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Jared Irwin | |
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Governor of Georgia | |
In office January 15, 1796 – January 12, 1798 | |
Preceded by | George Mathews |
Succeeded by | James Jackson |
In office September 23, 1806 – November 10, 1809 | |
Preceded by | John Milledge |
Succeeded by | David B. Mitchell |
Personal details | |
Born | 1750 Anson County, North Carolina (now Mecklenburg County, North Carolina) |
Died | (aged 67–68) Washington County, Georgia, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Signature | |
Jared Irwin (1750 – March 1, 1818) served twice as elected Governor of Georgia (1796–1798) and (1806–1809). He first was elected to office as a reformer based on public outrage about the Yazoo land scandal. He signed a bill that nullified the Yazoo Act, which had authorized the land sales. Challenges to land claims purchased under the former act led to the United States Supreme Court's hearing the case Fletcher v. Peck (1810). In a landmark decision, the Court upheld the land contracts, and ruled that the state law was unconstitutional in trying to nullify valid contracts.