Georgia Colony Founded: Oglethorpe Plants the 13th Colony
James Oglethorpe founded Georgia as a debtor's prison alternative. He convinced Parliament that England's jails were full of people who owed money — and those people could be useful colonists instead. The charter banned slavery, banned rum, and limited land ownership to 500 acres. Oglethorpe wanted a colony of small farmers who could defend against Spanish Florida. The settlers arrived in February 1733 and built Savannah on a bluff above the river. Within twenty years, the settlers had overturned every restriction. They legalized slavery in 1751. The colony Oglethorpe designed to be different became a plantation economy like all the others.
February 12, 1733
293 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Georgia (U.S. state)
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Thirteen Colonies
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James Oglethorpe
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Savannah, Georgia
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Englishman
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Georgia Day
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Muscogee
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Georgia (U.S. state)
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Savannah, Georgia
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Thirteen Colonies
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Georgia Day
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James Oglethorpe
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1733
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