Founding Georgia (England’s 13th and last North American Colony)
• Dr. Thomas Bray( British physician) was the first to propose a
colony for debtors in the New World but Oglethorpe made it
happen.
• James Oglethorpe– Founder of Georgia
– member of Parliament
– worked to reform prisons
– his best friend died in debtor’s prison from smallpox
– James O. disagreed with putting debtors in prison.
• King George ll granted Oglethorpe, a charter (a legal document
granting certain rights) to start the 13th colony in 1732 based
on:
1)Charity
2) Economics
3) Defense
Founding Georgia (England’s 13th and last North American Colony)
• All colonists selected to make the trip over to start a new life
had to fill out an application and agree to certain terms and
rules:
1) Defend colony against enemies
2) Could not own their land
3) Had to plant Mulberry trees to produce silk
• *The rules for the people:
1) no slaves
2) restriction on land ownership
3) no sale of consumption of rum
Founding Georgia (England’s 13th and last North American Colony)
• The colony was to be monitored by *21 trustees for *21 years
appointed by the king with strict rules for the colonists in
hopes that social classes would not form
• All rules and regulations issued by Trustees were subject
to the King’s approval.
• No legislature or governor
• Trustees were not allowed to hold public office/Charter lasted
only *20 years due to discontent in Georgia.
In 1732 Georgia’s Boundary stretched all the way from the Atlantic to the
Mississippi
Continued Founding of Georgia (2)
• Oglethorpe and the first colonists came over to
the New World on a ship named The Ann
– not a single debtor was aboard!
• The Ann landed at Yamacraw Bluff near the
Savannah River close to the Yamacraw Indians
• Chief Tomochichi was the leader of the Yamacraw
tribe who granted Oglethorpe permission to
settle in Savannah
Continued Founding of Georgia (2)
• *The city of Savannah was designed in open
spaces called squares.
• *Oglethorpe believe in order to have success,
all concerned parties must be friends with the
Indians.
• *John & Mary Musgrove: British Indian traders
who interpreted for Oglethorpe for the
Yamacraws
Continued Founding of Georgia (2)
• The humidity, insects, and the heat of coastal
Georgia hampered the work of the early colonists.
• Corn was a crop that proved to grow well in coastal
Ga.
• South Carolina was pleased to have Georgia become
Great Britain's 13th Colony because Georgia
provided a buffer between S.C. and Spanish Florida
• Fort King George was the first British fort built in
Georgia
Savannah City Plan, 1770
Plans for the city of Savannah. James Oglethorpe designed a distinctive
pattern of streets, ten-house tythings, and public squares.
European Immigrants:
• *The New Ebenezer community (Up river from
Savannah) was established by The
Salzburgers/opposed slavery
• *The Highland Scotts/settled in Darien/opposed
slavery and fought to help protect the colony
• *Many Georgia’s colonists expressed discontent
toward the trustee’s rules: 1) Ban on Slavery 2) No
alcohol/Rum 3) Restriction on land inheritance
SECTION (3)
• Britain’s policy for profiting from it’s colonies was
to build up her own gold supplies and to expand
its own trade was known as *mercantilism ( **A
TRADE POLICY WHERE A NATION IMPORTS LESS
THAN IT EXPORTS).
• *All religions were allowed to practice in Georgia
except Catholic for fear of a revolt from Spain.
• *Anglicans (the Church of England) became a
dominant religious group during the colonial period.