1. Education & Religion How did the establishment of the University of Georgia and the spread of Baptist and Methodist churches affect the growth of Georgia?

2. University of Georgia  In 1784, the General Assembly set aside 40,000 acres for the University of Georgia.  On January 27, 1785, the University of Georgia was officially established with a charter written by Abraham Baldwin.  In the charter, it said that education was for everyone, not just the wealthy! (That was radical thinking in 1785!)

3. University of Georgia  The actual building of the school did not begin until 1801 and classes did not begin until September of 1801  John Milledge bought land near the Oconee River and it was built there. (The original land was used for something else.) o When the charter was signed in 1785, it became the first university established by a state government.

4. University of Georgia  Although UGA was the first public university to be chartered, the University of North Carolina was the first to hold classes, creating a spirited debate as to which school is actually the Nation’s first state sponsored school.

5. Third Capital of Georgia  In 1785, the state capital moved to Augusta, but a search for a new more centrally located capital was initiated.  The new capital had to be within 20 miles of an old Indian trading post called “Galphin’s Old Town.”  It also had to be named after King Louis XVI for his help during the Revolutionary War.  A site was found, and they called it Louisville.  BUT … the capital wasn’t moved there for ten years (1796) only to be moved again in 1806 to Milledgeville.

6. The Capitals of Georgia  Savannah  Augusta  Louisville  Milledgeville  Atlanta

7. Churches Grow  The Revolutionary War practically eliminated organized religion in Georgia. Until…  Baptists had already started to establish themselves in the colonies.  Patriotic Anglicans who refused to recognize the King as the head of the church started the Methodist church.

8. Churches Grow  In 1783, Governor Lyman Hall asked citizens to rebuild their churches.  The largest growth was in the Baptist and Methodist churches.  The Georgia Baptist Association became independent from the South Carolina Association in the late 1780s.  The first Methodist conference in Georgia was held in Wilkes County in 1788.  These events showed growth and independence of both denominations.

9. Churches Grow  Although slaves normally went to church with their masters or worshipped at other services as permitted by their masters, this church was completely controlled by its members.  A similar church was started in Augusta.  The First Colored Baptist Church was established in Savannah in 1788.