Province of Georgia | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1732–1776 | |||||||
.svg) Flag | |||||||
 Map of the Province of Georgia, 1732–1782 | |||||||
| Status | Colony of Great Britain | ||||||
| Capital | Savannah | ||||||
| Official languages | English | ||||||
| Minority languages | Mikasuki, Cherokee, Muscogee, Shawnee, Yuchi | ||||||
| Religion | Church of England (Anglicanism) | ||||||
| Government | Proprietary colony (1732-1755) Crown colony (1755-1782) | ||||||
| King | |||||||
• 1732–1760 | George II | ||||||
• 1760–1777 | George III | ||||||
| Governor | |||||||
• 1732–1743 | James Oglethorpe (first) | ||||||
• 1760–1782 | James Wright (last) | ||||||
| Legislature | Commons House of Assembly (lower) General Assembly (upper) | ||||||
| Historical era | Colonial Era | ||||||
• Established | 1732 | ||||||
• Disestablished | 1776 | ||||||
| Currency | Georgia pound | ||||||
| |||||||
| Today part of | United States | ||||||
The Province of Georgia[1] (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution.
The original land grant of the Province of Georgia included a narrow strip of land that extended west to the Pacific Ocean.[2]
The colony's Corporate charter[3] was granted to General James Oglethorpe on April 21, 1732, by George II, for whom the colony was named. The charter was finalized by the King's privy council on June 9, 1732.[4]
Oglethorpe envisioned a colony which would serve as a haven for English subjects who had been imprisoned for debt and "the worthy poor." General Oglethorpe imposed very strict laws that many colonists disagreed with, such as the banning of alcoholic beverages.[5] He disagreed with slavery and thought a system of smallholdings more appropriate than the large plantations common in the colonies just to the north. However, land grants were not as large as most colonists would have preferred.[citation needed]
Another reason for the founding of the colony was as a buffer state and a "garrison province" which would defend the southern British colonies from Spanish Florida. Oglethorpe imagined a province populated by "sturdy farmers" who could guard the border; because of this, the colony's charter prohibited slavery.[1] The ban on slavery was lifted by 1751 and the colony became a royal colony by 1752.[6]
- ^ a b "Charter of Georgia: 1732". Avalon Law. Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. 2008. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
All which lands, countries, territories and premises, hereby granted or mentioned, and intended to be granted, we do by these presents, make, erect and create one independent and separate province, by the name of Georgia, by which name we will, the same henceforth be called.
- ^ "Charter of Georgia : 1732". avalon.law.yale.edu. Lillian Goldman Law Library. December 18, 1998. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008.
...[from] the Savannah [to] the Alatamaha [sic], and westerly from the heads of the said rivers respectively, in direct lines to the south seas.
- ^ "Royal Charter of the Colony of Georgia". Trustees, Colony of Georgia, RG 49-2-18. Georgia Archives. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
- ^ Evarts Boutell Greene, Provincial America, 1690-1740 (1905) ch 15 online pp 249-269 covers 1732 to 1763.
- ^ Sweet, Julie Anne (2010). "That Cursed Evil Rum": The Trustees' Prohibition Policy in Colonial Georgia". Georgia Historical Quarterly. 94 (1): 1–29. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
- ^ "Royal Georgia, 1752-1776". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 24, 2018.