Georgia in the
Royal Period
Chapter 10
Government in Royal GA
• Government in GA was quite different after the Trust period ended. The
executive of the colony was a royal governor appointed by the king.
• He was the king’s representative to the colony and the colony’s
representative to the king.
• Each royal governor arrived with instructions from the king, which set the
rules under which he would govern GA.
• The royal governor had many powers including:
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The right to call legislature into session or to dismiss it.
To grant land.
Commission ships.
Pardon those convicted of crimes.
Spend funds.
To serve as commander in chief of the colony.
The royal government also included a 12 member council, appointed by the king.
Government in Royal GA
• For the first time the colony was to have an
elected assembly called the Commons House
of Assembly (similar to today’s House of
Representatives).
• This body could propose and vote on laws.
• This assembly gave GA far more power than it
had in the trustee years.
John Reynolds
• In 1754, the first royal governor
appointed by King George II,
arrived from England.
• John Reynolds was a former
navy captain.
• He was warmly welcomed. The
colonists were happy to have a
new beginning.
The French and Indian War
• This same year the French and Indian War broke
out in the Ohio River Valley.
• It started as a struggle between Great Britain and
France for the land west of the Appalachian
Mountains.
• The French claimed the land and had Indian allies
in the area. They built strong forts to defend the
area.
• The governor tried to run the colony like the
military. He did not work well with the leading
citizens and tried to exercise control as he did
when he was in the navy.
• He dismissed the council and assembly whenever
they did not agree with him.
• In 1757 while the war was still ongoing, Reynolds
left the colony.
Henry Ellis
• In 1757 Henry Ellis was the newly appointed governor.
• He was surprised at the poor conditions he found in GA.
Het set to work with the Georgians and became
increasingly popular.
• Ellis ordered that forts be built for defense.
• Ellis worried about the loyalty of some of the Indians on
GA’s frontiers. He invited some of the head men of the
Indians to Savannah.
• The meeting was a great success. Indians made an
agreement with the Georgians during this meeting that
renewed their pledges of friendship.
• In 1758 GA was divided up into 8 parishes. After that
representatives were elected from each parish.
• He did not enjoy GA weather and claimed it was ruining
his health. He only stayed 3 years.
James Wright
• In 1760 the third and final royal governor
James Wright was welcomed in.
• He was a good leader for GA.
• The French and Indian War won with a
British Victory (fortunately for GA.)
• The Treaty of Paris benefitted the young
GA colony.
• According to its terms Spain gave up FL to
the British. France gave up its North
American lands. Great Britain received
Canada and all French land east of the
Mississippi River.
• Although it gave up FL, Spain received the
land west of the Mississippi, so GA’s
borders now extended to the Mississippi
River, not the Pacific Ocean.
Economic Development in Royal GA
• The royal period was a time of growth and
increasing prosperity for the colony.
• GA was still largely agricultural and mainly
grew food crops.
• In the back country the fur and skin trade with
the Indians continued.
• Problems arose with the new settlers not
wanting Indians near their crops.
Land Policy
• The key to doing well in GA was getting land.
Settlers could acquire land in three ways:
– Buy it
– Receive it as a gift or inheritance
– Receive it as a grant from the colonial government
The Growth of Towns
• In Augusta, several important Indian traders
formed a company called Brown Rae and
Co.
• Doctors practiced medicine and pharmacy
and lawyers practiced law.
• Communities had artisans such as: coopers
who made buckets and barrels, Cartwrights
made carts and buggies, blacksmiths made
tools and other items from iron, carpenters
built with wood, tanners made leather
items, bakers made bread, tailor sewed
men’s clothing, and chandlers made
candles.
• A few men were tutors and made money by
teaching children for a fee.
Population Growth in Royal GA
• The economic opportunities and a stable
government in GA led to population growth.
• In 1752 a group of Puritans came from South
Carolina and settled below Savannah in St.
Johns Parish. They were very good for GA
economy. They became successful planters
and made Port Sunbury into a thriving port.
• Another group of settlers were the Quakers.
They founded the town of Wrightsboro. They
were a Christian religious group who
believed that all persons had the “inner
light” of God within them.
• This led them to believe in the equality of all
people and to believe that violence against
fellow humans was wrong.
Enslaved People in GA
• Both rice and the indigo produced to make blue
dye required much work to maintain.
• These planters relied on the labor of slaves.
• Most slaves of GA were of African descent.
• Rice cultivation was difficult work. To cultivate
rice the fields were flooded and workers had to
work knee deep.
• This was dangerous for poisonous snakes,
alligators and insects that carried disease like
yellow fever or malaria.
Dangers of Rice
Field Work
Enslaved People in GA
• Most rice plantations worked under the “task
system.” In this method of working the slave was
assigned a certain amount of work to complete
each day. If any time remained that time could be
used for his/herself.
• Enslaved men and women received some food
and clothes from their masters.
• Slaves were not required to work on Sundays.
• In addition to working in the fields some slaves
learned special skills such as carpentry,
blacksmithing, or for women, sewing.
Slave Codes
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In 1755 GA passed a slave code, a series of laws
governing what slaves and masters could and
could not do.
The new laws put restrictions on slave owners,
including banning some punishments considered
too cruel.
Slave owners could not force slaves to work more
than 16 hours a day or on Sundays.
Masters were not allowed to teach their slaves to
read or write.
Slaves were not allowed to travel away from their
plantations without permission from their
owners.
Slaves who committed crimes could be tried in
court.
Slave patrols were established to try and enforce
these codes.
Society and Culture in Royal GA
• For the free white settlers opportunities for education
improved. Opportunities for religious worship also
grew as new churches were founded.
• The Puritans, Lutherans and even small Jewish
communities arose and prospered.
• By the 1770s the Baptist movement was gaining
converts.
• The opportunities for getting an education in colonial
GA remained limited.
• Schoolmasters sometimes advertised that they would
teach children for a fee.
Social Life
• Georgians sometimes abandoned work for
special events. Those special events included
celebrations held each year in honor of the
king’s birthday and the days honoring England’s
and Scotland’s patron saints, St. George and St.
Andrew.
• Parades of government officials, flag raisings,
cannons and guns firing and bonfires all marked
these gatherings.
• Weddings and funerals were also times for them
to come together.
• Some clubs were founded, like the Freemasons,
who were a secret society whose activities were
not known to the general public.