PRESENTATION OUTLINE
James Oglethorpe brought 35 families to Georgia in the spring of 1733 and settled in modern-day Savannah,Georgia. The expedition was fueled by King George the II, who sent 21 royal trustees to found a new country.
The purpose of the country was to provide a refuge for prisoners, persecuted Protestants and create a military presence to protect the English colonies from the Spanish in the south.
Georgia's geography includes the Savannah River, Chattahoochee River, Suwanne River and the man-made West-Point River. Mountains include the Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, Cohutta Mountains, and North Georgia Mountains. Goergia is very dry, with red clay for soil, making growth hard on vegetation.
In 1751 Georgian citizens elected 16 male delegates to consult the King's trustees about the issues of the town of Savannah. It was settled that Georgia had become a royal colony where white men owning over 500 acres of land could be elected and pass laws for the colony. However, any new laws could be vetoed by the king. Georgia's first constitution was made after America gained its independance. Their government was mostly by a unicameral legislature that, kept a majority of the power out of the governors hands. In 1778, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1750, Georgia legalized slavery and the economy was soon run by the success in growing rice indigo and wheat. Lumber and naval supply stores helped fuel Georgia's self succinct in the 1700's.
Slavery and the importation of alcohol had been illegal for the first sixteen years of the colony's existence. When slavery was legalized , strict humanitarian laws were placed on plantation owners and their treatment of their slaves. Georgia was primarily a military state and ran strictly by a governor until 1752 when Protestant freeman were given the right to vote. No schools existed and postal service were very unorganized. Mostly small farmers inhabited Georgia at the time. Roads were similar to Indian Trails and the settlers saw very little of eachother.
