a new start for ga. too the revolution showed ga. the probs of its gov. the war destroyed ga.’s...
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A New Start for Ga. TooThe Revolution showed Ga.
the probs of its gov.The war destroyed Ga.’s
economy & divided the people.
Many of the men left their farms to fight and because of this, food was limited.
1785 the capital of Ga. was moved from Savannah to Augusta and in 1788 & 89 delegates met there to make changes in the state Con.
After the changes were made Georgia had a Constitution similar to the U.S. Constitution.
Ga.’s Gov
To ensure separation of powers, Ga. had 3 branches just like the U.S. Con, BUT power was not = balanced.
General Assembly- the Ga. Legislature, was bicameral & included a senate & a house of reps w/ members elected by popular vote.
Legislators in the General Assembly selected the governor & other state officials like judges.
More importantly they determined how $$$ was to be raised and spent.
Changes after the Revolutionary War
Along with their hunger for independence from Great Britain, many Georgians developed a huge appetite for LAND!!!!
CherokeeLands
CreekLands
Land Fever in Ga.During the settlement of the colony, a lot of the
land W of the Oconee River belonged to the Indians was given to settlers by means of the head-right system- each white male counted as a “head” of a family & had the “right” to receive up to 1,000 acres.
Public Domain lands- lands owned by the state or federal gov.
They were open to the people to settle and were called lottery land, located W of the Oconee R.
For $$$$ any white male 21 & older could buy a chance to spin a wheel and get land.
Land Lottery
Replaced the Headright System in 1803.
Yazoo Land FraudGa.’s boarder at the time
was the Miss River & one of its branches the Yazoo River.
S.C. and Spain claimed some of the same land & the issue went to court for settlement.
Before any settlement was made, 4 land companies approached Gov. George Mathews & members of the General Assembly bribing them to allow these 4 companies to buy the western lands.
Yazoo Land FraudBill was passed & the
companies bought btw 35-50 million acres for $500,000. (1.5 cents an acre)
Ticked the public off and they wanted the legislators involved to resign.
Folks were voted out of office and the new legislators repealed the law, records of the sale were burned in Ga.’s capital Louisville.
Finally the federal gov. resolved the matter by paying 4 million to settle the Yazoo land claims.
As a result, the legislators involved were voted out of office.
The new legislature repealed the law.
Ga. Cedes Western LandsGa. lost rather than
gained from the Yazoo Land Fraud.
Ga. lost a large part of its land & a lot of $$$. Spain gave up its claims in the area and the federal gov contested Ga.’s rights to the land.
In 1802, Ga. ceded (gave up) its lands W of the Chattahoochee R to the federal gov for 1.25 million making the river Ga.’s western boundary.
Louisiana PurchaseThomas Jefferson (3rd Pres) bought this territory from France for 15 million.
Important because it doubled the size of the U.S. and now the country extended west to the Rocky Mts.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition explored the new lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
Sacagawea served as a guide for Lewis and Clark.
Economic Growth in Ga.The Rev war brought financial probs to Ga. cause
it had to pay huge war debts and had no way to pay it.
The developments of mechanized farming tools, steamboats, & railroad engines were all apart of the Industrial Revolution.
FarmingDuring the time after the
ARW, 2 crops became highly demanded.
Cotton & Tobacco.This development changed the
lives of Blacks & Whites greatly.
In 1793 Eli Whitney, a school teacher/inventor, came to Mulberry Grove Plantation near Savannah owned by Mrs. Catherine Miller.
Invented the cotton gin. Before the invention, a worker
might be able to separate 6-7 lbs of cotton seed a day by hand.
After the invention, workers were able to separate about 50 lbs a day.
Eli Whitney and his cotton gin (engine). It increased production from about a pound a day to as much as fifty pounds per day.
Cotton Gin Photo
The introduction of Whitney’s cotton gin provides a graphic view of cause and effect.The gin caused slavery to become very profitable; the effect was increased political tension between the industrialized North and the agricultural South.
FarmingAnother invention was
the mechanical reaper invented by Cyrus McCormick.
Using this, a farmer could cut 6 times more grain in a day than he could w/ a hand-held scythe.
Inventions like these allowed Georgians to work larger & more profitable farms.
Slave Distribution in the U.S. 1790-1860
Early Roads in Georgia Railroads, most built after 1830, replaced
horses, stagecoaches, and boatsMost Georgia roads ran east to west; they
were former Indian footpathsPlank roads over wetlands that featured
“pikes” or gates were called turnpikesTravelers paid a toll, or fee at each pike; the
Old Federal Road connected Athens north to Tennessee
Depression and the Panic of 1837
Many Georgia banks failed between 1837 and the early 1840s
This happened during a depression (a sharp economic downturn)
Many businesses failed; many farmers and planters lost their land
Many banks didn’t have enough cash to pay out money their depositors had entrusted to them
TerminusLocated at the southern end of a rail line that
originated in Chattanooga, Tennessee (Atlantic and Western Railroad)
Marthasville became Atlanta, and the capital of Georgia
Rail lines greatly reduced travel time for people and freight
Life on the Ga. Frontier & in TownCentral and W parts was undeveloped land that
had been given away through the land lottery.Homesteads were under constant attack from
Indians.Town life was different.People received news papers from the Augusta
Herald and Savannah’s Gazzette of the State of Ga., had theaters in Savannah, and attended horse racing.
Frontier Georgia
Undeveloped land in central and western Georgia
Few settlers; much land given away in land lotteries
Far-flung trading posts were only storesDanger often lurked from hostile attacks Social activities often centered around
necessary workThe country store became the center of
activity; few luxuries were available
Life in Georgia’s Towns
Cultural refinements (higher level living) set apart frontier and town lifestyles
Newspapers, theater, and debate societies Fancy balls, barbecues, camp meetings, and
horse racingOrphanages, hospitals, and facilities for people
with special needs were operated
Frontier
Central & Western Parts of State =
Undeveloped
Trading Posts
Few Homesteads
Subject to Indian Attack
Clearing Land for a Farm Was Hard
Work
Some One-Room Schools
Towns
Vs.
Newspapers = Augusta Herald
&Gazette of the State of
Georgia
Theaters & Concerts
Debating Societies
Fancy Dress Balls
Barbeques
Camp Meetings
Religion
After the ARW churches grew in size and importance.
Groups included, Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists, & Methodists.
Sometimes these churches on the frontier could only hold a service once a month.
1787, free blacks founded the Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta
The 1st African Baptist Church in Savannah was founded in 1788 by Andrew Bryan.
1830 Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons).
ReligionRichard Allen & his family were slaves that were
allowed to attend Methodist Society services in Delaware and in 1777 he became a member of the society.
After purchasing his freedom he went around preaching and he soon found the need to form a church for “Africans,” as the church called them.
1794 Allen founded Bethel African Church and by 1816 he founded 5 other churches that wanted to be members of “Mother Bethel”.
He started a new denomination called the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church.
The church then & now adopted the teachings of John Wesley (founder of the Methodist denomination)
The 1st A.M.E. church was established in Savannah in 1865.
EducationSlow to catch on after the ARW, some only got a
few yrs of elementary school. Most had not ever been to school.
Gov. Lyman Hall recommended that the state set aside land for schools but few were built.
1784 the government set aside 20,000 acres for a state college.
1785-UGA was chartered, as a land grant university (a school for which the federal gov donated the land.)
Oldest school of its kind in the nation.Purpose was to oversee all public schools in the
state.Opened for classes in 1801.
EducationThe Georgia Female College (now Wesleyan
College) opened in Macon in 1836.Tuition was $50 a year, and room & board was
$15 a quarter.
1783• Male students
studied Greek, Latin, grammar, and math
• Females studied arts and music.
1785• UGA was
chartered as a land grant university (school in which the federal gov’t donated land).
1786• Georgia
Legislature passed a law requiring each county to open academies (schools).
1820
• There were only 40 academies in the state
1822
• Some members of the Legislature tried unsuccessfully to get money for public schools.
1836
• Wesleyan College (Georgia Female College) opened.
• French• Literature• Science
War of 1812France and GB had an
unofficial naval war and GB still had the best navy in the world.
Both France and GB tried blocking the U.S. from trading with each country.
GB even impressed- British captains took American sailor off their ships and made them serve in the British navy.
Finally in 1807 President Thomas Jefferson began an unsuccessful Embargo- stopping trade w/ all foreign countries.
War of 1812U.S. also believed that GB was stirring up trouble
w/ the Indians.In Congress, a group of land-hungry
southeasterners & westerners known as the War Hawks wanted the U.S. to declare war on GB.
Hoped to capture Canada & eliminate British and Indian trouble in the W.
President in 1812 was James Madison and he convinced Congress to go to war.
People thought that the idea was not good and that the country wasn’t ready to fight a country as strong as GB.
War of 1812The war lasted 2 yrs w/
neither side making much progress till 1814. British forces invaded Chesapeake Bay & made their way to Washington.
They burned much of the city, including the Capitol & the President’s house.
Battle of Fort McHenry gave us “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
The flag which flew over Ft. McHenry during the British bombardment.
Francis Scott Key, composer of “The Star-spangled Banner.”
NMAH | The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem
War of 1812
Treaty of Ghent- signed in Belgium, ended the war in 1814.
Battle of New Orleans happened in 1815. Didn’t know the war was over, U.S. troops led by Andrew Jackson crushed a British force by killing/wounding 2,000. Only 13 U.S. soldiers died.
Made Jackson a hero.Treaty of Ghent- restored everything back to
normal in the U.S. but didn’t give U.S. any new land.
Gained because the war showed that the U.S. was willing to fight for continued independence and older nations started to take notice.
War of 1812The war also showed all the states that they were
1 nation.Also effected the economy cause when the U.S.
couldn’t import the goods they needed they learned how to make them.
Industry grew & by 1815 the U.S. could supply much of its own needs.
Andrew Jackson1817 President James
Monroe asked Jackson to look into the problems that Ga. was having w/ the Seminole Indians.
Instead he invaded Fl. and overthrew the Spanish governor.
Spain agreed to sell Fl for 5 million in 1819.
Native Americans in Ga.From 1785-1838 the Indians were forced from
their traditional lands to new ones.
CherokeeIn 1800, most Indians still made a living
traditionally by hunting, fishing, & trading.The Cherokee were considered to be the most
advanced of the Indian tribes.George Gist made one of the most important
contributions to Cherokee culture. His father was from Virginia and his mother was a Cherokee princess. His Indian name was Sequoyah.
Was very interested in the white man’s “talking leaves” or paper & noticed that people could communicate w/ them.
Cherokee
In 1809 he began to make a syllabary- a group of symbols that stand for whole syllables.
Took 12 yrs for him to decide on 85 symbols.
After he completed it, some of the people made fun of his work, but after he taught his daughter and some young chiefs to understand and use the syllabary, the council became interested.
They sent him to teach the other Cherokee tribes how to use it and w/ in 6 months most tribes could read and write in that way.
CherokeeThe Cherokee were the 1st Indians to have their
language in written form.People of the U.S. praised Sequoyah & his people
gave him a medal and $500 a yr for life.This gift is the 1st record of a literary prize.
CherokeeThey also adopted a Constitution similar to the
U.S.’s.Their gov was made up of the same 3 branches of
the U.S.The principal and second chiefs were elected to
those roles.
New Echota, once the Cherokee capital, is today a state park.
Chief Vann House, Chatsworth, GA
CreekTensions built btw the Creeks and settlers
because the settlers kept pushing into their lands along the Oconee river.
Tribes led by Chief Alexander McGillivray sent warriors to fight some of the settlers. The Indians burned homes, stole animals, & killed or captured over 200 settlers.
The settlers were told to kill any Creek that was not a member of a friendly tribe when they saw them.
These fights were known as the Oconee War.Fighting went on for several yrs and in 1790,
President Washington called Chief McGillivray to New York.
Indian land in Georgia east of the Oconee River was given to white settlers.
CreekTreaty of New York- the Creek gave up all their
land E of the Oconee River in return the U.S. promised that no whites would go into land W of the boundary. The gov also agreed to help the Creek start farms by giving them tools and animals.
Treaty ticked people of Ga. off cause they thought that the Federal gov had taken the side of the Creeks.
Over the next few yrs, neither the Creeks or Georgians paid attention to the treaty.
They did have peace btw 1797-1812.It was during this time that the Yazoo Land fraud
took place.
CreekWhen the Federal Gov took the land W of the
Chattahoochee River away from Ga. it promised to move the Indians out of the state, but it did little cause of the War of 1812.
Creek WarTecumseh tried to unite all the Native Americans
to unite & fight for their lands.Red Sticks- Indians that were for war.White Sticks- Indians that wanted peace.Tribes of the SE were split on the issue.On August 30, 1,000 Red Sticks attacked Ft.
Mims in present day Alabama, killing 400 people.Many battles were fought but the Red Sticks
were no match for the U.S. and the final battle was on March 27, 1814 @ Horseshoe Bend.
Creek War1,000 Creeks met 2,000 Americans led by
General Andrew Jackson and the U.S. won.In the following months, the Creek surrendered
to Jackson & gave up most of their land. Georgians were pleased cause it meant that the
Creek owned no more land in Southern Ga.
Murder of Chief William McIntosh
As more land was taken from them, the Creek tribes became separated from each other.
The strong Creek Confederacy that united all the tribes before the arrival of the settlers was no more.
Because of the lack of communication, tribes would sometimes sign treaties w/ out talking to the other tribes.
This lead to the death of one of the well known leaders.
Murder of Chief William McIntoshTreaty of Indian Springs- The Fed Gov paid
McIntosh & a big group of Lower Creek chiefs $200,000 to cede the last of the Creek lands in Ga. to the Fed Gov. In turn, the gov gave the use of the land to Ga.
Terms of the deal were worked out by McIntosh and his 1st cousin Ga. governor George Troup.
Somewhere btw 170-400 Creeks marched single file to the Chief’s home and set fire to it. They allowed the women and kids to leave before the shooting started.
Cause of smoke and wounds McIntosh couldn’t fight, the Creeks took him out of the house stabbed him in the chest and he was scalped.
Indian Removal1828, Andrew Jackson was elected Pres.1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal
Act-move all Indians to the Western territories.
Creek RemovalThe Creeks of Ga. signed the Treaty of
Washington which gave the Fed Gov 5 million acres in return, the gov set aside 2 million acres and the gov would protect the Creek life and property from whites.
The gov didn’t live up to their end of the bargain.Fighting broke out in Alabama and Ga. but the
Creeks couldn’t beat the U.S. and they all moved west.
Cherokee Removal/Dahlonega Gold RushGa. was planning to move the Cherokee too,
especially when gold was found in Dahlonega.Found in 1829, even though the Cherokee knew
there was gold, credit for finding it was given to Benjamin Parks.
Over 10,000 miners flooded the area.Ga. Legislature passed a law that placed part of
the Cherokee land under state control and declared their laws null & void & the Indians couldn’t even speak out against a white man in court.
The gold rush caused the Cherokee to lose their homes, lands, & legal rights.
Benjamin Parks discovered gold in GA during a deer hunting trip in 1829.
Gold nuggets of various sizes.
This is a detail from an 1832 GA land lottery map of Cherokee lands in the vicinity of Rome, GA.
The first American gold rush in America took place in GA beginning in 1829.
Hydraulic mining did terrible damage to the environment.
The town of Auraria became the first gold mining center in America.
Indian’s Last Hope/Worcester v. GA
Missionaries were the only ones that cared about the Indians.
Ga. Leg passed a law that said that Missionaries couldn’t live on Cherokee land without taking an oath to the governor. 11 people didn’t sign the oath and court threw 2 of them in jail for 4 yrs.
Case was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court where Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the decision of the lower court couldn’t stand cause Cherokee territory wasn’t subject to state law.
Indian’s Last HopeThe Cherokee thought that the ruling meant
they could keep their land & gov.Chief Justice Marshall ordered the 2 men to be
set free but the lower court judge, Ga. governor Wilson Lumpkin, & President Andrew Jackson refused to back the ruling.
More Cherokee searched for help to stop people from taking their lands.
Chief John Ross made several trips to Congress asking for help, especially help enforcing the many treaties that had been signed by the Fed & state govs.
Indian’s Last Hope
December 1835 the Cherokee were forced to sign a treaty giving up all their lands in the SE.
Trail of TearsIn May of 1838 the Cherokee were being forced
to leave their lands by boat, foot, and some were placed in a stockade.
Many began the 700-800 mile walk, taking them 6 months to make the trip. Because of winter & little food, thousands died.
Between the Indian Removal Act of 1830 & the Trail of Tears, more than 100,000 Indians were moved from 200 million acres of land that had belonged to them for hundreds of yrs.
Anuna-da-ut- sun’y(the trail where they cried)
Between the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears,
more than 100,000 Native Americans
were displaced from 200 million acres of land
that had been theirs for hundreds of years.