“Groundless–Captious–or Premature”: Settler Organization in Mississippi Territory and the Development of the American Administrative State

Jeffrey Grove, Singapore Management University

In this paper, I examine the growth of the bureaucratic state in early American history. I argue that territories, due to their direct oversight by the federal government, were critical sites of early national bureaucratic development. I analyze the case of Mississippi Territory from 1798 to 1819, where settlers used their status as territorial citizens to extract concessions from the central government, pushing for the development of beneficial land regulations. Settlers sought to secure their land rights with the opening of a land office in the territory, petitioning Congress and the President to recognize land titles derived from the European colonial powers which had previously governed the territory. Securing these titles through the land office helped ensure settlers’ economic and physical security and, as was critical for the federal government, political stability. This new bureaucracy formed part of the foundation upon which the institution of slavery in the region would grow.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 8. Surveillance, Health, and Settler Administration