Georgia Georgia and the American Experienceand the American Experience

Chapter 5:Chapter 5:From Royalty to Independence, From Royalty to Independence,

1752-17831752-1783

Study Presentation Study Presentation

© 2005 Clairmont Press© 2005 Clairmont Press

Section 1: The Colonial Period

• Essential Question:–What were the similarities and

differences between the three colonial regions?

13 Original Colonies

Comparing the ColoniesComparing the ColoniesNew England Colonies

Middle Colonies Southern Colonies

Land and

Climate

cold; rugged terrain with rocky

soil

milder climate; rich soils

mildest climate; rich soils

Farming small family farms

larger farms; wheat large plantations; tobacco, rice, silk,

indigo

Other Industry

shipbuilding, whaling, fishing,

and furniture building

manufacturing, mining, textiles,

shipbuilding

casks and barrels from

longleaf pine forests

Colonial Transportation Colonial Transportation and Communication and Communication

• Boats used for shipping and transportation

• Stagecoaches were available, but slow mode of transportation

• Many old Indian trails were used• Newspapers read in cities; news often

old when it arrived in rural areas

Education in the ColoniesEducation in the Colonies• Schooling took place in home or church; boys were

taught practical skills• Girls learned homemaking skills • Apprentices learned specific skills from

master craftsmen• First public schools began in New England; only boys

attended; colleges and universities were founded by churches.

• Wealthy families in South hired private tutors or had their sons schooled in Europe

• Primitive “Old Field Schools” opened for boys from “common” families

Colonial Colleges• Harvard University-1636, Massachusetts• William and Mary-1693, Virginia• Yale University-1701, Connecticut• University of Pennsylvania-1740• Princeton University-1746, New Jersey-Presbyterians• Columbia University-1754, New York-Anglicans• Brown University-1764, Rhode Island-Baptists• Rutgers-1766, New Jersey• Dartmouth-1769, New Hampshire-CongregationalistsAll are Ivy League schools except William and

Mary and Rutgers.

Religion• In New England- three hours in the

morning and three in the evening.• Puritans broke away from the Church of

England. Reading was very important.• Those that did not conform were

punished, caned, banished, and displayed publicly.

Religion in Colonial Religion in Colonial GeorgiaGeorgia

• Anglican Church, or Church of England, made official church of Georgia colony in 1758

• Church attendance expected; shorter sermons and music common. After church was a social time.

• Moravians and Jews also practiced religion in Georgia

Leisure in the North• Recreation centered around work-barn

raisings, quilting bees, and corn huskings.

• Puritans-not allowed to gamble, dance, play cards or wear frilly clothes. Could be punished by dunking chair.

Leisure Activities in Southern Leisure Activities in Southern ColoniesColonies

• Fox hunting, horse races, week-long parties with friends and relatives popular

• Food central to large social gatherings• Children’s games: jump rope, hoops,

tennis, London bridge, hopscotch, leap frog, yo-yos and puzzles

• Storytelling was a great pastime.

Romance and MarriageRomance and Marriage• Girls often married in their early teens, 14 or

15.• Courtships took place at dances, church, or

during supervised home visits• Weddings were a day-long affair with great

celebrations.• Some wealthy families arranged marriages

for business gain, love was not considered essential.

• Husbands were expected to provide; wives could not own property. Divorce was rare. If the husband died, then the wife should remarry after two or three months.

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Section 2: Georgia Becomes Section 2: Georgia Becomes A Royal ColonyA Royal Colony

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION– What political forces shaped Georgia

after it became a royal colony?

Change in Colonial Change in Colonial Government StatusGovernment Status

• Proprietary Colony: governed by a Board of Trustees

• Georgia ceased to be Proprietary Colony in 1752

• Royal Colony: colony directly governed by the King

• Georgia became a Royal Colony in 1752; some people returned to Georgia who had left the colony while it was proprietary

The First Royal GovernmentThe First Royal Government • Naval Captain John Reynolds, first royal

governor, arrived in 1754• Reynolds introduced the idea of self-government• Two-chamber legislature set up: Commons

House of Assembly (Lower House) and Governor’s Council (Upper House)

• Court of Conscience settled disputes; overseen by justice of the peace

• Only people owning 50 or more acres of land could vote

North America, 1754 North America, 1754 • Spain claimed Florida and Mexico• France claimed land from Louisiana

to the Great Lakes, and parts of Canada; New Orleans (south) and Detroit (north) anchored French settlements

• Great Britain had established the 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast

French and Indian WarFrench and Indian War OriginsOrigins

• France and Great Britain wanted the treasures of the American continent

• Both countries feared the other would gain the most power

• France had the stronger army with more experienced leadership; British had better navy

• Both sides had allies with certain Indian tribes

The French and Indian WarThe French and Indian War• Both sides claimed the

Ohio River Valley area (more than 200,000 square miles)

• The French built several forts in the area; many Indians sided with the French

• The Virginia governor sent Captain George Washington with soldiers to Fort Necessity (near today’s Pittsburgh); a battle erupted….

What happened• Washington attacked French soldiers, they

attacked back, Washington surrendered.• British had lots of losses for the next few years.• Washington went as an aide to Major General

Braddock at Fort Duquesne, major battle, Braddock was killed, British retreated.

• Washington learned from Braddock’s mistakes, later commanded the Virginia militia, then defeated the French.

Georgia and the Georgia and the War’s War’s AftermathAftermath

• The war soon spread to Europe; by 1758, the British controlled the Ohio Valley

• The Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the war..• Treaty of Paris set Georgia’s western boundary at the

Mississippi River• Proclamation of 1763 (King George III): Georgia’s

southern boundary set at St. Mary’s River; Georgia colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains

• Cherokee and Creek tribes gave up land claims north of Augusta and in the coastal region

Results of the French and Indian War

• British got control of Canada.• The western frontier was opened to Virginia

and the other colonies.• Great Britain got Florida from Spain, because

Spain fought with the French.• France lost all of its land after 150 years.• Left Great Britain with a large amount of debt,

which led to the Revolutionary War.

Georgia’s First AssemblyGeorgia’s First Assembly• First met in Savannah in 1755• Passed bills to repair and build roads• Organized a militia• Codes created to limit rights of slaves• Governor Reynolds was replaced in

1757 by Captain Henry Ellis

Governor Henry Ellis Governor Henry Ellis • Believed Savannah was one the world’s hottest

places• Colonists immigrated to Georgia from South

Carolina and the West Indies• Offered large land grants and slavery increased

(3,600 slaves by 1759)• The economy flourished; more farms and goods

to buy • In 1761, Ellis became royal governor of Nova

Scotia, in Canada

Governor James Wright Governor James Wright • Wanted to expand Georgia’s western lands to

settlers• Completed Savannah’s defenses by

strengthening forts and building palisades (fences made of sharpened stakes)

• Sunbury became Georgia’s official port of entry• Land purchases increased greatly• More schools established, but for upper class

children

Georgia CrackersGeorgia Crackers• People from Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas

settled into middle and western parts of the colony.

• Got their name from the use of whips to drive cattle, or from the cracking or pounding of corn.

• Plantation owners viewed them as “undesirable people”

• Soon, these lower class people were called “crackers,” which was meant as an insult.

• Crackers were not welcome and thought of as ones who did not obey the colony’s laws.

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Section 3: The Call for Section 3: The Call for IndependenceIndependence

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION– How was Georgia’s role in the

Revolutionary War affected by the attitudes of the colonists?

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 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 was the only colony to actually sell

the stamps• The 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• Happened in Boston, Massachusetts.• March 1770• Crispus Attucks was killed and four others

Boston Tea PartyDecember 1773

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

protest “Intolerable Acts” (wait for more) levied against the Massachusetts colonists, Quartering Act.

• Georgia was not represented• Urged colonies to establish “Committees of

Safety” • Agreed to stop all trade with Britain• Carried on its work in secret

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Section 4: The Revolutionary Section 4: The Revolutionary War PeriodWar Period

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION– Why was there an American

Revolution?

American Revolution

• April 19, 1775 begins at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts

• It was May before word reached Georgia.• Radicals broke into storehouse in Savannah

and stole 600 pounds of gunpowder.• Congress appoints Washington commander

of colonial armies.• Peace was a long way off.

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 Georgia’s Second Provincial CongressProvincial Congress

• Held at Tondee’s Tavern in Savannah in July 1775• Archibald Bulloch, John Houstoun, Noble

Wimberly Jones, and Reverend John Zubly chosen to represent Georgia in Philadelphia

• Delegates given no specific instructions; told to make best decisions for Georgians

• 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

• Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

• 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

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

The Articles of The Articles of ConfederationConfederation

• First constitution of the United States of America

• Ratified (approved) on July 4, 1778• Went into effect in January 1781, when

ratified by Maryland and Virginia

Revolutionary War Revolutionary War 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)• Patriot militia led by Andrew Pickens, John

Dooly, and Elijah Clarke surrounded the Loyalist camp.

• The 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.

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 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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