As a result of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), a war debt of just over $71,000,000 was accumulated.* This war debt was paid-off by the sale of state lands, not already in private hands, that were ceded to the U.S. Federal Government and sold for this very specific purpose (extinguishing American Revolutionary War debt), as newly formed states entered the union of states that eventually formed our 50 states. Those state lands that were ceded to the U.S. Federal Government yet never sold, were eventually returned to the individual states as unsalable “waste land” or land unsold. The American Revolutionary War debt was paid down to zero between December 1834 and February 1835. (http://tinyurl.com/yd6rurvl  —  politifact.com  —  “Fla. senator says Jan. 8, 1835, is the only day U.S. has been debt free” ).  * https://tinyurl.com/yxfosrrw -- treasurydirect.gov -- Historical Debt Outstanding -- 1790 --- 1849

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In December of the year 1833,** President Andrew Jackson (whose image graces our current $20.00 bill), recognizing that the American Revolutionary War debt was soon to be paid-off, vetoed legislation that would have continued the practice of allowing the U.S. Federal Government to accumulate and spend monies recovered from the sale of land ceded to the U.S. Federal Government as individual states continued to join the United States of America. Instead, President Jackson believed it was just and proper to return these unsold lands to the individual states from which they came, so that the individual states could best decide how to use their own land. This pocket veto by President Jackson and his continuation of the long established policy to return unsold land to the respective states, serves as the basis for how and why we have today’s situation.  **source:  http://tinyurl.com/yat8bfsm  presidency.ucsb.edu — “Andrew Jackson 7th President of the United States: 1829 - 1837 — Veto Message — December 04, 1833”​