Warm-UpDefine:

• Loyalists• Boycotts• Liberty Boys• Intolerable Acts• Battle of Kettle

Creek

• Patriots• Proclamation of

1763• Stamp Act• Declaration of

Independence• Treaty of

Paris(1783)

Navigation Acts• 1763 Said colonies could only use British

ships• Didn’t affect Ga

Unhappy with British ActsUnhappy with British Acts• Great Britain needed

money; much debt and security expenses resulted from the French and Indian War

• Sugar Act: tax on sugar and molasses imported from the West Indies

• Stamp Act: tax on newspapers, legal documents, and licenses

• Georgians disapproved of these acts

The Liberty BoysThe Liberty Boys• Georgians who came

together to oppose the Stamp Act

• Part of larger group, the “Sons of Liberty”

• Some called them “Liberty Brawlers”

• Met in taverns, such as Savannah’s Tondee’s Tavern

• Georgia only colony to actually sell the stamps

• Stamp Act was eventually repealed

Protests IncreaseProtests Increase• Noble Wimberly Jones, speaker of Georgia

colonial assembly, led Townshend Act protests

• Townshend Acts: placed import taxes on tea, paper, glass, and coloring for paints

• Governor Wright disbanded the assembly to try to end the protests

Boston Massacre

.

Boston Tea Party

Quartering Act

• Citizens of all colonies had to house and feed British soldiers

Georgia is Divided• Tories(Loyalists)-

remained loyal to Great Britain

• Whigs(Patriots)-wanted independence from Great Britain

Warm-Up

• What were the causes of the American Revolution?

• Explain the divisions over independence in Georgia? What groups?

Continental Congress Continental Congress • Met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to

protest “Intolerable Acts” levied against the Massachusetts colonists

• Georgia was not represented• Urged colonies to establish “

Committees of Safety” • Agreed to stop all trade with Britain• Carried on its work in secret • “Provincial Congress” held in Savannah in

January 1775; less than one-half of Georgia’s parishes were represented

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Lexington and Concord• April 19, 1775• First Battles of American

Revolution• News didn’t reach Georgia until

May

Second Continental Second Continental CongressCongress

• Met in Philadelphia after Lexington and Concord battles

• Drafted petition for King George III, asking for end of unfriendly steps against the colonies

• George III refused to accept the petition

• Authorized Continental Army• Georgia’s Lyman Hall arrived

in May 1775

Georgia’s Second Provincial Georgia’s Second Provincial CongressCongress

• Held at Tondee’s Tavern in Savannah in July 1775

• Discussed growing unhappiness with Britain• Governor Wright fled colony in early 1776;

Council of Safety established “Rules and Regulations” to govern Georgia

Declaration of Independence

• Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet encourage colonies to break from Great Britain; sold more than 500,000 copies

• Other pamphlets, including “The Crisis” influenced opinion

• August 2, 1776: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton sign the Declaration of Independence

• The Declaration meant the colonists were one nation; Georgians prepared for war

Button Gwinnett

George Walton

Lyman Hall

Georgia’s First State Georgia’s First State ConstitutionConstitution

• About one-third of Georgians remained loyal to Great Britain; they were called Tories

• The Whigs influenced a state constitution allowing separation of powers and giving citizens rights to agree how they were governed

• May 1777: Constitution adopted at Constitutional Convention in Savannah

• Eight counties formed: Burke, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Richmond, Wilkes, and Liberty

The 1777 Georgia The 1777 Georgia ConstitutionConstitution

• The governor’s power was limited

• Executive Council (12 legislators) held greatest power

• Council could overrule the governor’s decisions

• John Treutlen appointed Georgia’s first governor

• Georgia’s 1777 Constitution changed in 1789

Warm-Up

• Explain the importance of the Declaration of Independence.

• Explain the changes in Georgia’s Government.

Fighting in GeorgiaFighting in Georgia• Savannah captured and looted by British

troops in December 1778; lootings, murders, and burnings occurred

• Sunbury port captured in early 1779; Augusta was also attacked

• Georgia militia not effective against well-trained British troops

• Governor Wright eventually returned from Great Britain to govern Georgia

Battle of Kettle Creek (1779)Battle of Kettle Creek (1779)

• Colonel Elijah Clarke led Georgia militia, defeated 800 British troops near Washington, Georgia

• Great victory for morale of the militia and Georgians seeking independence

• Won badly-needed weapons and horses from the British

Elijah Clarke

Siege of Savannah (1779)Siege of Savannah (1779)• 15,000 Americans and 4,000

French laid siege to Savannah

• Attack on October 9 resulted in 1,000 American and French deaths in less than an hour; only 40 British troops died

• Polish Count Casimir Pulaski killed

• Savannah remained under British control for nearly four more years

• Guerrilla warfare continued in the Georgia backcountry

Georgia Wartime HeroesGeorgia Wartime Heroes• Nancy Hart single-handedly captured a group

of British loyalists who bragged of murdering an American colonel; Hart County is the only county named for a woman

• Austin Dabney was a slave, fought with distinction and was wounded at Kettle Creek; he also saved Elijah Clarke’s life during that battle

The War EndsThe War Ends• Elijah Clarke, the Georgia

Militia,and the Continental Army regain Augusta from British in June 1781; 11 battles or skirmishes fought in Georgia during the war

• George Washington, with French help, force British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781

• British leave Savannah in the spring of 1782

• Treaty of Paris (September 1783) ends war; treaty is signed by United States, Great Britain, and France

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