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Georgia Colony Analysis

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The Mayflower and the pilgrims landing in Plymouth are the images most envision with the founding of the early states in America. Each colony holds its own story of how it was first established and the founding fathers of each of its colonies. One example is the colony of Georgia. James Oglethorpe, a famous leader of the Georgia Colony, was one of the most important men for the development of the colonial United States. Starting back from his early roots in England, Oglethorpe worked hard in establishing a small group on the Savanna River, with the intentions of creating a debtors’ colony that was free of vice (Pitofsky, 2016). The establishment of the Georgia colony was based on three motives: philanthropic, commercial, and military (Pitofsky, …show more content…

Unfortunately, Europe’s defense was advancing against the Turks, therefore, Oglethorpe dropped out of school to enroll in a military academy in France (Peach, 2016). Proceeding a victorious campaign against the Turks, Oglethorpe was able to return to his studies at Corpus Christi. Despite not graduating from the college, he was awarded with a special M.A. in 1731. Soon after, he followed his father’s and older brother’s footsteps and entered Parliament. Oglethorpe took an interest in social reform while living in Great Britain. An untimely death of one of Oglethorpe’s closest friends, stirred an interest in prison reform. Due to an unpaid debt, Oglethorpe’s friend was thrown into London’s Fleet Prison. During this time, inmates were forced to pay prison guards money for decent room and board. Oglethorpe’s friend was unable to pay, due to him already being in debt, and was subsequently thrown into a deplorable cell that already housed an inmate who had smallpox. Oglethorpe’s friend contracted the smallpox and died. This event, prompted Oglethorpe to investigate the disease-ridden jail cells that were all over Great …show more content…

During this time, there was serious concerns over the presence of the Spanish to the southern colony. Due to these concerns, Oglethorpe became a colonel in the British army in 1737 (de Vorsey, 2016). Georgia became a military buffer to protect Britain’s southern colonies. The Spanish military continued to grow in St. Augustine, Florida, destroying Oglethorpe’s vision of Georgia being an ideal agrarian society (Debtors in Georgia, 2016). Due to the heightening threat of Spanish invasion, Oglethorpe focused more on defending Georgia. With no financial support from Britain, Oglethorpe decided to mortgage his personal landholdings back in England to finance the needs of Georgia (de Vorsey, 2016). He strongly felt the need to protect Georgia and was committed to seeing that the colony was successful. Just like the other trustees who came to Georgia, Oglethorpe was not able to hold office in the new colony. However, due to his leadership and commitment to Georgia, Oglethorpe was clearly the leader of the colony, subject to instructions and rules promulgated by the Trustees back in London (Jackson, 2016). In honor of his dedication to the new colony, he was regarded as Georgia’s first governor. Like all strong, successful leaders, Oglethorpe worked endlessly to protect the colony of Georgia against Spanish forces that threatened British

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