History of slavery in Georgia

This article is about slavery in the U.S. state. For slavery in the country, see Slavery in medieval Europe.

Original caption of 1941 photograph: "Harmony Community, Putnam County, Georgia...This old woman was a slave and belonged to the family on whose place she now lives. She was a small girl when Sherman's army came through." (U.S. Department of Agriculture via NARA)

Slavery in Georgia is known to have been practiced by European colonists. During the colonial era, the practice of slavery in Georgia soon became surpassed by industrial-scale plantation slavery.

The colony of the Province of Georgia under James Oglethorpe banned slavery in 1735, the only one of the thirteen colonies to have done so. However, it was legalized by royal decree in 1751,[1] in part due to George Whitefield's support for the institution of slavery.

  1. ^ Marsh, Ben (2007). "Planting families: Intent and outcome in the development of colonial Georgia". History of the Family. 12 (104–115): 104–115. doi:10.1016/j.hisfam.2007.08.003. S2CID 143238377.