Happy Georgia Day

The peachiest day of the year.

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James Oglethorpe¹

Georgia Day really starts with the man, the myth, the legend, James Oglethorpe himself. Anyone who has taken a Georgia history class may recognize his name, others may recognize it from Oglethorpe County, O House at UGA, or Oglethorpe University. However you recognize the name, it is the name of a man that every Georgia should be familiar with because the colony of Georgia was his vision that he made happen.

James Oglethorpe was born on December 22, 1696, in London, England to a family of 10 children. Oglethorpe was admitted to Corpus Christi College at Oxford University before dropping out to become enrolling in a military academy and joining England’s battle against the Turks. This may sound like the generic beginning to a biography of Oglethorpe but he was no man of his time. In fact, he was a man well ahead of his time in important areas such as slavery and the plight of the poor.

Oglethorpe’s concern with the poor, particularly those in debtor’s prison, began after his friend, Robert Castell, was thrown into debtor’s prison with another prisoner who had smallpox. Castell eventually succumbed to the disease and died. This led Oglethorpe to start a national reform effort to improve the conditions found in England’s prison. Not only did his reform movement gain traction in the form of investigations of prison conditions, but prison reforms were actually implemented in England’s prisons making Oglethorpe one of the most prominent humanitarians in England.

Oglethorpe soon realized that more could be done to help the poor in England that went beyond prison reforms. He, and others, would pursue the founding of a new colony in the New World that would be a place for the “worthy poor” to go and start anew. His efforts were successful and he, along with other trustees, was granted a charter in 1732 that established the colony of Georgia.

Preparation

Since the Georgia colony was meant to be a place for the “worthy poor” (there were also economic and defense considerations), the original colonists would need funding in order to make the journey. Therefore, Oglethorpe and the other trustees had to ensure that those making the trip would serve the colony well and not be freeloaders. This is an important point to make because Oglethorpe was a humanitarian but he was realistic about the difference between those who were poor due to unfortunate circumstances and those who were poor of their own decisions. That, unfortunately, is a distinction that we no longer make today usually staking out one of those two positions and refusing to budge based on individual cases.

But anyways, Oglethorpe and the other trustees decided to ensure they made the best decisions for the colony and not themselves by instituting certain restrictions on themselves. No trustee, Oglethorpe included, could hold office, own land, or receive a salary in the new colony. In spite of this, Oglethorpe decided to make the journey with the first Georgia colonists and sacrificed the more comfortable lifestyle he would have in England. The motto adopted by the trustees was Non sibi sed aliis which is Latin that translates to “Not for self, but for others.” This is a phrase that Oglethorpe embodied in his decision to go to Georgia.

And so it begins

Oglethorpe, along with 114 men, women, and children, boarded the Anne in England and began the 2-month long journey across the Atlantic Ocean in November 1732. These Georgians made their way to South Carolina where they briefly stayed while James Oglethorpe traversed the Savannah River to determine the perfect place to settle. He decided on a place called Yamacraw Bluff at the mouth of the Savannah River where he struck up with the local Yamacraw Chief Tomochichi.

On February 12, 1733 (hence the date as Georgia Day), Oglethorpe returned with the other colonists and landed at Yamacraw Bluff to start the city of Savannah. I won’t bore you with the details about the city or the process of creating the city but it was created and the colony of Georgia was settled.

In Georgia, Oglethorpe and the trustees wanted to make Georgia a society that addressed the social ills of England. Therefore, they limited the amount of land that each colonist could own so as to prevent the rank inequality rampant in England. Also, Oglethorpe for his entire life was staunchly opposed to the practice of slavery and forbid it in the colony of Georgia. For the first 20 years of its existence, Georgia did not allow slavery to exist within its border.

Not only that, Oglethorpe went against the charter of Georgia in many instances and allowed those of other faiths that were being persecuted to settle in Georgia such as Jews and Lutheran Salzbergs. With regard to the Native Americans, Oglethorpe ensured that any land cessations were done through treaties according to Native American customs, not through violence. He also protected the Native Americans from European traders that attempted to take advantage of them. Again I say, he was well ahead of his time.

Oglethorpe was so committed to Georgia that he even mortgaged his property in England in order to raise money to defend Georgia against potential attacks from the Spanish in Florida. Oglethorpe did all of this while not having an official position or title in the new colony due to the limitations laid out in Georgia’s charter. In spite of his most valiant efforts including leading Georgia in battle, Oglethorpe had to leave Georgia and return back to England where he found love, married, and settled. He would never return to Georgia after 1743 and would no longer be a trustee after 1750.

So What?

Why go through the history of James Oglethorpe and Georgia’s founding? Well, it is important to know our history so that we can understand ourselves as people. Also, in a federalist system like ours, we must have a sense of pride for our state or the system will not be able to work. Who cares if the President of the Federal Government accuses our state of committing massive fraud in our election and pressures our elected officials to “find more votes” disregarding the will of the people of Georgia if we don’t have some sense of pride over being a Georgian? But, that’s a whole other newsletter that I am sure I will write in the future.

Ultimately, the point of talking and learning about history is to learn from it. We can learn from the ideals that Oglethorpe espoused and lived so clearly. We can take to heart the trustees’ motto “Not for self, but for others” and seek to live it out every day. People who lived this out, like James Oglethorpe, ought to be celebrated and emulated in our lives not lost to the dust heap of history. So, in that spirit, I say Happy Georgia Day!

God Bless,

Hunter Burnett

1. Jackson, Edwin L. "James Oglethorpe (1696-1785)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 20 July 2020. Web. 08 February 2021. This source is used for all the information in this newsletter.