Video: The Southern Colonies

narrator: ENGLAND'S SOUTHERN COLONIES IN AMERICA

WERE THOSE OF MARYLAND, VIRGINIA,

NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA,

AND GEORGIA.

OUT OF THE THIRTEEN COLONIES

VIRGINIA WAS THE FIRST TO BE ESTABLISHED

AND GEORGIA WAS THE LAST.

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES WERE QUITE DIFFERENT

FROM ENGLAND'S OTHER AMERICAN COLONIES

BECAUSE THEIR ECONOMIC SUCCESS DEPENDED ALMOST COMPLETELY

ON THE USE OF LARGE NUMBERS OF SLAVES.

ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO FOUNDED THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

HAD NOT BEEN FAMILIAR WITH SLAVERY BACK IN ENGLAND,

IN AMERICA THE USE OF SLAVES

ALLOWED MANY OF THEM TO GROW RICH.

LIKE THE COLONISTS IN ENGLAND'S OTHER COLONIES,

THOSE THAT SETTLED THE SOUTH BROUGHT THEIR LANGUAGE, CUSTOMS,

RELIGIONS, AND RACIAL BELIEFS TO AMERICA,

AND THEY ADAPTED THEIR OLD WAYS OF DOING THINGS

TO MAKE THEM WORK IN A STRANGE NEW LAND.

MOST CHANGES WERE MADE IN HOW THEY FARMED

AND LIVED THEIR DAILY LIVES,

BUT OTHERS WERE IN THE LAWS THEY MADE AND THE WAYS THEY GOVERNED.

THINGS LIKE THESE BLENDED TOGETHER

DURING THE ALMOST TWO HUNDRED YEARS

THAT ENGLAND RULED IN AMERICA

AND HELPED LAY THE FOUNDATION

FOR THE UNIQUE CULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY, VIRGINIA,

WAS FOUNDED IN 1607

BY MEMBERS OF THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON:

THEIR STORY WAS IN MANY WAYS TYPICAL OF THE EARLY COLONISTS,

WHILE IN OTHERS IT WAS NOT.

THE 104 MEN AND BOYS WHO MADE THE VOYAGE TO VIRGINIA

PLANNED TO SEARCH FOR GOLD,

AND TO TRY TO FIND A NEW ROUTE TO ASIA.

AS THE SHIPS LEFT ENGLAND TO CROSS THE ATLANTIC

MANY OF THE PASSENGERS HAD WORRIED

ABOUT THE LONG VOYAGE THAT LAY AHEAD OF THEM.

BUT BY THE SPRING, AFTER FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS AT SEA

THEY HAD SAFELY REACHED THE CHESAPEAKE BAY IN VIRGINIA.

AFTER EXPLORING

THEY FOUND AN ISLAND IN A LARGE RIVER THAT FLOWS INTO THE BAY

AND DECIDED TO BUILD THEIR SETTLEMENT ON IT.

FIRST THEY HAD TO CUT DOWN TREES, CLEAR THE LAND,

AND MAKE WOODEN BEAMS FROM WHICH TO BUILD HOUSES.

THEY FILLED THE SPACES BETWEEN THE BEAMS

WITH WOVEN BRANCHES AND MUD;

A BUILDING METHOD CALLED  DAUB AND WATTLE

AND THEY MADE THATCHED ROOFS

FROM REEDS THAT GREW IN THE NEARBY SWAMPS.

WHEN THEY WERE DONE

THE HOUSES OF THE SETTLEMENT THEY NAMED JAMESTOWN

AFTER KING JAMES

LOOKED A LOT LIKE THOSE THEY HAD KNOWN IN ENGLAND

BUT MOST OF THEM WERE QUITE SMALL AND HAD ONLY ONE ROOM.

AS TIME WENT BY THE COLONISTS ALSO BUILT BARNS

WHERE THEY COULD STORE SUPPLIES.

AND THEY BUILT A NEW CHURCH

WHERE REGULATIONS REQUIRED THEM TO WORSHIP TWICE A DAY.

THEY EVEN SHARPENED LOGS

TO MAKE A WALL ALL THE WAY AROUND THE FIRST ENGLISH TOWN,

OR "FORT" AS THEY CALLED IT,

FOR PROTECTION

AGAINST BOTH HOSTILE TRIBES OF AMERICAN INDIANS

AND FROM THE SPANISH SOLDIERS

THAT LIVED TO THE SOUTH IN FLORIDA.

MOST OF THE WORK OF BUILDING JAMESTOWN

WAS DONE BY THE POORER COLONISTS.

THE OTHER HALF OF THE COLONISTS

WERE WEALTHY MEMBERS OF ENGLAND'S UPPER CLASS WHO,

ACCORDING TO THE OLD ENGLISH WAYS OF DOING THINGS,

WERE NOT EXPECTED TO WORK:

THIS CAUSED MANY BAD FEELINGS AT THE COLONY.

BUT THAT WAS JUST ONE PROBLEM JAMESTOWN FACED:

ANOTHER WAS THAT IT WAS BUILT ON SWAMPY LAND

THAT WAS BAD FOR FARMING.

MOST OF THE DRINKING WATER WAS NO GOOD.

THE SWAMPS WERE FILLED WITH DISEASE-CARRYING MOSQUITOES

AND BECAUSE OF  THESE THINGS, AS WELL AS STARVATION,

AROUND 440 OUT OF 500 COLONISTS HAD DIED BY THE SPRING OF 1610.

IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT JAMESTOWN ALMOST FAILED,

NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF ILLNESS AND STARVATION,

BUT BECAUSE NO GOLD HAD BEEN DISCOVERED

AND BECAUSE THE COLONISTS

HADN'T FOUND ANY GOOD WAYS OF MAKING A LIVING.

BUT JUST WHEN THEY WERE THE MOST DISCOURAGED,

NEW PEOPLE CAME FROM ENGLAND

AND THEY SETTLED ON HEALTHIER LANDS WHERE THEY COULD FARM.

THE JAMESTOWN COLONISTS WERE LED FOR MANY YEARS BY THIS MAN,

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.

HE WAS AN EXCELLENT GOVERNOR,

AS WELL AS AN EXPLORER AND MAPMAKER.

SMITH PUT THE UPPER CLASS COLONISTS TO WORK.

HE KEPT EVERYONE FROM STARVING

BY BUYING CORN FROM THE NATIVE AMERICANS

AND ALSO BY LEARNING HOW THEY HUNTED ANIMALS FOR FOOD.

ONE DAY WHILE JOHN SMITH WAS OUT EXPLORING

HE WAS CAPTURED AND THREATENED WITH DEATH

BY WARRIORS FROM AN UNFRIENDLY TRIBE

ONLY TO BE SAVED BY THE CHIEF'S DAUGHTER, POCAHONTAS.

LATER, SHE MARRIED ONE OF THE COLONISTS,

AND BEGAN DRESSING LIKE AN ENGLISHWOMAN.

HER HUSBAND, A PLANTATION OWNER NAMED JOHN ROLFE,

HAD WORKED FOR YEARS DEVELOPING A MILD, "SWEET" KIND OF TOBACCO.

THE ENGLISH SETTLERS IN VIRGINIA

STARTED RAISING LOTS OF TOBACCO PLANTS AND THEY GREW QUITE WELL.

AFTER THE LEAVES WERE HARVESTED AND DRIED,

THE TOBACCO WAS SHIPPED OFF TO EUROPE

WHERE THE DANGEROUS HABIT OF SMOKING

WAS JUST BECOMING POPULAR.

AS THE YEARS PASSED

TOBACCO FARMING BROUGHT THE COLONY GREAT PROSPERITY...

IN 1619 THE PEOPLE OF JAMESTOWN ELECTED AN ASSEMBLY OF MEN

CALLED THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES

TO MAKE LAWS FOR THEIR GROWING COLONY.

THAT TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY IMPORTANT YEAR

BECAUSE IT WAS THE BEGINNING

OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA.

UNFORTUNATELY,

1619 WAS IMPORTANT FOR ANOTHER REASON AS WELL.

IT WAS THE YEAR THE FIRST AFRICAN SLAVES

WERE SOLD TO VIRGINIA TOBACCO PLANTERS BY A DUTCH TRADER.

AFTER THAT THOUSANDS OF MORE SLAVES

WERE PUT TO WORK IN THE COLONY'S PLANTATIONS

AND THIS ALLOWED THEIR OWNERS TO LIVE IN FANTASTIC LUXURY.

BY THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

A POWERFUL SOCIETY OF LARGE PLANTATION OWNERS

CONTROLLED THE COLONIAL LEGISLATURE IN VIRGINIA.

TWO OF THE MOST FAMOUS OF THESE VIRGINIA GENTLEMEN

WERE GEORGE WASHINGTON,

WHO MAINTAINED HIS BEAUTIFUL PLANTATION OF MOUNT VERNON

ALONGSIDE THE POTOMAC RIVER.

AND THOMAS JEFFERSON

WHOSE GRAND PLANTATION CALLED MONTICELLO

STOOD FAR TO THE WEST

IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS:

BOTH PLANTATIONS HAD HUNDREDS OF SLAVES.

THE SECOND SOUTHERN COLONY, MARYLAND,

RECEIVED A ROYAL CHARTER IN 1632,

25 YEARS AFTER VIRGINIA WAS FOUNDED.

MARYLAND WAS THE FIRST

OF WHAT WERE CALLED THE  PROPRIETARY COLONIES;

THAT IS COLONIES THAT WERE RUN BY AN OWNER OR PROPRIETOR.

THE FIRST PROPRIETOR OF MARYLAND

WAS A WEALTHY CATHOLIC NOBLEMAN NAMED CECIL CALVERT,

ALSO KNOWN BY HIS OFFICIAL TITLE LORD BALTIMORE.

PROPRIETORS SUCH AS CALVERT

WERE THE MEN TO WHOM KINGS GRANTED COLONIAL CHARTERS.

COLONIAL CHARTERS NORMALLY REQUIRED THE PROPRIETORS

TO ABIDE BY BASIC ENGLISH LAWS

BUT THEY WERE GIVEN THE RIGHT TO USE THE COLONY'S LAND

AND TO DEFEND AND ADMINISTER THE COLONY AS THEY SAW FIT.

CALVERT WANTED THE COLONY OF MARYLAND

TO BE A PLACE IN WHICH LARGE ESTATES

WOULD BE OWNED BY CATHOLIC NOBLEMEN

WHO WOULD THEN PROFITABLY RENT OUT THE LAND TO OTHERS.

ST. MARY'S CITY, THE FIRST CAPITAL OF MARYLAND

WAS FOUNDED IN 1634

WHEN COLONISTS SAILING FROM ENGLAND

ARRIVED ON THE SHORES

OF A BEAUTIFUL INLET OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY

NOT FAR FROM THE EASTERN BOUNDARY OF VIRGINIA.

ON BOARD THE SHIPS WERE TWO CATHOLIC PRIESTS

AND THE FAMILIES OF 17 CATHOLIC GENTLEMEN.

IN ADDITION THERE WERE ABOUT 200 OTHER PEOPLE

WHO WERE MOSTLY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

IN THE BEGINNING SOME COLONISTS MOVED INTO HOUSES

IN WHICH NATIVE AMERICANS HAD LIVED.

THEY FURNISHED THEM WITH THEIR OWN BELONGINGS

BUT SOON THEY CONSTRUCTED

ENGLISH STYLE HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS.

OVER THE YEARS

ST. MARY'S CITY TURNED INTO A BUSY LITTLE PORT-TOWN

SERVING THE NEEDS OF A MAJOR TOBACCO EXPORTING COLONY.

AS THE HEADQUARTERS FOR MARYLAND'S COLONIAL GOVERNMENT

IT WAS THE ONLY PLACE FOR COLONISTS TO COME

IF THEY HAD DEALINGS WITH THE COURT.

AND TO ACCOMMODATE SUCH TRAVELERS

ST. MARY'S CITY HAD A WELL-EQUIPPED  ORDINARY

OR PUBLIC INN.

THE YOUNG WOMEN WHO WORKED AT THE INN IN ST. MARY'S CITY

WERE  INDENTURED SERVANTS.

INDENTURED SERVANTS

WERE PEOPLE WHO HAD SIGNED A CONTRACT OR INDENTURE

IN WHICH THEY AGREED TO WORK IN THE COLONY WITHOUT PAY,

USUALLY FOR AROUND SIX YEARS,

IN EXCHANGE FOR FREE TRANSPORTATION TO AMERICA.

INDENTURED SERVANTS WERE COMMON IN ALL THE COLONIES:

USUALLY THEY WERE PEOPLE WHO HAD DECIDED TO LEAVE ENGLAND

BECAUSE OF POVERTY.

ALTHOUGH INDENTURED SERVANTS PROVIDED A LOT OF CHEAP LABOR

IN MARYLAND AND THE OTHER COLONIES,

THEY WERE LEGALLY FREE TO GO AS THEY PLEASED

ONCE THEIR CONTRACTS HAD BEEN FULFILLED.

IN FACT, MOST OF THEM STAYED ON TO START THEIR OWN FARMS

AND TO RAISE FAMILIES.

IN CONTRAST, THE COLONY'S LEGAL SYSTEM

BOUND THE SLAVES WHO DID MOST OF THE WORK ON THE PLANTATIONS

TO A LIFETIME OF FORCED LABOR.

RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES ERUPTED IN MARYLAND

NOT LONG AFTER IT WAS FOUNDED.

THEY OCCURRED MAINLY

BECAUSE CATHOLICS CONTROLLED ITS GOVERNMENT

YET THEY MADE UP ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF ITS POPULATION:

THIS CAUSED RESENTMENT AMONG MANY COLONISTS.

WHEN PURITANS, WHO STRONGLY DISLIKED CATHOLICS,

FLOODED INTO MARYLAND

VIOLENCE BROKE OUT.

TO SOOTHE HIS COLONISTS

LORD BALTIMORE REPLACED THE CATHOLIC GOVERNOR

WITH A PROTESTANT ONE.

AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY IN 1649,

HERE AT THE COLONY'S CAPITAL IN ST. MARY'S CITY,

MARYLAND ENACTED A RELIGIOUS TOLERATION ACT,

WHICH GUARANTEED FREEDOM OF WORSHIP TO ALL CHRISTIAN FAITHS.

THE TOLERATION ACT WAS THE FIRST STEP EVER TAKEN

TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF RELIGION ON THE AMERICAN SOIL.

IN 1649,

THE SAME YEAR THAT MARYLAND WAS ENACTING ITS TOLERATION ACT,

KING CHARLES THE FIRST OF ENGLAND WAS BEHEADED FOR TREASON

BY ORDER OF THE PARLIAMENT

AND FOR THE NEXT DECADE ENGLAND HAD NO KING.

BUT THEN THE MONARCHY WAS RESTORED

UNDER THE DEAD KING'S SON, KING CHARLES THE SECOND.

THE NEW KING AWARDED THE PROPRIETORSHIP

OF THE LANDS SOUTH OF VIRGINIA

KNOWN AS CAROLINA

TO EIGHT LOYAL FRIENDS

TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR HELP IN BRINGING HIM TO THE THRONE.

TWO SEPARATE COLONIES, NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA,

WERE LATER CARVED FROM THE ORIGINAL CAROLINA COLONY.

NORTH CAROLINA WAS THE SITE

OF ENGLAND'S FIRST ATTEMPT AT COLONIZATION IN AMERICA.

IT ALL STARTED IN 1584

WHEN QUEEN ELIZABETH THE FIRST GRANTED A CHARTER

TO A VAST REGION OF LAND ALONG THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA

TO HER FRIEND SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

EXPLORERS FROM ENGLAND SEARCHED FOR A GOOD SITE FOR A COLONY

AND THEY SELECTED ROANOKE ISLAND

JUST OFF THE MAINLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA.

THE FOLLOWING YEAR

OVER ONE HUNDRED MEN AND BOYS ARRIVED AT THE ISLAND:

THEIR GOAL WAS TO CREATE A BASE FOR SUPPLYING ENGLISH WARSHIPS

BUT THEY SOON REALIZED THAT THE ISLAND'S SHALLOW WATERS

WOULD MAKE RUNNING SUCH A BASE IMPOSSIBLE.

AND SO THEY ABANDONED THEIR MISSION AND RETURNED TO ENGLAND.

THE NEXT ATTEMPT AT COLONIZATION HAPPENED TWO YEARS LATER

WHEN A GROUP OF 117 MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN

SAILED OFF TO COLONIZE LAND FURTHER NORTH IN VIRGINIA

BUT, DUE TO SOME CONFUSION, THEY ENDED UP AT ROANOKE ISLAND TOO.

AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS ON THE ISLAND

THERE WERE STRUGGLES WITH THE NATIVE AMERICANS

AND THE COLONISTS NEEDED MORE SUPPLIES;

SO THE SHIP THAT HAD BROUGHT THEM TO AMERICA

RETURNED TO ENGLAND TO GET THEM.

AND THE ENGLISH NEEDED EVERY SHIP THEY COULD FIND.

AS A RESULT THREE YEARS PASSED BY

BEFORE THE SUPPLY SHIP COULD SAFELY RETURN TO ROANOKE ISLAND.

WHEN THE SHIP FINALLY GOT BACK IN 1590 THE ISLAND WAS DESERTED.

IN FACT THE ONLY SIGN OF THE COLONISTS

WERE THE LETTER "C-R-O" CARVED IN A TREE.

THESE LETTERS MAY HAVE BEEN A REFERENCE

TO CROATOAN ISLAND TO THE SOUTH

BUT TO THIS DAY

THE FATE OF THE ROANOKE COLONISTS OF NORTH CAROLINA

REMAINS A GREAT MYSTERY

AND NO TRACE OF THEM HAS EVER BEEN FOUND.

BY THE TIME THE EIGHT LORDS-PROPRIETORS

BEGAN TO GOVERN NORTH CAROLINA IN 1663

A SMALL AREA NOT FAR FROM ROANOKE ISLAND

HAD ALREADY BEEN SETTLED BY A FEW PEOPLE

WHO HAD BEEN INDENTURED SERVANTS

AND SMALL-TIME TOBACCO FARMERS IN VIRGINIA.

THE TOWN OF BATH SEEN HERE

IS THE OLDEST TOWN IN NORTH CAROLINA

FOUNDED IN 1705:

THREE YEARS AFTER IT WAS FOUNDED BATH HAD 12 HOUSES,

A SHIPYARD,

A MILL FOR GRINDING GRAIN

AND 50 RESIDENTS.

THE TOWN WAS FREQUENTLY VISITED BY A MAN NAMED EDWARD TEACH,

ALSO KNOWN AS "BLACKBEARD",

A PIRATE WHO TERRORIZED SHIPPING LANES

ALONG THE SOUTHERN COAST OF AMERICA.

DURING ITS EARLY DAYS NORTH CAROLINA'S MAIN EXPORTS

WERE TOBACCO,

FURS,

AND FOREST PRODUCTS FOR WOODEN SHIPS

SUCH AS TIMBERS, TURPENTINE, PITCH, RESIN, AND TAR.

EVENTUALLY NORTH CAROLINA CHANGED

FROM BEING A PRIVATELY OWNED PROPRIETORSHIP COLONY

TO A ROYAL COLONY.

THE KING BUILT A BEAUTIFUL PALACE FOR HIS GOVERNOR,

WILLIAM TYRON,

RIGHT BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

AND FOR A SHORT TIME TYRON PALACE

SERVED AS THE HOME OF NORTH CAROLINA'S COLONIAL LEGISLATURE.

BUT ANOTHER PURPOSE OF THIS FINE BUILDING

WAS TO REMIND THE COLONISTS OF ENGLAND'S STRENGTH AND GREATNESS

DURING A TIME OF GROWING POLITICAL TURMOIL IN AMERICA.

THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, FOUNDED IN 1663,

WAS FIRST SETTLED ON AND AROUND A NARROW PENINSULA OF LAND

WHERE TWO GREAT RIVERS FLOW INTO THE OCEAN.

THE CITY THAT WAS BUILT HERE STARTING IN 1670

WAS NAMED CHARLESTON IN HONOR OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND.

CHARLESTON EVENTUALLY BECAME

THE FOURTH LARGEST CITY IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES

AND ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST:

IN CONTRAST THE COLONY OF NORTH CAROLINA NEVER HAD A LARGE CITY.

THE FIRST COLONISTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

ARRIVED BY SHIP FROM ENGLAND

LATE IN THE YEAR 1669

AND SETTLED NEAR HERE ON THE BANKS OF THE ASHLEY RIVER.

THEY ESTABLISHED SMALL FARMS,

TRADED IN FURS

AND EXPORTED FOREST PRODUCTS FOR WOODEN SHIPS

AS THE SETTLERS IN THE NORTH WERE DOING.

STARTING IN THE 1680s PERSECUTED PROTESTANTS FROM EUROPE

IMMIGRATED TO SOUTH CAROLINA

TO FARM AND FIND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM...

THE FLAT SWAMPY SOUTH CAROLINA LOW COUNTRY

WAS PERFECT FOR GROWING RICE

AND IT WAS MAINLY THIS CROP THAT BROUGHT THEM PROSPERITY.

LATER ON, PLANTERS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

RAISED A PLANT CALLED INDIGO

FROM WHOSE LEAVES A VALUABLE BLUE DYE IS DERIVED.

EVENTUALLY INDIGO BECAME A MAJOR EXPORT OF THE COLONY AS WELL.

RICE WAS GROWN ON HUGE PLANTATIONS

AND IT REQUIRED A LARGE NUMBER OF WORKERS TO PRODUCE.

AS A RESULT, THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN SLAVES WERE BROUGHT IN

SO THAT BY 1699

THERE WERE FOUR BLACK SLAVES

FOR EVERY WHITE PERSON IN THE COLONY.

SLAVERY ON THIS SCALE

RESULTED IN THE CREATION OF A POWERFUL UPPER CLASS

MADE UP OF EXTREMELY WEALTHY PLANTERS,

MANY OF WHOM LIVED IN AND AROUND CHARLESTON.

THIS MANSION CALLED DRAYTON HALL

IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A WEALTHY SOUTH CAROLINA PLANTER'S HOUSE.

IT STANDS ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER

AND ONCE OVERLOOKED THE PLANTATION'S HUGE RICE FIELDS.

PLANTERS WHO LIVED IN ENORMOUS HOUSES LIKE THIS ONE

LIKED TO SHOW OFF THEIR WEALTH IN OTHER WAYS TOO.

IN FACT VISITORS TO A PLANTATION HOUSE

USUALLY HAD TO PASS DOWN A LONG DRIVE

ALONG WHICH STOOD ROW AFTER ROW OF SLAVE CABINS

THAT WERE INTENTIONALLY PLACED THERE

SO THE VISITORS WOULD BE IMPRESSED

WITH HOW MANY EXPENSIVE SLAVES THE OWNER POSSESSED.

THOSE SEEN HERE AT BOONE HALL PLANTATION

ARE ONLY A THIRD OF THE 27 CABINS THAT ONCE STOOD HERE.

THESE CABINS WERE FOR THE USE

OF HOUSEHOLD AND SKILLED CRAFTSMEN SLAVES ALONE.

CABINS OF THE MUCH MORE LOWLY FIELD SLAVES

STOOD FURTHER AWAY FROM THE HOUSE.

THE COLONY OF GEORGIA WAS FOUNDED IN 1732.

IT WAS THE LAST OF ENGLAND'S AMERICAN COLONIES

AND IT WAS THE ONLY ONE FOUNDED IN THE 18TH CENTURY.

GEORGIA WAS CREATED IN THE AREA OF DISPUTED LAND

THAT LAY BETWEEN THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

AND SPANISH FLORIDA.

BUT MORE THAN A DECADE BEFORE THE CHARTER WAS EVEN GRANTED

FOR THE COLONY OF GEORGIA

THE BRITISH HAD STAKED THEIR CLAIM TO THE REGION

BY ESTABLISHING FORT KING GEORGE

ALONG THE SWAMPY BANKS OF THE ALTAMAHA RIVER.

ORIGINALLY AN INDIAN VILLAGE HAD STOOD ON THE SITE OF THE FORT

AND IN THE LATE 1500s AND 1600s THE SPANISH HAD A MISSION THERE.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS FORT WAS TO PREVENT THE SPANISH IN FLORIDA

AND THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA

FROM MOVING ANY CLOSER TO THE CAROLINA COLONIES.

FORT KING GEORGE DIDN'T LAST LONG

BECAUSE IT COST THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TOO MUCH TO OPERATE

AND SO MOST OF ITS TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN AFTER ONLY 6 YEARS.

NEVERTHELESS WHILE IT  WAS IN OPERATION

MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED FORTY BRITISH SOLDIERS DIED THERE

FROM MALARIA, MALNUTRITION AND FROM SKIRMISHES WITH THE INDIANS

WHILE DEFENDING THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER

OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.

A ROYAL CHARTER FOR GEORGIA WAS GRANTED

BY KING GEORGE THE SECOND FOR WHOM IT WAS NAMED,

TO A GROUP OF MEN WHO SHARED A COMMON HUMANITARIAN VISION:

THEY CALLED THEMSELVES

"THE TRUSTEES FOR ESTABLISHING THE COLONY OF GEORGIA IN AMERICA".

THE LEADER OF THE TRUSTEES WAS A MAN NAMED JAMES OGLETHORPE.

HE WAS A PERSON WHO UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE

OF ESTABLISHING STRONG DEFENSES AGAINST THE SPANISH...

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY OGLETHORPE AND THE OTHER TRUSTEES

WANTED THE LANDS OF GEORGIA

TO BE USED BY IMPOVERISHED ENGLISH PROTESTANTS

WHO HAD BEEN LOCKED UP IN DEBTOR'S PRISONS

FOR BEING UNABLE TO PAY THEIR BILLS.

THE TRUSTEES WANTED TO TURN GEORGIA INTO A PLACE

WHERE HARD WORKING, VIRTUOUS PEOPLE

COULD PROSPER ON FAMILY FARMS.

AND SO THEY MADE GRANTS OF ONLY SMALL AMOUNTS OF LAND

TO PREVENT BIG PLANTATIONS FROM BEING DEVELOPED.

THEY OUTLAWED SLAVERY IN GEORGIA,

NOT JUST FOR HUMANITARIAN REASONS,

BUT BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THAT THE MORAL BENEFITS OF HARD WORK

WOULD BE LOST IF SLAVERY WAS ALLOWED.

THE TRUSTEES EVEN BANNED THE SALE OF RUM

MAINLY BECAUSE THIS ALCOHOLIC DRINK

HAD BEEN USED AS AN ITEM OF TRADE IN OTHER COLONIES

WITH AMERICAN INDIANS

AND ITS EFFECT ON THEM HAD BEEN VERY DESTRUCTIVE.

IN FEBRUARY 1733,

A SHIP CARRYING JAMES OGLETHORPE AND AROUND 120 SETTLERS

SAILED UP THE SAVANNAH RIVER;

THE RIVER THAT FORMED THE BOUNDARY

BETWEEN THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

AND THE NEW COLONY OF GEORGIA.

WITH THE HELP OF A FRIENDLY NATIVE AMERICAN,

A SITE FOR SAVANNAH, THE NEW CAPITAL OF GEORGIA,

WAS PURCHASED.

THE LAND THEY SELECTED WAS SITUATED ON A LOW BLUFF

OVERLOOKING THE RIVER ABOUT TEN MILES UPSTREAM FROM THE OCEAN

OGLETHORPE OVERSAW THE PLANNING OF THE TOWN

WHICH HE LAID OUT IN A DISTINCTIVE STYLE

MADE UP OF REGULARLY SPACED PUBLIC SQUARES

SURROUNDED BY HOUSES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

FOR THE FIRST TEN YEARS

OGLETHORPE ACTED AS THE COLONY'S GOVERNOR,

REPRESENTING THE TRUSTEES BACK IN BRITAIN,

AND HE RULED WITHOUT THE HELP OF A COLONIAL LEGISLATURE.

ONLY SIX YEARS AFTER GEORGIA WAS FOUNDED

WAR BROKE OUT WITH SPAIN OVER THE SLAVE TRADE

AND GOVERNOR OGLETHORPE

WAS ORDERED TO ATTACK THEIR OUTPOST

OF ST. AUGUSTINE IN FLORIDA.

FOR A MONTH 900 BRITISH SOLDIERS

AND 1100 OF THEIR AMERICAN INDIAN ALLIES

LAID SIEGE TO THE CITY

BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH MEN TO CAPTURE IT.

AFTER THAT, AS COMMANDER OF ALL THE TROOPS

IN GEORGIA AND THE CAROLINAS

OGLETHORPE CONTINUED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS

IN HIS COLONY'S DEFENSES.

HERE ON ST. SIMON'S ISLAND NOT FAR FROM THE BORDER OF FLORIDA

THE ENGLISH OUTPOST OF FORT FREDERICA WAS STRENGTHENED.

SINCE STONE WAS NONEXISTENT ON THE ISLAND,

OYSTER SHELLS WERE BURNED

TO MAKE CRUDE CONCRETE CALLED  "TABBY"

TO CONSTRUCT THE FORT'S MAIN BUILDINGS.

DURING THIS TIME FORT FREDERICA GREW INTO A SMALL TOWN

WITH MANY BUILDINGS,

500 CITIZENS

AND A LARGE NUMBER OF SOLDIERS.

NATURALLY THE FORT WAS A TEMPTING TARGET

FOR THE SPANISH FORCES JUST TO THE SOUTH.

IT WAS THREE YEARS AFTER THE BRITISH ATTACK ON ST. AUGUSTINE

THAT THE SPANISH TRIED TO STRIKE BACK AT FORT FREDERICA

BUT BRITISH TROOPS AMBUSHED THE SPANISH

JUST AS THEY WERE SNEAKING UP ON THE OUTPOST.

DURING THE BATTLE OF BLOODY MARSH THAT FOLLOWED

ONE BRITISH AND 200 SPANISH SOLDIERS WERE KILLED.

AFTER THAT THE SPANISH THREAT TO BRITAIN'S SOUTHERN COLONIES

CEASED TO BE A SERIOUS PROBLEM.

DURING ITS FIRST TEN YEARS AS A COLONY GEORGIA DID NOT PROSPER.

FEW SETTLERS HAD MADE THE VOYAGE TO THE GEORGIA SHORE

AND ABOUT HALF OF THOSE THAT HAD COME

HAD DONE SO AT THE TRUSTEES' EXPENSE

AND THE TRUSTEES' GOAL OF TURNING IT INTO A PLACE

WHERE POOR PEOPLE COULD COME TO START NEW LIVES

HAD BEEN A FAILURE:

IN FACT MOST GEORGIANS FELT THAT THE TRUSTEES RULES

WERE WHAT WAS ACTUALLY HOLDING THE COLONY BACK.

UNDER THE RULES GEORGIANS COULDN'T DEVELOP

LARGE RICE PLANTATIONS LIKE THOSE IN SOUTH CAROLINA

OR HAVE SLAVES,

COULDN'T BUY RUM,

AND HAD NO VOICE IN THE COLONY'S GOVERNMENT:

IN OTHER WORDS, THEY WANTED TO SEE BIG CHANGES MADE.

BECAUSE THE COLONISTS WERE SO UNHAPPY

WITH HOW THINGS WERE GOING IN GEORGIA,

JAMES OGLETHORPE REALIZED

THAT HIS HUMANITARIAN DREAMS FOR THE COLONY

WOULD NEVER COME TRUE;

AND SO, BROKE AND FEELING DEFEATED,

HE RETURNED TO ENGLAND AND NEVER CAME BACK AGAIN.

IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED HIS DEPARTURE

THE TRUSTEES' RULES WERE CHANGED

AND IN 1754 GEORGIA FELL UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE KING

AND BECAME MUCH MORE LIKE THE OTHER SOUTHERN COLONIES:

A PLACE WHERE RUM FLOWED FREELY,

AND WHERE SLAVERY AND LARGE RICE PLANTATIONS FLOURISHED.

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