Georgia

The King of England gave James Oglethorpe a charter to begin the new Georgia colony. The land was originally part of the Carolina colony that had not been settled. In 1733, James Oglethorpe and 114 settlers began a
settlement at the mouth of the Savannah River. They called the first settlement Savannah.

James Oglethorpe thought he could bring debtors to his colony to settle the land. Debtors were people who were put in debtors' prison for owing money. Oglethorpe offered each debtor who went to his colony 50 acres of land. Oglethorpe thought that people would want to better themselves and get out of prison. His idea didn't work.

People in England knew most settlers died in the colonies. A settler could starve to death, die of hard work, or be killed in an Indian war. Oglethorpe learned that debtors would rather stay in prison than move to Georgia.

In the beginning, Georgia law did not allow slaves to be brought in as workers for the plantations. After 1750, Georgia changed its law to allow slavery. Then plantations began to develop in Georgia.