From Trustee Colony to Royal Colony

1
From Trustee Colony to Royal Colony

• Trustee period 1732-1752
• Referred to as Trustee Georgia because during
  that time a Board of Trustees ruled the colony

2
Ending the Trustee Period

• During the 20 years of the Trustee period, many
  accomplishments were made
• 5500 people had settled in Georgia, building
  homes and starting new lives
• Settlers escaping religious persecution were able
  to worship freely
• Treaties with the Native Americans, as well as
  the elimination of the Spanish threat of invasion
  (Battle of Bloody Marsh), had ended the need for
  British protection
• Court system still functioned by 1750, colonists
  had gained outright ownership of land, and women
  were able to inherit property
• Bethesda Orphans Home in Ebenezer became Bethesda
  House (school)
• Provided basic education to many future Georgia
  leaders

Bethesda Home for Boys, 1740 1361 PH Georgia
Historical Society Photograph Collection, Box 7,
Folder 12, Item 1303
3
Georgia as a Royal Colony

• When the original charter ended in 1752, Georgia
  became a British royal colony (this lasted until
  the end of the American Revolution1783)
• Royal colony one directly governed by the king
• Proprietary colony (GA 1732-1752) governed by a
  board of trustees
• 1752 Puritans from SC started moving into
  present-day Liberty County, bringing their slaves
  with them. They began growing rice and indigo
  (why?) and built a port at Sunbury so that
  planters could ship their crops

4
John Reynolds (1st royal Governor1754-1757)

• Arrived in Georgia on October 1, 1754colonists
  cheered at his arrival
• Introduced the idea of self-government wanted
  the colonists to help run the government
• Set up a court system Court of Conscience

5
Government in the Royal Colony

• Bicameral (two chamber) legislature was set up to
  represent the 8 parishes of the colony
• Parish a British government district
• Lower house Commons House of Assembly
• Those wishing to join the Assembly had to own at
  least 500 acres of land
• Upper house Governors Council
• King of England appointed members of the
  Governors Council
• New government met for the 1st time in 1755 in
  Savannah
• reorganized state militia
• passed bills to build/repair roads
• drew up codes to restrict the rights of slaves

6
Court system in the Royal Colony

• Court of Conscience presided over by a local
  justice of the peace
• When colonists had complaints, they would go
  before this court
• Cases that could not be settled went to the
  Governors Council

7
Reynolds downfall

• Reynolds dissolved the legislature when he felt
  threatened that they would undermine his
  authority
• Without the legislature, Reynolds attempted to
  run the government himself, making the colonists
  angry
• Angry colonists (including a large land-holder)
  wrote to King George complaining about Reynolds
  actions. He relinquished control of Georgia to
  Henry Ellis in 1757

King George IIin a Royal Colony, the King has
ultimate control
8
Henry Ellis (1757-1760

• Took control after Reynolds
• Learned quickly from Reynolds mistakes
• Brought people together from many different
  political groups
• Population almost doubled under his term
  1759population was about 10,000 including 3,600
  slaves
• Colony made several economic gains
• profitable farms
• more merchants with a greater variety of goods
• This allowed colonists to buy things they could
  not grow or manufacture (cloth, sugar, farming
  tools, seeds for planting)
• Left office after becoming ill in 1760

Carte de la Caroline and Georgia Pour Servir a
l'Histoire Generale des Voyages, drawn by M. B.
Ing of the French Navy, 1757 (Map of Carolina
and Georgia to Serve the General History of
Travels) Georgia Historical Society Map
Collection, 298 SS
9
James Wright (1760-1781)

• 3rd Royal governor
• Born in S.C. (was the previous S.C. Attorney
  General
• Loyal to the King, but wanted the colonies to
  prosper
• Believed that Georgia would continue to grow if
• large farms were bigger
• trading expanded
• western lands of the colony were opened to
  settlers
• At first, he believed in Reynolds concept of
  self-government, and colonists were pleased with
  him in the beginning

Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript
Library, University of Georgia Libraries
10
Changes in Georgia (1760-1781)

• Completed defenses around Savannah
• surrounded with palisades (strong wooden wall for
  defense)
• area forts made stronger
• Sunbury became the colonys official port of
  entry for ships from other colonies and countries
• Economy was growing
• both legislative houses worked together to build
  the economy (rice, indigo, silk)
• farmers were allowed to borrow more money and buy
  land
• More schools/books (mostly for upper class)
• Georgia Gazette 1st newspaper in the colony

• Mothers dying in childbirth
• Schools were mostly for upper-class
• So-called undesirable people settlers from
  Virginia and the Carolinas who settled in the
  middle and western parts of the colony
• Came to be known as crackers
• meant to be an insult for the lower classes
• thought of as people who did not obey the law and
  were not welcome in the colony
• No colony defense plan
• Lower class wanted a voice in government
• Independence Movement
• economic and political freedom

11
Slavery in the Royal Georgia Colony

• 1750 Trustees law banning slavery lifted
• Between 1750-1775, the number of Africans living
  in slavery in Georgia increased from 500-18,000
• Slaves had no legal rights to private lives
• could not legally marry or live where they wanted
• usually were not taught to read
• rebellion against slave owners was nearly
  impossible
• punishment included separation from family,
  beatings, death
• By the mid-1750s, previous debates against
  slavery were non-existent
• Almost every white person in the Georgia
  low-country believed that having slaves was
  essential to their economic prosperity

Africans captured to be sold into slavery crossed
the Atlantic Ocean lying pressed together in
crowded ships' holds. The city of Savannah served
as a major port for the Atlantic slave trade from
1750, when the Georgia colony repealed its ban on
slavery, until 1798, when the state outlawed the
importation of slaves. --From The New Georgia
Encyclopedia