James Oglethorpe founded the colony of
Georgia in February of 1733. King George II provided the funding for Oglethorpes project with
the primary purpose of separating the English colonies from the Spanish military located in what
is now present-day Florida. The settlement had some ambitious goals different from other
colonies in the Americas. Unfortunately, Oglethorpe was unable to achieve them. After twenty-one
years, before the original charter expired, the colony reverted to a royal colony. Georgia
became a royal colony (Royal Georgia) in the year of
1752 after terminating the trustee governance agreement.
When
Oglethorpe established the settlement in 1733, the consumption of alcoholic beverages (rum
specifically) was discouraged and outright not tolerated. Officially alcohol was banned in 1735
by the Trustees. The trustees believed that much of the sickness and disease suffered by the
colonists on the way and in settling the coast of Georgia was from the consumption of rum.
Barrels of rum were destroyed before they disembarked from the ship. Rum and other similar
alcoholic beverages were standard fares on ships as well as an integral part of the colonies.
Rum was used to purify the water and as a medicine. So as you might imagine Oglethorpes ban was
not very popular! The legal prohibition on alcohol ended twelve years later in 1747.
Oglethorpes vision for a new colony did not include slavery. Slavery was not allowed in
the colony. Slavery was thought to be inconsistent with the ideals and vision of Oglethorpe and
his followers. However, as slavery grew in colonies outside of Georgia it became increasingly
difficult to keep the ban on slavery in place. In 1755, the trustees agreed to a slave code
similar to that in South Carolina that opened the door for slaves in Georgia.
Moravians arrived in the colony of Georgia in 1735. They were generally well-received
by the other colonists as hard workers and assimilated in the colony rapidly even though their
group was small in numbers. There is no historical record of an involuntary expulsion from
Georgia. The historical record indicates the Moravian religion clashed with Lutherans, and
several internal issues inside the congregation resulted in them leaving to travel to other
parts of Georgia. Some returned to Europe or moved to the northern colonies settling in
Pennsylvania. The last known Moravian congregation in Georgia is in Stone Mountain (Georgia
Encyclopedia).
In December of 1838, Governor Gilmer of Georgia signed a bill
known as the Cherokee Indian Citizen Act. Yet, Congress did not grant full citizenship to all
Native American tribes until 1924. Gilmers law is a bit of a misnomer as the act provided
citizenship only to twenty-one families of mixed Cherokee and white ancestry. It is a stretch to
think this law granted citizenship to any tribes in Georgia, let alone the Cherokee.
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