1. Georgia’s Growth & The New Nation
Education & Religion
Land Issues
Technological Development
Native American Removal

2. Education The University of Georgia
The General Assembly approved UGA charter on Jan 27, 1785 as America’s first University of higher learning supported by the public.
Abraham E. Baldwin was appointed by Governor Lyman Hall to author the charter for UGA. The University did not open until It expanded after the Civil War (under the Morill Act of 1872).
**UGA originally called “Franklin College” – 1st building on campus was the Franklin building (for Ben Franklin)
**First Land-Grant university
**UGA responsible for all public education in the state

3. Religion The Spread of the Methodist and the Baptist Churches
**Colonists had previously been members of the Church of England
With Independence came a need for new Churches, people turned to the Baptist & Methodist churches
During the Second Great Awakening ( ) many Georgians turned to the Methodist Church. John Wesley had preached in Georgia years earlier.
By the 1830s the Baptist Church began to expand; both were were popular with the working class.
The states’ small towns and frontier towns were drawn to both religions. Many slaves also converted as the result of mission work on the plantations
Camp meetings and revivals contributed to their growing popularity.
Circuit riders were also common in the day resulting in new converts.

4. Land Issues Native Americans once controlled much of Georgia.
Many, against the will of their people, gave up land in treaties with the British that was later handed over to the colonists.
Headright System (1782) - under this land distribution system, colonists were awarded acres of land (depending on family size) of land to the heads of families (men).
There was an influx of ranchers in search of grazing land.
The practice would soon lead to corruption
**The HEAD of the family had the RIGHT to own land. Each man could get 200 acres, and for each additional family member or slave, he could get 50 more, for a max of 1000 acres

5. Land Issues (cont’d)
Yazoo Land Fraud (1795) – Most widely known land fraud in US history.
Georgia politicians were bribed by land companies to pass a law that would allow them to purchase large tracts of land in western Georgia and to sell smaller parcels back to settlers for nice profit.
Land Lotteries – this was a lottery system Georgia used to distribute the newly acquired Native American Lands
**To pay back those who were cheated by the Yazoo deal, the state of Georgia had to give the US Government its’ land west of the Chattahoochee River (present-day Alabama & Mississippi), and the US paid over $3 million to settle with citizens

6. Land Issues (cont’d)
Note: Louisville (1796 – 1807) was the 3rd state capital (Savannah and Augusta were the 1st and 2nd) and named for French King Louis XVI (16) who supported the patriots during the Revolution.
It was selected as capital since it was the center of Georgia’s population during this time. Located on the Ogeechee River which might promote trade.
Malaria outbreaks, thee viability of the Ogeechee trade route, and migration from coastal areas to the northwest ended Louisville’s claim as capital in 1807
** Georgia’s capitals  SALMA: Savannah, Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville, Atlanta

7. Technological Developments
The Cotton Gin - Prior to the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, tobacco was Georgia’s most important crop.
After this important invention, farmers were able to process 50 lbs. of cotton per day instead of 1 lb. by hand.
Farmers began to move west in search of land to support cotton growth.
Growing cotton became ever profitable.
More slaves were needed.
**New inventions caused the POPUATION of GA to INCREASE
**Cotton Gin (short for engine), helped to remove seeds from cotton more easily & rapidly
By early 1900s, GA had become a one-crop state.
This resulted in economic disaster when the boll weevil wreaked havoc on the cotton crop.
GA realized the need to diversify their agricultural production.
Georgia’s warm, wet climate has made it an ideal location for agriculture.

8. Technological Developments (cont’d)
The Railroads – Savannah and Augusta were important business centers in Georgia.
Businessmen felt competition from South Carolina rail lines connecting Charleston to Hamburg.
The General Assembly responded in 1883 by chartering 3 rail lines
The Georgia Railroad Co. (Athens)
Central of Georgia Railroad Co. (Savannah-Macon)
Western and Atlantic Railroad (Georgia-Tennessee)
By 1861, Georgia had a system that connected eastern and western economies.
Towns began to prosper as businesses grew up along this corridor.
Terminus, later Marthasville became a major transportation hub known as Atlanta.
Atlanta became the first major city to develop not on a navigable

9. Creek Indians & Treaties
The Treaty of New York The federal government sided with Creek claim to land west of the Oconee River.
Raids and massacres resulted.
Many Georgians ignored treaty as they began to distrust the federal government.
**Signed by and enforced by President George Washington
Compact of 1802 – Georgia received $1.25 million and agreed to remove all Native Americans from its territory.
Many Creeks also left after the federal government promised them land now known as Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Another treaty in 1821 resulted in the Creeks losing even more land.
A Land Lottery was instituted to divide up newly acquired land.
By 1827, most Creeks had migrated to present-day Oklahoma

10. Creek Indians & Treaties (cont’d)
The Treaty of Indian Springs (1825) resulted in more Creek lands being given up to Georgia.
The Indian Removal Act (1830) called for government to negotiate treaties that would require remaining Native Americans to relocate in the west.
**Indian Removal Act supported by President Andrew Jackson
Key Creek Historical Figures
Chief Alexander McGilvray was a Creek Chief who played an important role in white resistance.
Creek chief William McIntosh (part Creek-part Scot) signed the Treaty of Indian Springs.
This was an unpopular decision that would later cause him to be scalped and killed by opponents

11. Cherokee Removal & Dahlonega Gold Rush
The Cherokee adapted better than most other tribes to white/European culture;
Many owned property, farms, and some owned slaves
In 1825, the Cherokee Nation established their capital at New Echota (today’s Calhoun)
John Ross, the primary chief, modeled the Cherokee government after the US Federal government and penned a Cherokee Constitution under their syllabary (developed by Sequoyah)
1828 Andrew Jackson was elected President of U.S. having campaigned on the removal of Native Americans to western Indian Territory

12. Cherokee Removal & Dahlonega Gold Rush (cont’d)
The Dahlonega Gold Rush (around 1829) – Prospectors flooded Georgia in search of gold.
As the white population increased, the Cherokee, like the Creek were impacted by the Indian Removal Act (1830).
1831 – John Ross appealed to the US Supreme Court
Chief Justice, John Marshall declared the Cherokee were a “domestic dependent nation” so the court decided that they could not rule on the removal issue.
1832 – Worcester v. Georgia US Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee were a sovereign nation and should thus be granted self-rule.
Georgia decided to ignore the ruling as did President Jackson.
The Cherokee were pressured to migrate west.

13. Cherokee Removal & Dahlonega Gold Rush (cont’d)
In 1835, a group of Cherokee signed a removal treaty which was not endorsed by John Ross or any other Cherokee leaders.
They gave up their land in GA for land in Oklahoma and received cash to relocate.
Ross protested the treaty to the US government.
Then President Martin Van Buren sent troops to round up the Cherokee people and force them out of Georgia
The Cherokee were forced to march from Georgia to Oklahoma in the winter of
Historians estimate that 1/5 or about 4000 people died as a result of extreme elements and starvation.
This migration became known as the Trail of Tears

14. Cherokee Removal & Dahlonega Gold Rush (cont’d)
Sequoyah – developed a written Cherokee language using symbols for syllables (syllabary).
This resulted in “The Cherokee Pheonix” newspaper and helped to unify the Cherokee Nation.
John Ross – using syllabary penned a Cherokee Constitution.
Served as chief until 1866.
Advocate for Cherokee rights.
**John Ross & his wife marched on the Trail of Tears, she died of pneumonia on the journey; he remained Chief until his death in 1866