Descriptive Events
1732
Founding of Georgia
Georgia was the last of the 13 colonies to be founded.
In 1732, James Oglethorpe intended this to be the southernmost British colony, and he used it to accommodate indebted British prisoners and teach them trades to work their debts off.
However, being adjacent to Florida, which the Spanish colonized at the time, Georgia acquired instant strategic significance; instead of being a debtor's colony, it was repurposed as a buffer state and a garrison province that acts as a shield for southern British colonies such as the Carolinas, Maryland and Virginia protecting them from the Spanish rivals.
Georgia was the only one among the British colonies between 1735 and 1750 that tried to outlaw black slaves as a matter of public policy. The Trustees, Georgia's founders, decided to abolish slavery.
Slavery was outlawed in Georgia because it contradicted their social and economic goals. Given the Spanish influence in Florida, slavery seemed to be a possible danger to the colony's military stability. Since Spain promised any slave his freedom in return for military service, any African captive brought to Georgia could assist the Spanish in their attempts to attack the British colonies.
The rising rivalry and competition between the British and the Spanish colonialists to dominate the Americas in the 1700's period was the main reason that Georgia was given a new purpose and became a significant and unique anti-slavery colony. Otherwise, it would have just been a glorified prison.
Georgia Colony Being founded
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-georgia-colony-103872
Sonneborne, Liz. "A Primary Source History of the Colony of Georgia." New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2006. ​
Cotton Gin &
Patents
1793
It was the year 1785 when planters of Georgia began importing high-quality cotton from the West indies. Soon the people of Georgia learned how to plant and cultivate cotton. But a milestone was reached when Eli Whitney patented the first modern cotton gin in 1793 while he was residing in Georgia. The valuable yet straightforward machine would separate the cotton fibers from the seeds. The engine on the device would have wire teeth mounted on a wooden box with a crank. When the crank is rotated, it pulls cotton fiber to separate the seeds from the small grates. This invention later shaped agriculture in the South and strengthened the bond between southern states and slavery and the plantation system.
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After the Cotton gin was invented, the economic grown was massive. The yield of raw cotton doubled each decade after 1800. The cotton gin made cotton production profitable for Georgia and later the other southern states.
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Cotton cultivation in the United States increased from 156,000 bales in 1800 to more than 4,000,000 bales in 1860. (a bale is a compressed bundle of cotton weighing between 400 and 500 pounds). Although it was beneficial, there was an expansion of slavery as well. By 1800, the number of slaves in the state had more than doubled to 59,699, and by 1810, the figure had risen to an unprecedented 105,218 slaves. More labor workers were needed to keep up with the cotton gin. More cotton was required to be harvested. Therefore, the invention of the cotton gin led to Georgia and the other southern states accumulating more slaves.
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Whitney’s original plan was to distribute the cotton gins throughout Georgia and other southern states and then charge the farmers for using them. Due to the cotton gin being more profitable, other farmers soon started making their cotton gin with modifications to make it more efficient. This resulted in Whitney fighting for the rights of his patent. Although Whitney had trouble with his patents, it helped shape the current patent laws.
The cotton gin machine in georgia
Source: https://www.georgiahumanities.org/2016/12/07/how-the-invention-of-georgias-cotton-gin-changed-the-world/
Georgia Gold Rush
1829
Native Americans were the first to be aware of gold in the continent; however, they mainly used it for jewelry and accessories instead of using it as a currency. In 1528 the Spanish governor of Florida discovered traces of gold among the native tribes; later on, he found its origins; that it came from an area called Appalachian; the governor organized an expedition searching for gold. However, the expedition failed. Later in that century, in 1564, the Franch came; they too started their voyages to find gold, they succeeded and found it, they also learned from the natives how to collect it; however, at that time, the gold claim was not recognized as a good income, so they didn't rush for it.
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The first recorded discovery of gold by the free white man occurred in 1799 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and the news arrived in all the other states, and competition started to take place. In 1829 the Georgia Journal newspaper shared that on August 1, 1829: Gold had been discovered in Georgia. Men began to depart to Georgia to get pice of this new fourteen to be it, frontiersmen, freed slaves, and Europeans; they all were blinded by gold.
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The first gold rush town in Georgia was called Nuckollsville. The gold discovery caused a near stampede of those seeking a quick fortune. Georgia was bustling with gold mining activities; more than 500 working gold mines have been documented. The Native Americans who lived peacefully in these lands were put to use and almost made up half of the miners; they also were called "diggers," even when they complained about their harsh work conditions, no one cared, and that because those savage white greedy men were thinking about the gold. Even the government turned a blind eye to these white men's actions, and they even forced the native American tribes to leave their land and live in a new one; this journey became known as the "Trail of Tears."
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The gold rush came to an end in Georgia and essentially died in the 1840s when the remaining hard-rock gold veins became more complex and dangerous to mine. Miners and their investors saw that after more than ten years of mining, they could no longer expect to make a satisfactory amount of gold. Yeares after many of those miners started to relocate and went to California seeking their new fortunes after taking whatever they could from these lands.
Workers mining Gold
Source: https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/gold-rush
Trail of
Tears
1830-1838
As the US population continued to expand during the 1800s, more and more land was sought to expedite growth and wealth from the region. However, to make use of the land, the land has to be changed. Adhering to their beliefs, the native Americans held a deep reverence for nature. They didn’t view nature as a piece of land or property that any individual could change or tear apart. They had a deep sense of spiritual connection with the natural environment around them. And because of these two antagonist views held, the Trail of Tears came as a result.
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The Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation of Native Americans in the 1830s. It is considered one of the major hallmarks of aggression against Native Americans by the US government. It came as a result of the signing of the Indian Removal Act by then-President Andrew Jackson. The law allowed for negotiations with native American tribes to be removed towards regions west of the Mississippi. The native tribes included the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, the Seminole, and more.
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The general motive behind the evacuation of native American tribes was to utilize the land further. Specifically, for the state of Georgia, the 1829 gold rush gave inclinations towards a vast amount of wealth. After discovering the wealth, the US congress was demanded to take control of the property and transfer it to the state. The Native American way of life heavily depended on agriculture, which meant that the land that they lived on was already in a profitable state.
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Thus, negotiations began with the federal government for some hope of reimbursement. The Choctaw were the first to agree to terms of removal with the federal government. In return, they would receive the monetary and logistical requirements that were needed for transportation. However, due to federal inexperience and corruption with how to deal with the mass migration of people and their belongings, many of the Choctaws ended up dying. Chickasaw finalized their agreements in 1832. However, because they were skeptical of government reimbursement and help, they sold for profit and used the money to fund their own transportation. Other native American tribes faced a similar experience.
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Fast forward to today, the Trail of Tears was designated by congress as a national historic trail. It presents as a reminder of the type of struggles that native Americans had to go through during that period. Every year, to commemorate the event, several people go through the same trail that the natives had to go through.
Cheerokes being removed from Georgia
Source: http://aclivingmagazine.com/180-years-georgia-trail-tears/
Robert Lindneux: The Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears, oil on canvas by Robert Lindneux, 1942.