1. Georgia’s Colonial Period
Trustee Colony To Royal Colony

2. Time Period Trustee Colony Royal Colony
From 1733 to 1752 under control of the trustees
1752 to 1776 as a royal colony under control of the crown

3. Governance Trustee Colony Royal Colony Ruled by the 21 trustees
Oglethorpe was resident trustee
Rule by the Crown of England
Directly ruled through royal governors after 1754
John Reynolds; Henry Ellis; Sir James Wright

4. Georgia’s “bicameral” Royal Government
Royal Governor
Sir James Wright
Georgia’s appointed Upper House
Georgia’s elected lower house - Commons House of Assembly
Royal voting restrictions: only men could vote and they had to have at least 50 acres of land
Royal qualifications to serve: to serve in either of the houses you had to own at least 500 acres of land
In 1758 the Royal Assembly named the Anglican Church Georgia’s official church
The colony was then divided into 8 parishes

5. Leaders Trustee Colony Royal Colony
James Oglethorpe – helped and governed early settlers, worked with natives & planned Savannah
John Reynolds – Georgia’s 1st royal governor; he was unpopular and removed
Henry Ellis – Georgia’s 2nd royal governor; he was good with issues concerning natives
Sir James Wright – Georgia’s 3rd and most popular governor; Georgia did well under his leadership; he was the longest in position

6. Boundaries Trustee Colony Royal Colony
Northern boundary Savannah River
Southern boundary Altamaha River
Border stretched (on paper) to Pacific Ocean
French and Indian War led to new borders
Savannah River southward to the St. Mary’s River and westward to Mississippi R.

7. Specialized Groups Trustee Colony Royal Colony
Jewish settlers enter the colony in first year with Dr. Nunes
Salzburgers—German Protestants set up Ebenezer and then New Ebenezer
Highland Scotts—set up the town of Darien and helped Oglethorpe defeat the Spanish at the Battle of the Bloody Marsh
Plantation Owners from South Carolina begin to enter the colony
Planters (Plantation owners) became Georgia’s elite social class and controlled local and state politics for a long time
Africans begin to be imported to Georgia by 1750

8. Slavery Trustee Colony Royal Colony Forbidden by the Trustee’s
Ban lifted in 1750
Between 1750 and 1775 number of slaves increases from 500 to 18,000
The Malcontents and Georgia planters argue they cannot compete with South Carolina planters because they have no slaves and cannot produce as much or work as much land
Brought to work on rice plantations

9. Restrictions Trustee Colony Royal Colony
Trustee’s restrictions included:
No hard liquor
No Catholics
No slavery
No one could have more than 500 acres total
Only males could own land
The Crown’s restrictions only included:

10. Land Distribution/Ownership
Trustee Colony
Royal Colony
Each settler got 50 acres
If they paid their own way, the Headright system was used (50 acres per male in the family up to 500)
Only men could own land
Restrictions on land ownership lifted, large plantations developed
NO MORE LAND HOLDING RESTRICTIONS WHICH LED TO LARGE PLANTATIONS & SLAVES
Women could inherit/own land