as its economy was built on tobacco farming, which required lots of land and labor.
Fig. 2 Conjectural painting of tobacco farming in Virginia 1650
Headright System History
The Virginia Company created the headright system in 1618. In 1624, the Virginia Company was dissolved, and the area was made into the royal colony of Virginia, but notably, the King maintained the use of the headright system.
The headright system became widely used across the other colonies, primarily in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland.
The following is an excerpt from the instructions from the Virginia Company to the incoming Governor of the Colony in 1618, detailing the use of the Headright System.
“And that for all such Planters as were brought thither at the Companies Charge to inhabit there before the coming away [...] after the time of their Service to the Company on the common Land agreed shall be expired there be set out One hundred Acres of Land for each of their person Adventurers to be held by them their heirs and Assigns forever paying for every fifty Acres the yearly free Rent of one Shilling to the said treasurer and Company [...] the share be of one hundred Acres the share upon the first division and of as many more upon A Second Division when the land of the first division shall be Sufficiently peopled And for Every person which they shall transport thither within seven years after Midsummer Day One thousand six hundred and Eighteen.”1
Fig. 3 Land granted by Charter to the Virginia Company
Headright System Significance
How did this system affect the colonies? The table below details the significant impacts of the headright system.
Factor | Impact |
Population | The headright system led to the rapid expansion of the population of the English colonies. It encouraged families to travel together to the New World, as each person was a “head” that could be granted land in the territory. It allowed men who would not have customarily owned land in England the opportunity to not only own land but to make a profit and live off of its cultivation. |
Social division | The system allowed wealthier Englishmen the chance to pay for the passage of those who could not afford it, allowing them to accumulate headrights and large portions of land in Virginia. This created a clear division between the wealthy and less wealthy members of society. |
Indentured servitude | This grew as a direct result of the headright system as many people could not afford to make the journey themselves, so instead pledged their labor to someone who was wealthy enough to pay for their passage. |
Chattel Slavery | Wealthy farmers could be granted a headright for enslaved people they bought to work their land, ever-expanding their properties and creating large farms known as plantations. In the 1670s, around 400 slaves were used as headrights in Virginia. Slaves could be used for headrights in Virginia until 1699 when it was decided that only paying for the passage of free people warranted a headright.  Fig. 4 Enslaved persons market
|
Relations with Indigenous Peoples | The use of the headright system increased conflict with Indigenous tribes in proximity to many of the English colonies. As headrights were received, English claims began to creep and take over Indigenous lands. Clashes sometimes turned violent, such as the war between settlers in Jamestown/Virginia and the Powhatan Confederacy in 1622 and 1646. |
Other nations | Other nations who were colonizing North America copied the headright system to encourage migration to the continent. For example, the Dutch created the Patroonship to encourage wealthy Dutch people to move to New Netherland (present-day New York). This system offered land grants that patroons (individuals) could generally administer how they saw fit. When the English took over the colony in 1664, the English upheld the land rights of the patroons under the headright system, even though the patroonship allowed women to inherit property. |
The headright system's impact on Georgia
The use of the headright system ended in Virginia in 1779 but continued in other colonies.
England created the royal colony of Georgia in 1732 as a territorial buffer between the other English colonies and Spanish-controlled Florida. The headright system was introduced in Georgia in 1783 after the American Revolution and was used until 1804.
Fig. 5 Designs of the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America
How did the Georgian headright system work?
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