Legislation that adjusted debt repayment schedules for people who had bought public land before the federal government changed its method of selling public lands.
The United States government originally sold public lands through a credit or installment system that required repayment for the purchase over a four-year period. The Land Act of 1804 established a minimum purchase requirement of 160 acres and continued the price of $2 per acre for credit purchases. In 1820, Congress ended installment buying and required cash payments for future purchases. However, legislators lowered the minimum sale requirements to $1.25 an acre and 80 acres per purchase. The new policy placed an unfair burden on settlers that had bought land under the old system. Congress addressed this discrepancy by passing the Relief Act of 1821.
Congress had passed 12 such relief acts, which alleviated the burden on debtors from the requirements of the installment system, before 1820, and these acts generally extended the time of payment for settlers whose lands were scheduled for forfeiture within the year. The Relief Act of 1821 continued this principle but included additional provisions in response to the new policy of selling public land that Congress established in 1820. In addition to extending payment schedules, the act allowed settlers to return part of their land and retain the acreage that was equivalent to their payments. It also gave settlers a 37.5 percent discount off the original price of the land if they paid the whole amount. The act intended to lower the price of land purchased before 1820, to reduce an owner’s existing debt to a level compatible with the new system, and to limit the number of forfeitures. These relief measures, although well intended, proved misguided. Settlers needed more than just time to pay off their debts, and the number of forfeitures did not diminish.
