Georgia The 4^th Colony

by Graham

Before Georgia…  

     In this retell of The Colony of Georgia, I will tell about how Georgia came to be the fourth colony.  I will tell about what I learned about this colony.

       Cherokee Indians were farmers and hunters on the land we now call Georgia.  The Creek Indians raised families there for many generations.  

      Many different kinds of people moved to the Native American homeland in the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s.  The first colonists came from Spain.  They next came from France and England.

        There was land that people thought was useless until  Sir Robert Montgomery and James Oglethorpe  made the idea for a new kind of colony very popular.

     Sir Robert wanted colonists who loved adventure. He also took debtors.  But the colonists he wanted did not end up going there.       In 1732, a man named James Oglethorpe asked the people to try it again. King George said it was okay. The Native Americans and Spaniards did not like that England was taking over the land.     

     The English named the land Georgia after King George.   The colonists started farms.  King George wanted them to make things like wine and silk.  These things could be sold in England.  King George also hoped the colonies could protect England from other battles with Spain.

     Oglethorpe brought one hundred fourteen colonists to Georgia. Oglethorpe wanted Georgia to be a wonderful place for colonists.  He made laws that were different than the King's laws.  He thought that drinking alcohol made people lazy and fight each other.  He made a law against selling liquor in Georgia.  This was different than the other colonies.  

     Oglethorpe set up Savannah, Georgia's first capital.  He made it very carefully.  The streets were laid out in a way that looked like squares.  The men, women, and children helped build houses like the ones they had in England.  The people planted gardens where they learned to plant different foods that would grow well.

     Oglethorpe's dreams turned into puddles...they were gone.  People wanted to drink and be able to have slaves.  They wanted to do things Oglethorpe didn't want them to do. 

     In 1752, he gave up on his ideas and Georgia became a royal colony.  A governor chosen by the King governed the people.  Big plantations took over the little farms.

     Georgia joined the other colonies when they went against the English.  Many battles were fought in Georgia because it was easy to travel by sea.  Oglethorpe's ideals were wanted by the whole United States.

Georgia

     Atlanta is now the capital of Georgia.  Oglethorpe is a part of its history.  It is really busy. It’s the home of my dad.  

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