Bibliographic essay: Georgia History

Introduction
Georgia received its name in 1732 in the honor of the King George II, King of England. The first English
colonies planted in North America belong to southern group. After seventy five years of founding of
Virginia and Pennsylvania twelve English colonies were then settled on the soil of North America. After a
lapse of fifty years, last of the thirteen states that came into existence was Georgia.
King George II issued the first official charter of Georgia, after which the new colony was named
Georgia. The charter was granted for twenty one years to a board of trustees for the land between
Savannah and Altamaha rivers. The English were granted liberties and freedom to all religion except
Catholics. The objective of founding the colony was threefold; an opportunity for the poor to begin a better
life, to offer a refuge to the persecuted European and to make a military barrier between the Carolinas
and Spanish. (Goodrich, 2016)
The founder of Georgia was James Oglethorpe, who lived there till the revolution and saw all the thirteen
colonies become independent nation. Oglethorpe is remembered in history mainly as the funder of
Georgia but he has much prominence otherwise as well. As a young man he served in the European wars
under Prince Eugene and witnessed battle of Blenheim and Belgrade siege. After his return to England he
became the member of the parliament. (Elson, 2012)

Colonial beginnings
In the winter of 1735, James Oglethorpe and a group of 35 families sailed from England towards the
Atlantic Ocean and settled in the colony of Georgia. They landed at the coast of Carolina and took
permission to enter the area from Yamacraw Chief. John Musgrove and his wife acted as the interpreters
who had trading post. On July 11, 42 Jewish settlers entered Georgia. Although it was decided earlier that
Jews will not be allowed in the colony but James Oglethorpe permitted them because there was a doctor
amongst them.
A year after the founding the Savannah, Salzburger refugees, very religious people, sailed to the mouth of
Savannah , they founded a new town, Ebenezer. The same year the governor went to England and came
back with more immigrants, among those was John Wesley, who later became a missionary. His brother
Charles was the secretary of Oglethorpe. (Elson, 2012)

Georgia was the only colony which received aid from the parliament. The colony also differed from others
as it prohibited slavery and import of intoxicating liquors. The settlers had their land free of rent for ten
years but they had no right to be a part of the government. Oglethorpes military tactics were soon visible
in the war between Spain and England in 1739, but the governors military wisdom drove the Spaniards
away.
Oglethorpe returned to England after twelve years of governorship. The people were dissatisfied with him
in four aspects. They wanted slaves, they wanted liquors, they wanted to take part in their government
and they were not happy with the land system where each settler given small farm. Due to these factors
the colony grew very slowly and after eighteen years only a thousand families had settled there. Settlers
claimed that the prohibition of liquor has taken away the trade of West India. They also insisted that slave
labor is necessary for the development of the colony. Parliament finally surrendered and Georgia became
a slave colony but under strict human rights for slaves. The people wanted to be a part in the government
so in 1752, before their twenty one years, Georgia became a royal colony. The people elected its
assembly and the governor was appointed by the King. After this change the colony grew rapidly and by
the time of revolution there were fifty thousand people. (Elson, 2012)
The state church was the English Church but the religious freedom was given to Protestants. The main
products were rice, lumber and mulberry tree. The social conditions of Georgia were similar to those of
North Carolina where there were no schools and mails hardly reached the area. The roads were trails and
towards the end of colonial era Georgia was the southern frontier of South Carolina and Virginia was of
North Carolina.
Revolutionary and Federal era
Although the Georgians opposed the British trade rules but they also hesitated to be a part of the
revolution in the 1770s which ended in the Revolutionary War (1775-83). The Congress called the
colonies to make an Association to ban the British trade. Battles of Lexington and battle of Concord made
many Georgians to be a part of the radical movement. Those who opposed the government were known
as Whigs and those who were faithful to king were known as Tories.
Violence in the back country was started by the locals in Augusta. In 1775, the committee members
faced Thomas Brown in his house on the South Carolina. Brown came to Georgia with seventy servants.
He made the Whigs angry by openly disapproving the Association. He also refused to honor the
association; as a result the crowd tortured him by burning his feet and dragging him in the streets as a
lesson for all those who condemn the Association. After recovering Brown went into the Carolina
backcountry, where he and hundreds of loyalists and marched towards Augusta. Meanwhile there were
rumors of the British to enlist Indians and slaves to defeat the American; it alarmed the Georgians.

Invasions of Florida
Major General Charles Lee was the commander and was persuaded by the Georgians for the incursion of
East Florida. Georgians under the leadership of newly promoted brigadier general Lachlan McIntosh
along with Rangers from Florida and Indian allies discarded the Southern border. Button Gwinnet was the
speaker of the convention. He suspected many Whigs to be secret Tories.. At the peak of this hatred
Gwinnet decided to invade Florida but after the failure of the expedition each side blamed the other. Both
the generals fought and were wounded and Gwinnet died. Upon the huge cry of Whigs the congress
transferred McIntosh out of Florida to serve in Pennsylvania. (Cashin, 2005)
Even the two failures didnt discourage them from the third try in 1778. The governor John Houstoun
ordered Georgia military and General Andrew Williamson that experienced from lack of organization. After
the three assaults of Florida the Whigs achieved very less in the first few years of independence.
However people attained self government experience and were determined not to give up their
independence and it was a great achievement.
British Army Returns
In 1778 there was a deadlock in the war on the northern side and the British decided to go about the
South. Governors in south had huge number of loyalists who waited for the army from the king. The
General in New York entered Georgia with 3000 troops to re-establish the British rule. Campbell took over
Augusta in January 1779. On March 3 British under the command of Colonel James Mark Prevost turned
on the Americans and met them at the Battle of Briar Creek.
Siege of Savannah
Governor Sir James Wright returned to Georgia in 1779 and announced Georgia is restored to the crown
with exemption of taxes. So Georgia became the first among the thirteen states to be restored to the royal
crown. Governor Wright was settling in while French fleet of more than twenty ships came unexpectedly
on the coast of Georgia. The French with an army of around 5000 men moved to besiege Savannah.
Two Battles of Augusta
For the sake of peace, gangs of marauders roamed in the region between Savannah and Augusta. Some
600 men from North Carolina came down and attacked Augusta on September 1780. After series of
attacks Colonel Brown had no choice but to surrender on June 1781. The capture of Augusta gave
American peace talks in France and Paris. (Cashin, 2005)

Evacuation of Savannah
The Savannah was vacated in 1782; Colonel James Jackson had leaded the troops inside the city. In
1782 Georgia assembly was assembled in Savannah. About 2000 white and double black settled in East
Florida. Around 5000 blacks and 400 whites moved to Jamaica.
The General Assembly of Georgia elected its governor in January 1783. A new independent state
although a poor state was a virtual territory up to Mississippi River. (Cashin, 2005)
Federal era
The French and Indian wars and Revolutionary war destroyed much of Savannah\s early buildings and
also delayed rebuilding efforts. In the 19th century the peace returned and prosperity began. Savannah a
seaport was set for exporting cotton and for bigger buildings. In 1816 a 24 year old boy, William Jay,
British born architect brought some stylish architectures. Jay made several glorious buildings in Savannah
which are all museums now. Savannah specialties were iron balconies, railings, iron work and exterior
stairs.
Early Antebellum era
Skilled labor both white and black worked along each other in Georgia. Former slaves who made a small
workforce paved their way for skilled craftsmen. They competed with white for various jobs such as
shoemakers, carpenters and butchers. Slaves covered a large part of Georgia labored in the fields and
houses. These labors build the early infrastructure of the region, developed major farming techniques and
also developed early crops like rice and also worked as mechanics at various shops like shoemakers and
tanner. The owners of these slaves also hired them for occupation in urban areas. In south the slaves
also worked as physicians. Manufacturers in their early period used these labors in their factories for
experimental purposes. (Gillespie, 2015)
Years of Tumult
Georgia declared its independence on May 26, 1918 at the time of tumult of the Russian revolution.
Soviet Russia and twenty two other countries recognized it as a new state. However the soviet Red Army
invaded Georgia in February 1921 and this very brief independence was put to end. A number of
Georgians were a victim of Soviet civilization and industrialization. Nationalist demonstrations and riots
started in 1924 and 1956 and a huge demonstration occurred in 1978 and 1988. Huge number of
demonstrators was murdered with shovels in April 1989 by police forces and Soviet military during a
peaceful demonstration.

Bourbon Ascendancy
The liberation era in Georgia was the return of the several wartime and antebellum leaders. They are
known as the Bourbon Triumvirate who consisted of the governor Joseph E. Brown and former Generals
John B. Gordon and Alfred H. Colquitt. These leaders remained in power in Georgia from 1872 till 1890
as governors or senators. Their efforts were supported by Henry W. Grady who started a crusade to build
a New South around Atlanta. (Cobb, 2009)
Jim Crow
The downfall of the Populists had cost Georgia beyond their failure as third party. The Populists
unsuccessful efforts to challenge the recognized hierarchy the heirs of Bourbon Triumvirate curtailed the
political control of the blacks. In 1908 an amendment was made to the constitution established literacy
and property requirements to increase the tax. The disfranchisement of the public facilities along with the
legislative mandated isolation defined the Jim Crow era that existed in Georgia for more than half a
century. (Cobb, 2009)
World war and Depression
As the progress of the Atlanta and other cities grew large the country side was getting worst day by day.
Boll Weevil came as a major problem in the state in 1915 who led to a sheer drop in the production of
cotton. In 1920s almost 400,000 black residents migrated to other parts of the country and from 1910 to
1930 almost half of the state farmers had left farming and agricultural work.
Great Depression and New Deal policy were imposed to cure the effects on Georgia agriculture. The
American president Franklin D. Roosevelt was familiar with the rural Georgians from his years of polio
treatment, before and during his presidency. Roosevelt inaugurated the Agricultural adjustment
administration in 1933 during first 100 days in his office as an attempt to increase the crop prices and
lower the agriculture products. Another policy was to make farmers out of this work and seek other ways
of employment. The result of this was that the rural communities made efforts to maintain their population
in the farming income and lack of opportunities in industrial jobs. With cheap labor some of which were
financed by public some of Georgias towns achieved success in drawing small, low wage employers
mostly in textile factories in 1930s.
The aviation history of the state began in these years and led to the prosperity of the industrial and
economic growth. In 1907 the father or aviation Ben Epps built and flew the first plane on the Athen fields
in Georgia. In 1923 aviator William B. Hartsfield established the Hartsfield Airport. Within a couple of
decades the airport became the main hub for Delta air Lines and Eastern Air Lines and moved its
headquarters to Atlanta in 1941. (Cobb, 2009)

World War II
Due to the entrance of United States in the World War II the Great Depression came to an end because
new jobs were created around the nation as a result of the industrial production of the war. Georgia had
the economic benefits as most soldiers came here for training in Columbus at Fort Benning which was the
largest training camp in the world at that time. The Bell aircraft corporation produced B-29 airplanes from
1943 till the end of the war. In early 1945 the factory employed around 28,000 workers. During 1942 to
1945 the ports of Savannah and Brunswick had about 200 liberty ships and employees more than 15,000
workers.
The economic effect of the war in Georgia was important as the annual personal income rose from $350
in 1940 to $1000 by 1950, which surpassed the national average. The state continued to prosper after the
war, where Atlanta experienced substantial growth in population and industry
Civil rights era
The civil rights era from 1950s to 1960s the aims and interests of the Atlantas political leaders changed
dramatically in a number of ways. As the population of Atlanta increased the voters were annoyed with the
county unit system. As a result the more moderate and economically progressive candidates were
favored by the people of Atlanta who had to fight against self styled rural. (Cashin, 2005)
In 1954 the US Supreme Court ruled that the equal and separate laws governing education in other
southern states and Georgia was not constitutional. Some citizens and politicians promoted that the
schools should be closed rather than abiding the courts orders. Almost 60% of the people t the courts
hearing favored that schools should be closed nationwide but the business and civic community believed
that this will be n economic disaster for the city. They persuaded the Sibley Commission to give a local
option on this matter.
The civil rights movement was mainly implemented by the Democratic Party which led in the twentieth
century to white electorate national party. In the last three decades of twentieth century, Atlanta a
metropolitan proved to be an important economic side of the country in the following years of World War
II. Atlanta grew both in size and borders to surrounding countries. The international delivery corporation
United Parcel Service moved its headquarters to Atlanta and also entities like Coca Cola, The Home
Depot, Olympic games and other improvements in infrastructure. In North Georgia the carpet and poultry
industry received national recognition. In the southern side the agricultural productions of peaches,
peanuts and onions gained reputation. Farming declined in Georgia as a major occupation and the farm
population shrank from 1 million to 63,000 in 2000. (Cobb, 2009)

Recent Generation
In the twentieth century in the state politics the Democrats were supported by white and Republicans
gave their presidential drive to success further down the ticket. In 2003 the first Republican governor was
Sonny Perdue since Reconstruction and he also won the re election in 2006. Till 2009 both the houses
were controlled by the Republican Party, the US senators were Republicans and also the seven members
of the US House of Representatives. In 2008 Barrack Obama made a strong show in Georgia as the
Democratic presidential candidate especially among the black voters. In 2011the Republican governor
Nathan Deal took charge and was reelected in 2014. (Cashin, 2005)
Conclusion
Georgias economy faced major shifts in the first few years of the twenty first century. In the states rural
counties the manufacturing jobs moved overseas. From 1998 to 2005 the rural counties lost some 98,000
jobs in manufacturing of textile and apparel. Thousands of immigrants were brought for agricultural work
especially Latinos, some of whom also found place in construction and industry. But due to the economic
recession in 2008, many people left to seek jobs at other places which affected the government services
and education in the state. Georgia also faced severe drought and engaged in fights with neighboring
states like Florida and Alabama over the water access. (Cobb, 2009)
Despite all these challenges, Georgia has new opportunities to attract people for employment. The
Korean automobile manufacturer, KIA Motors Corporation came in 2006; Delta Airline also came out from
bankruptcy in 2007. Also the unique landscape and culture promotes the tourism industry.

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