As soon as the United States became an independent country, the 13 existing states got really territorial. You can see on this map that six states just extended their borders westward to the Mississippi River, regardless of contiguity, while Massachusetts also claimed what is now Maine, and New York claimed what is now Vermont. Eventually that was sorted out, but Georgia, the last holdout, went through some real pains on the way.
In 1794, four companies, set up especially for the purpose, paid half a million dollars for about 40 million acres of land. Even taking into account all the bribes — another half a million — that was a ridiculously low amount: four acres to a dollar.
Georgians were furious, and state legislators, appalled to have been caught taking bribes, quickly rescinded the sale. But the contracts were signed, and the courts got involved. That set up a battle between landowners, the state of Georgia, the federal government, and US citizens in a country that was still trying to figure out how to be a working democracy. The legal case went to the Supreme Court, and established several legal precedents we still follow. It also led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. And the establishment of Alabama and Mississippi. Read a quick overview of the Yazoo Land Scandal at Big Think. -via Atlas Obscura