33c - assess the development of Georgia as royal colony with regard to land ownership, slavery, government, and the impact of the royal governors
georgia as a royal colony
land ownership
Land ownership was limited to fifty acres, a grant that included a town lot, a garden plot near town, and a 45 acre farm. Self supporting colonists were able to obtain larger grants, but such grants were structured in fifty acre tied to the number of servants supported by the grantee. Servants would receive a land grant of their own upon completing their term of service. No person was permitted to additional land through purchase. Then when the trustees gave the land back to England they changed it to a royal colony. When it changed so did the rules. People could own land and slaves. Once this happened Georgia became a wealthy colony.
slavery in georgia
James Oglethorpe and the Trustees opposed of slavery. They banned slavery in Georgia because it was not needed with their social and economics. Given the Spanish settlement in Florida, slavery also seemed certain to threaten the military of the colony. Spain offered freedom in exchange for military service, so any slaves brought to Georgia could be expected to help the Spanish in their efforts to destroy the still growing English colony. Then a Royal colony was established and the slavery ban was lifted. Most of the slaves worked in rice fields and Slaves had no legal right to private lives.
GEORGIA'S new government
Once James Oglethorpe left Georgia the trustees owned the colony. The Trustees could not handle the colony so they gave it back to England. When the Trustees owned it was a proprietary colony, When they gave it to England they turned it into a Royal colony. When they did this they changed most of the rules. They allowed slaves and land ownership. The king picked 3 governors to governor the colony and They were John Reynolds, Henry Ellis, and James Wright. The new colony was doing so well because of slaves that they created a news paper called the Georgia Gazette.
CAPTAIN john reyolds
(1754-1756)
John Reynolds was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served for a period as the royal governor of the Province of Georgia from 1754-1757. In July 1754 Reynolds was appointed governor of Georgia, where he remained for four years. John Reynolds was the first Royal Governor of the Colony of Georgia. He lacked political talent, however, and his style of government came together with a colonial society used to ordering its own affairs. Reynolds was recalled in August 1756 after a series of confrontations, but was not officially succeeded, by Henry Ellis, until 14 April 1758.
henry ellis
(1757-1760)
Henry Ellis, the second royal governor of Georgia, has been called "Georgia's second founder." Georgia had no self-government under the Trustees and the first royal governor, John Reynolds, failed as an administrator. Under the leadership of Ellis Georgians learned how to govern themselves, and they have been doing so ever since. He advised giving Cuba back to Spain in exchange for Florida in the peace settlement, thus removing a Spanish threat from Georgia's borders.
sir james wright
(1760-1776)
James Wright was the third and last royal governor of Georgia, serving from 1760 to 1782, with a brief interruption early in the American Revolution. Wright was a popular and able administrator and servant of the crown. He played a key role in retarding the flame of revolution in Georgia long after it had flared violently in every other colony. Wright's ties with Georgia began when the crown appointed him the third royal governor of Georgia in 1760, after poor health forced Henry Ellis to leave the colony. His appointment coincided with a period of expansion in Georgia, and he encouraged settlement of Georgia's frontier. Royal government finally ended in Georgia when the British evacuated Savannah on July 11, 1782. He sailed for London, never to return.