Development of Georgia (1789-1840): University, Louisville, Churches, and Land Policies

1. SS8H5: Student will explain significant factors that affected the development of Georgia as part of the growth of the United States between 1789 and 1840. Explain the establishment of the University of Georgia, Louisville, and the spread of the Baptists and Methodist churches. Evaluate the impact of the land policies pursued by Georgia; include the headright system, land lotteries, and the Yazoo Land Fraud.

2. Georgia State Constitution: 1789 • Resembled new US Constitution • Called for a bicameral legislature and three branches of government: executive, judicial, and legislative • Included plans for local governments • Responsible for keeping records and establishing a system of law • County seat was the center of local government: courthouse and jail located there • Counties had to be small enough so that citizens could make it back home in one day • As counties grew, they were divided into 2 seats • Amendments • Changed the way of electing governor: both houses would elect • Legislature would meet in January • Louisville (present-day Jefferson County) would be the new state capital

3. Post-Revolutionary Georgia Education Slow growth; many not schooled Governor Lyman Hall recommended state set aside land for schools; few built 1784: set aside land and named trustees for a state college Land Grant University: federal government gave land 1785: University of Georgia (Oldest school of its kind) First Building: Franklin College 1786: Georgia Legislature required all counties to open schools Wealthy could afford colleges Females not admitted to UGA until 1918 The building of the University of Georgia

4. Creating a Capital City • For much of Georgia’s early history, the capital rotated between Savannah and Augusta • Savannah became difficult to get to for citizens who moved inland • Augusta was too far east • 1786: legislature appointed a commission to find a site for the new, centrally located capital • Funds to purchase 1000 acres of land—city was to be modeled after then-US capital of Philadelphia • Legislature required that the new location be 20 miles from an Indian trading post on the Ogeechee River (present-day Jefferson County) • Insisted the new capital be called “Louisville” to honor King Louis XVI of France (helped in the Rev. War) • 1796: New Capital in Louisville finished; served as capital for 10 years • February 21, 1796: Holy Fire From Heaven (Yazoo land sales records burned in front of the capital steps) • 1804: With western expansion, legislature voted to build a new capital in Baldwin County (Milledgeville)

5. Post-Revolutionary Georgia Religion Churches grew in size and importance Anglican, Quakers, Baptists, Methodists… 1787: Springfield Baptist founded by free blacks 1788: First African Baptist Church in Savannah est. by Andrew Bryan Jewish synagogue established in Savannah 1796: 1st Catholic church in Wilkes County 1801: Savannah Sunday and weekday services Buildings used as town meetings

6. Post-Revolutionary Georgia: Religion • Great Revival Movement • Early 1800’s: popular religious revivals in the form of camp meetings, very popular in the South • Popular among Methodists • Mid 1800’s: Church membership grew • By 1860, 2393 churches in the state • Methodist and Baptist largest denominations • Slaves generally attended church with their masters, so there was little segregation in churches • Impact of Slavery • Methodists in the South pulled out of their national organization over slavery and formed the Methodist Episcopal Church • Baptists in the South left the American Baptist Union when its foreign ministry board would not accept slave owners as missionaries (formed the Southern Baptist Convention)

7. Yazoo Land Fraud A scam by the Georgia Legislature and Governor George Matthews in which 4 land companies BRIBED them to sell land at a reduced rate (1795) Citizens were upset as the companies turned around to sell the land back to them at much higher prices Results People involved were thrown out of office Records burned “God save the State, and long preserve her rights and may every attempt to injure them perish, as these wicked and corrupt acts now do!” Money returned to state Indians were forced off their land Georgia lost a large part of its land from the Trustee Period (Alabama and Mississippi Territory) Chattahoochee River becomes western boundary of Georgia Federal Government gave Georgia money and promised to help with Indian removal TRAIL OF TEARS

8. United States Events 1803: Louisiana Purchase— Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) bought the Louisiana Territory (Mississippi River to Rocky Mountains) for $15 million from France. France needed the money to fight the war in Europe against Britain Britain impressed (took) American sailors and forced them into the British navy Jefferson began an embargo of Britain (Ignored by merchants) Stopped all trade with… Britain was viewed worse than France due to their control of the Atlantic, impression, and their alliance with the Indians Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

9. War of 1812 Warhawks pushed the U.S. government to go to war with Great Britain Southern and Western frontiersmen and land owners June 1812: James Madison asked Congress to declare war 1814: British forces invaded Washington D.C. Burned the Capitol and White House Treaty of Ghent: ended the war returned everything to the way it was before the war Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson fought and defeated British forces AFTER the treaty was signed Battle of New Orleans Treaty of Ghent

10. Battle of Horseshoe Bend Georgia in the War of 1812 March 1814: Andrew Jackson defeated a band of Upper Creek Indians, known as Red Sticks, in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, on the Tallapoosa River Tallapoosa River In Alabama

11. Treaty of Ghent Ghent a city in Belgium United States received NO new territory Proved to the rest of the world that the U.S. was willing to fight for it’s continued independence States began to feel united as one nation Economy changed Industry grew

12. Land and Westward Movement With the defeat of the British and their Indian allies, came the desire of the U.S. and its citizens to move west. West is central/western present day Georgia and the Alabama/Mississippi territory. Public Domain Lands: belonging to state or federal government Headright System: each white male counted as a ‘head’ and could receive up to 1000 acres Land east of the Oconee River belonging originally to Indians Largely replaced by a land lottery in 1803 Land Lottery: for a fee, white males over 21 could buy a chance to win land Heads of households with children, war veterans, and widows were given extra chances