Answer:
The end of the Revolutionary war the US owed huge debts. But we also owned many assets the largest of which were the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The only way for these lands to have value was to sell them. So congress divided the western lands into townships roughly 6 miles long. Then the townships were divided into 36 sections. Every one of these sections contained 240 acres. Land was sold at one dollar per acre. So we sold land to pay off our debts
Explanation:
