Final answer:
The first land distribution system in Georgia, the Headright System, allocated land to settlers based on family size and social status, encouraging migration and aiding the establishment of a landowning middle class.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first land distribution system for Georgia known as the Headright System is best characterized by option (a), which states that land was distributed to individuals based on family size and social status. This system granted parcels of land to settlers, particularly to those who could afford their own passage to the New World, including Virginia. Under the headright system, recipients who paid their own passage to Virginia received fifty acres of land, plus an additional fifty acres for every servant or family member they brought with them. This incentivized immigration and was especially successful in helping planters and small farmers to acquire land, which they often used to cultivate tobacco, a high-demand crop at the time. However, the headright system also contributed to social stratification and conflicts, such as Bacon's Rebellion. It also included granting additional land for enslaved individuals, which further expanded landholdings of planters and fostered the growth of a landowning middle class.