The South, on the other hand, had granted lands on a larger scale and had permitted individual selection in a haphazard manner.

The plan which Congress adopted was that of the New England survey with the Southern method of extensive holdings.

The system is repellent in its rectangular orderliness, but it made the process of recording titles easy and complete, and it was capable of indefinite expansion.

These were matters of cardinal importance, for in the course of one hundred and forty years the United States was to have under its control nearly two thousand million acres of land.
The primary feature of the land policy was the orderly survey in advance of sale.

In the next place the township was taken as the unit, and its size was fixed at six miles square.