The headright system was a system that was used in parts of Colonial America, particularly the Chesapeake colonies.  In this system, a person would be given the right to some certain area of land in return for paying for another person to come over to the colony.  In practice, what this did was to create a system that favored rich people and contributed to the practice of indentured servitude.  The rich people got plenty of land because they could afford to bring indentured servants over to the colonies to work for them.  This helped set up the Southern system of large plantations run by a powerful elite.