Post-Revolution Georgia October 19, 2015

After the Revolution… Years of hardship and change followed the American Revolution in Georgia The war proved that the state government was not equipped to handle problems Educational growth was slow The war ruined the state’s economy Food was scarce because many farmers had left their farms to fight and no food had been grown during that time

Government in Georgia Georgia had adopted its first constitution in 1777 to help the colony transition into a state Looked very much like the Articles of Confederation (weak central government) Governor had very little power Georgians soon realized that they needed to change their constitution to make it more like the new national one Established 3 branches of government Lyman Hall was elected governor

Georgia’s Capital City For much of the colony and state’s early history, the capital had rotated between Savannah and Augusta As the population moved further west, the legislature appointed a commission to find a site for a permanent, centrally located capital

Louisville The new capital, Louisville, was located in what is today Jefferson County It was named after French King Louis XVI for his help in the Revolutionary War Louisville served as the capital for 10 years However, as people continued to move farther and farther west, another new capital was needed In 1804, a new capital, Milledgeville, was built in Baldwin County

Georgia’s New Capitals LouisvilleMilledgeville

Education in Georgia Very few people had any education Some only had a few years of elementary education Governor Hall recommended that land be set aside to build schools, but few were actually built In 1784, the government set aside 20,000 acres of land for a state college

The University of Georgia In 1785, UGA was chartered as a land-grant university Land-grant university: a school for which the federal government donated the land It is the oldest school of its kind in the country UGA opened for classes in 1801 It was an all-male, all-white school Women were not admitted until 1918, black students were not admitted until 1961

Religion in Georgia After the war, many ministers left to return to Great Britain However, churches continued to grow, both in size and importance to their communities There were Jewish synagogues, Roman Catholic churches, African Baptist churches, and Methodist churches

The spread of Baptist and Methodist churches These were the two largest denominations in Georgia Ministers often traveled long distances to conduct church services People would attend service whenever and wherever they could Slaves often attended church with their masters

Splits in the Church The issue of slavery was quickly becoming a dividing problem in the new United States Northern and Southern Baptist and Methodist churches actually split up over the issue Southern Methodists formed Methodist Episcopal Church Southern Baptists formed the Southern Baptist Convention

New Settlers During all of this change and hardship, the one constant in Georgia was new people moving in These new settlers needed to land to build their homes Older residents of Georgia also wanted to expand their land holdings As a result, the state government opened up more and more western lands to settlers