The Confiscation of Loyalist Property in Georgia, 1782-1786

T o the Whig element in the American states during and after the Revolution the confiscation of Loyalist property was more than just a means of punishing the hated Tories.' Confiscation also promised sufficient returns to prosecute the war successfully and to rebuild the states' financial posture for the years of peace that they hoped would follow independence. No less than their equivalents in other states, Georgia Whigs saw the possibilities inherent in the legal seizure of Loyalist estates, although local circumstances prevented them from undertaking a vigorous confiscation program until the fighting had nearly ended. The Whigs first attempted to confiscate Loyalist property in 1778. In March of that year the House of Assembly passed an act which declared 117 persons guilty of treason, banished them forever, and made their possessions both real and personal subject to seizure for the benefit of the state. The law was to be administered by five commissioners from each county who were to supervise sales of property, account to the state treasurer for the receipts, and handle claims against the estates. The law empowered the commissioners to take testimony under oath, demand books and records, maintain a roster of persons attainted, and seize and direct the assessment of their property.2 Occasional references to transactions under the law and the Assembly's search for the records of the commissioners after the war indicate that the Act of 1778 was at least

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• The law of loyalism

  James P Ambuske•Atlantic Studies•2023

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