Life in Trustee GeorgiaAugust 25, 2015

Trustee Georgia

▪ Georgia was founded on 3 principles: charity, economics, and defense▪ Charity: helping former convicts and debtors start a new life▪ Economics: producing goods and raw materials to export to England▪ Defense: acting as a buffer colony between Spanish Florida and the

rest of the English colonies

▪ In keeping with those principles, the motto of the new colony was Non sibi sed aliis, which is Latin for: Not for self, but for others

▪ Many Georgia colonists found life in the new colony difficult ▪ New settler groups arrived as the years passed▪ Many colonists were unhappy with James Oglethorpe’s rules

and regulations▪ The constant threat of attack from the Spanish in Florida was

stressful for many settlers

A Settler’s Life

▪ The first group of English settlers to arrive in Georgia in 1733 faced daily hardships▪ Out of the original 114 settlers, nearly 50 of them did

not survive the first year▪ The humid, hot climate was too harsh for people used to the cooler

climate in England▪ Early farming did not produce many crops causing many to go hungry▪ Medical care was almost non-existent; people who got sick often died

and women died while trying to have babies▪ Most of the settlers, including children, spent their

days working in their gardens and working on their farms▪ There was no education system▪ Boys might be taught to read and write at home▪ Girls were often only taught “home” skills: cooking, sewing, gardening

New Settlers

▪ In March 1734, a group arrived from Germany called the Salzburgers▪ They were granted a piece of land about 25 miles from Savannah▪ They called their town Ebenezer▪ However, Ebenezer’s soil was too swampy to grow crops so they

had to move▪ They moved to a new spot in 1736 and named it New Ebenezer

▪ In 1736, Oglethorpe traveled to Scotland to recruit new settlers▪ Scottish people who lived in the Highland area of Scotland had a

reputation for being good soldiers▪ He recruited a group of about 175 Highland Scots to move to

Georgia to help defend the colony from Spanish threats in Florida▪ They established a town south of Savannah called Darien▪ They were hard workers that raised cattle and harvested trees to

help the colony survive

War with Spain

▪ England and Spain had been arguing over land claims in North America for many years

▪ Once England colonized Georgia, the arguing got worse▪ In 1739, the Spanish colonists in Florida tried to invade

Georgia▪ The Georgia colonists defeated the invasion, but

several more attempts were made as the years passed▪ Oglethorpe, as directed by King George II, continued

the conflict with Spanish Florida▪ The colonists, however, were unhappy with having to

fight a war that they didn’t want to fight▪ The conflict was finally settled in 1748, but the damage

had already been done with angering the colonists

Unhappy Colonists

▪ In 1736, Oglethorpe made several new rules▪ No Rum, no trading alcohol with the Native Americans, and no

slaves▪ These were not popular among the colonists▪ The ongoing war with Spanish Florida also caused anger among

the colonists▪ Many things were also going wrong with agriculture▪ The Mulberry trees were the wrong kind so silk worms weren’t

producing, and they were not allowed to grow many other things they wanted

▪ Their neighbors in South Carolina, who had all the things Oglethorpe banned, were doing really well

▪ Many Georgia settlers left Georgia for different colonies that had less restrictive rules

▪ These people formed a group called the Malcontents (a person who is dissatisfied and rebellious)

Oglethorpe leaves Georgia

▪ In 1743, Oglethorpe was called back to England after the Malcontents wrote to King George complaining about the rules in the colony

▪ While in England, Oglethorpe met the woman that he decided to marry

▪ His new wife didn’t want to live in Georgia so Oglethorpe decided to remain in England

▪ A new leader of Georgia was named, Williams Stephens▪ Oglethorpe continued to act as a trustee of Georgia, but

he no longer lived there

William Stephens

▪ Stephens had lived in the Georgia colony since 1737▪ After the Trustees appointed him leader of the colony,

he began to reverse Oglethorpe’s rules▪ The ban on rum was lifted▪ Slavery was allowed in the colony beginning in 1751▪ Many of the Malcontents and other colonists who had

left the colony began to slowly return and the population grew

The End of the Trustee Period

▪ As the population grew, the colonists demanded to have a voice in the running of the colony

▪ The Trustees, instead of giving in to the colonists’ demand and working with them, decided to turn over the running of the colony to the King

▪ Even though the original Charter of 1732 was set to expire in 1753, the Trustees returned it early in 1752

▪ After this, Georgia was known as a Royal Colony and was under the direct leadership of King George II.