Georgia

About Georgia

History of Georgia

Early on, a number of Spanish explorers visited the inland region of Georgia, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. The local moundbuilder culture, described by Hernando de Soto in 1540, had completely disappeared by 1560.

The conflict between Spain and Britain over control of Georgia began in earnest in about 1670, when the British, moving south from their Carolina colony in present-day South Carolina met the Spanish moving north from their base in Florida. In 1724, it was first suggested that what was by then a British colony be called Province of Georgia in honor of King George II.

Massive British settlement began in the year 1732 with James Oglethorpe, an Englishman in the British parliament, who promoted the idea that the area be used to settle people in a debtors’ prison. On February 12, 1733, 113 settlers landed in the HMS Anne at what was to become the city of Savannah. This day is now known as Georgia Day, which is not a public holiday, but is mainly observed in schools and by some local civic groups. In 1752, Georgia became a royal colony. Georgia’s first constitution came in 1777, but was later changed.

On January 18, 1861 Georgia joined the Confederacy and became a major theater of the American Civil War. In December 1864, a large swath of the state from Atlanta to Savannah was destroyed during General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea. This event served as the historical background for the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and the 1939 film. On July 15, 1870, following Reconstruction, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

On February 19, 1953 Georgia became the first U.S. state to approve a literature censorship board in the United States.

Georgia has had five “permanent” state capitals: colonial Savannah, which later alternated with Augusta; then for a decade at Louisville (pron. Lewis-ville), and from 1806 through the American Civil War at Milledgeville. In 1868, Atlanta became the fifth capital of the state. The state’s legislature also met at other temporary sites, including Macon, especially during the Civil War.
Georgia

Albany     Alpharetta     Americus     Athens     Atlanta     Augusta     Brunswick    Calhoun     Carrollton     Cartersville     Clayton     College Park     Columbus     Commerce     Conyers     Cordele     Dalton     Darien     Decatur     Douglas     Douglasville     Dublin     Duluth     Forsyth     Gainesville     Griffin     Helen     Hinesville     Jekyll Island     Jonesboro     Kennesaw     Kingsland     LaGrange     Lake Lanier Islands     Lake Park     Lawrenceville     Lithia Springs     Macon     Marietta     McDonough     Milledgeville     Morrow     Newnan     Norcross     Peachtree City     Perry     Pooler     Port Wentworth     Richmond Hill     Rome     Roswell     Savannah     Savannah Beach     Smyrna     St. Marys     St. Simons Island     Statesboro     Stockbridge     Stone Mountain     Thomasville     Thomson     Tifton     Toccoa     Tybee Island     Union City     Valdosta     Warm Springs     Warner Robbins     Waycross