The Founding of Georgia Chapter 6

James Oglethorpe was elected to Parliament (in England) when he was 25 years old. One of his main goals was to stop the practice of putting debtors in prison He and John Percival proposed sending debtors and those less fortunate to America.

Oglethorpe and Percival asked King George II for a grant of land south of the Carolina frontier. In honor of King James II, they propsed that the area be called Georgia.

According to the charter, Georgia had three purposes: 1. Charity- help relieve poverty in Britain 2. Economics- increase Britain’s trade and wealth 3. Defense- act as a buffer between South Carolina and Indian attacks

There was actually a fourth reason for Georgia’s creation, but it was not specified in the charter. The fourth reason was religion. There were a lot of problems between Protestants and Catholics The Anglican Church, also known as the Church of England, was a Protestant church.

The Georgia charter did not impose an official church for the colony; people were free to worship….except Catholics Catholics were specifically excluded because of the problems with Spain and France down in Florida.

The Savannah River was selected as Georgia’s northern border. The Altamaha River would be the southern border Because no land had been settled to the west, Georgia’s western border was the Pacific Ocean.

Georgia was unique for the first 21 years It was governed by trustees Virginia was a joint-stock company South Carolina was a royal colony James Oglethorpe and 20 (that makes 21 trustees) other British gentlemen would manage Georgia for 21 years.

In order to ensure the trustees would not act on what was best for them, there were rules in place for those 21 men. 1. They could not get paid for managing Georgia 2. They could not own land in Georgia 3. They could not hold public office in Georgia

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