Oglethorpe and Colonial Georgia: A History, 1733-1783

Inspired by his successful campaign to empty the debtor's prisons in England, Oglethorpe, aided by a group of fellow Members of Parliament, convinced King George II to grant them a charter for land south of the existing colony of Carolina. He threw his lot in with 114 poor colonists from the streets of London and sailed aboard the Anne to the New World. There as the sole resident Trustee, Oglethorpe took charge of founding the Colony of Georgia at Savannah, the first pre-planned town in America. After shepherding the colony by establishing more villages and towns, building forts, holding off the disruptive initiates from the South Carolina leaders, expanding the territorial expanse and fighting off the Spanish, Oglethorpe sailed away from Georgia in the summer of 1743 under political pressures. The colony languished until the Trustees surrendered the Charter in 1752 and Georgia became a royal province. Through the often misguided, yet effective administrative of three royal governors covering some 21 years, life in Georgia improved as prosperity emerged. But with a series of unpopular British legislative acts, the province was eventually pushed into open rebellion as the patriot spirit flourished.