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Georgia, prison colony? - not!
Cliff Keese (CKEESE@MAIL.MCG.EDU)
Fri, 24 Jan 1997 16:26:57 -0500
Rodger Morris wrote "...lost use of Georgia as a prison colony...".
I have to refute that piece of erroneous history. The colony of Georgia
was at no time in her history either a prison or debtors colony as is
commonly written history texts. When Gen James Oglethorpe and the rest
of business partners received the royal charter to establish the colony of
Georgia, it was for the dual purpose of; (1) establishing a military buffer
between the Spanish in Florida and the more settled colony of South
Carolina and it's port of Charleston, and (2) to make money! The first
colonists had to prove their fiscal solvency before they were allowed to
become members of the first group of settlers. Oglethorpe's plan was to
cultivate mulberry trees and silkworms, to alleviate England's need for silk
from the Far East, and to introduce grapes for wine and rice along the
coast. Of the those three plans, only the rice was successful early. The
colony later planted tobacco which was the main cash crop until later
supplanted by cotton.
The misconceptions about Georgia's beginnings are understandable,
even the textbooks in primary and secondary school promulgate the myth.
I didn't learn different until attending college where a requirement of a
class in Georgia history opened my eyes to the varied and fascinating
history of the "Empire State of the South";" the Peach State"; the largest
state east of the Mississippi River; and the fourth oldest state in the USA.
I'm proud of my home state. Hope you are of yours.
Ya'll come see us now, hear.
YIS,
Cliff Keesee
Adv. Chmn.
Troop 615
Georgia-Carolina Council
Evans, GA
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
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