Province of Georgia - Development

Development

The Privy Council finalized the document on June 9, 1732, and the council of trustees governed the province, with the aid of annual subsidies from Parliament, for the next two decades. However, after many difficulties and the departure of Oglethorpe, the trustees proved unable to manage the proprietary colony and on June 23, 1752, the trustees submitted a deed of reconveyance to the crown, one year before the expiration of the charter. On January 7, 1755, Georgia officially ceased to be a trustee colony (penal colony to be exact) and became a crown colony.

From 1732 until 1758, the minor civil divisions were districts and towns. In 1758, the province of Georgia was divided into eight parishes, plus another four added in 1765; in 1777, the original eight counties of the State of Georgia were created.

In practice, settlement in the colony was limited to the near vicinity of the Savannah River. The western area of the colony remained under the control of the Creek Indian Confederation until after the American Revolutionary War.

In the beginning, the colony had a slow start. James Oglethorpe would not allow liquor and colonists weren't allowed to own more than 50 acres (0.20 km2) of land. People were starting to get upset, so Oglethorpe finally bent the rules and the colony started to grow much faster. Slavery had been permitted from 1749. There was some internal opposition, particularly from Scots settlers. But by the time of the War of Independence, Georgia was much like the rest of the South.

On April 24, 1802, Georgia handed over to Congress parts of their western territories. These became the Mississippi Territory and later (with other adjoining lands) the states of Alabama and Mississippi.