Early History of Georgia Paper Example

This article is an article review about the early history of Georgia. Etowah Mounds is an archeological site in the county of Bartow, Georgia, and south of Cartersville. Etowah Mounds is one of the largest national wide famous Indian mounds found in North America. This archaeological Indian town is located along river Etowah which is found about three miles to the south of Cartersville in the Bartow County. There is evidence that the town was habited by the twelfth century. However, archaeologists date the settlement of this town at least two centuries earlier. The town was abandoned for some time around the seventeenth century. The many archaeological evacuations done in this town might have lasted more than hundred years ago. This archaeological site is currently owned and managed by the state of Georgia which is located to the south of Cartersville. This archaeological site of Etowah is a museum that is now open to everyone to visit and learn the rich history of Georgia. Etowah is considered to be of great importance since it is an invaluable asset as it offers a venue to see, learn as well as protect and preserve the valuable items that we have found from the history. The items found in this archaeological site represents our rich history which has led to our existence today.

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Although there is no conclusive research, Etowah archaeological site may be the exact same village of a similar name that was visited by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1540. In the very beginning of the missionary work, Friars of the Franciscan took over the operations of the Spanish missions after 1587 and the first successful mission was established in GA. After all the five friars were killed in the Guale rebellion of the year 1597, the north missions were thereafter entirely abandoned until the year 1604. The importance of the missions was well converse religious into the Catholic faith. However, evidence shows that the mission system served purposely as the primary means used to integrate Indians in Georgia into the economic and political structure of the then Florida's colonial rule and policy. The most significant result of these undertakings is the allegiance to the Spanish crown as well as the ultimate incorporation of the local people into the Florida mission system. Under this system, all the unmarried Indian male labors were needed to work at the established saint Augustine each and every year or to build as well as maintain the Spanish fortification. It is documented that over three hundred Indians from all over Spanish Florida were drafted every year for work between the months of March and September which caused considerable changes in the native society. These Indian labors caught and eventually spread many diseases when back in the village and most of them eventually died from these diseases and also from the overwork. Due to these challenges, the Spanish missions declined rapidly since the population of laborers reduced and completely declined in October 1684 in the current state of Georgia.

The town of Georgia has boundaries which are defined for numerous important reasons which include; the ownership of the land, the jurisdiction for the various state laws and the state's rights in accordance with the regulations of finding in the federal system. In the year 1732, King George the second gave James Oglethorpe and the other Trustees a chapter that allowed them to establish the colony of Georgia. There exist two distinct boundary lines which are; the new settlement, western boundary, and the eastern boundary. The new settlement is made up of all the land that is located between the headwaters of the Savannah and the rivers of Altamaha. The other boundary which is the eastern boundary consists of Atlanta Ocean. The last boundary is the western boundary consists of the south seas, which is the Pacific Ocean. These boundaries experience many hardships such as the alteration of the boundary after the Indian and French War which saw Georgia's southern border extension down to the very northern border of East Florida. Luckily, Georgia boundaries were left untouched after the Revolutionary War of 1775-1783. The fraud incident of Yazoo in the year 1795 led to the state new colony begin to connect with Flint and the Chattahoochee rivers which are to the southwest of Georgia and thereafter extending to the north boundary up to the significant bend of the river Aso. The Georgia boundaries are of great importance since the Georgia colonists use these lines to move from the Mississippi River to the land so as they can trade with the Native Americans.

The Battle of Bloody Marsh is very significant in the early history of Georgia. The disputes began in 1742 when Spanish and English forces encountered conflict on Saint Simons Island which resulted in the Battle of Bloody Marsh. This is the only incident that is recorded of Spanish Forces attempt to invade Georgia during the war of Jenkin's Ear. During this war, the Spanish planned to invade Georgia but lost the battle to the English forces. After the defeat, the Spanish were no longer indestructible and strong and they suffered much which led them not being able to invade Georgia. The English Forces were able to defeat the Spanish forces as their general, Oglethorpe assisted his soldiers to restore their confidence and he respected his people and his soldiers. This helped him reestablish and regain his military might and leadership. The most significant benefit of the English Forces victory against Georgia was the protection and this was the last attempt of the Spanish to mount a major offensive attack into Georgia.

William Stephens migrated from England to the Savannah in 1737 to serve as secretary of Trustee Georgia. William Stephens was actively involved in the organizational as well as the socioeconomic life of the colony. He later served as the office of president between the year 1741 to 1751. Oglethorpe, therefore, left most decisions concerning the colony for Stephens. Later, the Trustees wanted to use Stephens as the second hand to control over the colony and Oglethorpe to take precautions against Stephens. Oglethorpe was therefore very direct against the administration of Stephens. Stephens's support and the help of the Trustees' policies decreased his efficiency among the Malcontents and inadvertently strengthened the nascent factionalism in the region of Georgia. Thomas Stephens the son of William Stephens joined him and challenged Oglethorpe. When Thomas went back to England he published news about the numerous hardships in the colony of Georgia, this made his father so angry hence he transferred his Georgia land property and other belongings to his other son known as Newdigate. In the year 1742, The Trustees of the Georgian Colony appointed Stephens to be the president of the entire Georgia colony and served as the secretary until the end of 1750, and as the president until 1751. The importance of his background as he led Georgia well in the absenteeism of a governor or much involvement of the Trustees. He developed his Savannah estate and territory into one of the major leading coastal river plantations which later served as the main landing site for the French troops under Charles Henri d'Estaing during the period of Siege of Savannah in October of the year 1779.

Henry Ellis was the second royal governor of the Colony of Georgia. He is regarded to as "Georgia's second founder." Henry Ellis was the very first governor who helped Georgians learned how to govern themselves since the first royal governor, John Reynolds had failed as a governor and leader. Between the year 1750 and 1755, he carried cargoes of slaves (312 slaves) from the continent of Africa to Jamaica successfully alive. In the year 1757, Ellis helped Georgians with Governor Reynolds' Halifax issues as he sponsored legislation of dividing the province into eight parishes and enabling each of them with delegates to the assembly Ellis used his connections to protect Georgian from the French, Chad and French-allied Indians war. Significantly, he established the historic and royal proclamation and commanded four governors to Augusta to make an arrangement for a treaty with the Creeks in 1763. It is the most important thing he did since the proclamation established governments modeled after Georgia's in East and West Florida, Canada, and Nova Scotia. On the map, the line was then drawn down from the Appalachian mountain ranges hence forbidding any settlement to the west of the mountains so as to protect the Indian lands as well as trade. The proclamation benefited Georgia by extending its boundaries to the St. Marys River which is in the South and the River Mississippi in the West.

Although the Colony of Georgia did not actively participate in the First Continental Congress it joined the Second Provincial Congress and accepted the provisions of the Continental Association of July 6, 1775. John Houston is the one who represented Georgia in this second Continental Congresses. The most important sign of him was that Houston County, which is in central Georgia is named in his honor. Houston practiced law in the Savannah for very many years before he later began his career in active politics. He was nominated as one of the five delegated to represent the colony of Georgia at the Congress. The first five men who represented Georgia were: John Zubly, John Houston, Archibald Bulloch, Noble Jones, and Lyman Hall. Three of them: Houston, Bulloch, and Zubly later traveled to Philadelphia to become Georgia's first representative at the Congresses. This development is another sign of Georgia in the history.

The British made rumors hence the Indian governors ran away from the South Carolina which resulted in a violent revolution. This occurrence was the first violence in the backcountry of the local committee in Augusta. Thomas Brown came to Georgia with all his seventy servants in November 1774 and named his settlement Brownsborough. On August 2, 1775, committee's members confronted Thomas Brown at his residence area hence he made the Whigs mad since he was publicly disapproving the Association and summoning friends of the king to join his counter association. He also refused to swear to honor the Association hence the crowd of Liberty men tortured him and used him as a lesson to people who wanted to disobey or denounce the Association. After Brown recovered for the severe wounds inflated upon him, he retired into the Carolina backcountry. He then started enslaving hundreds of loyalists and planned a march on Augusta with other leaders in the backcountry. After several Marches, Brown went back to Florida to persuaded Florida governor to allow him to hire a corps of rangers who would lead Indians to fight on the frontlines in juxtaposition with those expected to land on the coast. At the same time, British rumors rumored to enlist slaves and Indians to help defeat the American patriots alarmed Georgians and Carolinians. And people believed it. As a result, John Stuart, the Indian Commissioner, fled to Florida. The significance of this incident created internal strife and led the British to take advantage of the land.

Conclusion

George Walton was one of the first three people in Georgia to sign the Declaration of Independence. Walton moved to Savannah, GA in 1769. He was one of the most successful lawyers of the eve of the American revolution. Walton had highly influential leadership capability and served in many capacities for the state of Georgia. He served as the president of the Council of Safety, GA, and also served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, and signed the Declaration on July 4. Walton was elected for Georgia governor in 1779 after captured by British assault on the city a year before (1778). He served for two controversial mon...