Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

394 ' GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
of the speculators, Colonel Hammond, to whom we referred in the begin
ning of this chapter, was clearly of the opinion that entirely too much
had been made of this episode by historians, and that Senator Jackson's
use of a sun-glass to call down fire from heaven was a fine theatrical
performance, which, if not so intended, could hardly have been staged
JAMES JACKSON
Governor and United States Senator: An Implacable
Foe of the Yazooists
in ignorance of its political effect. Had the purchase price been $800,000,
instead of $500,000, Colonel Hammond is inclined to believe that we
would never have heard of a Yazoo fraud.
Small as was the consideration involved in the transfer, he cites the
fact that in 1625 the whole of Manhattan Island, on which New York
is now situated, was purchased from the Indians for only sixty guilders,
or less than $25; and he is disposed to think that the sale of the wild