James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe (December 22, 1696 – June 30, 1785) was a British general, a philanthropist, and was the founder of the colony of Georgia. He was born in London, the son of Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe (1650-1702) of Westbrook Place, Godalming in the county of Surrey. A social reformer in England, he hoped to resettle England's poor, especially those in debtor's prison, in the New World.

History

He entered Corpus Christi College, in 1714, but in the same year joined the army of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Through the recommendation of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, he became aide-de-camp to the prince, and he served with distinction in the campaign against the Turks, 1716-17, more especially at the siege and capture of Belgrade. After his return to England, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Haslemere in 1722. He campaigned for the improvement of the circumstances of poor debtors in London prisons. For the purpose of providing a refuge for persons who had become insolvent and for oppressed Protestants on the continent, he proposed the settlement of a colony in America between Carolina and Florida. Oglethorpe sailed for 88 days, arriving in Charleston, South Carolina on the ship "Anne", in late 1732, and settled near the present site of Savannah, Georgia on February 12, 1733. He negotiated with the Creek tribe for land and established a series of defensive forts, most notably Fort Frederica, of which substantial remains can still be visited. He then returned to England and arranged to have slavery banned in Georgia. Oglethorpe and his fellow trustees were granted a Royal Charter for the Province of Georgia between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers on June 9, 1732. [ [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ga01.htm The Avalon Project : Charter of Georgia : 1732 ] ] Georgia was a key contested area, lying in between the two colonies. It was Oglethorpe's idea that British debtors should be released from prison and sent to Georgia. Although it is often repeated that this would theoretically rid England of its so-called undesirable elements, in fact it was England's "worthy poor" whom Oglethorpe wanted in Georgia. Ultimately, few debtors ended up in Georgia, the colonists included many Scots whose pioneering skills greatly assisted the colony, and many of Georgia's new settlers consisted of poor English tradesmen and artisans and religious refugees from Switzerland and Germany.

On February 21, 1734 Oglethorpe established the first Masonic Lodge within the British Colony of Georgia.Fact|date=October 2008 Now known as Solomon's Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M. it is the "Oldest Continuously Operating English Constituted Lodge of Freemasons in the Western Hemisphere." For a period in 1736 Oglethorpe's secretary was Charles Wesley, later famous as a founder of Methodism.

Owing to the colony's primary role as a military buffer between English and Spanish-held territories, the original model for the colonisation of Georgia excluded the use of slave labour, fearing that runaway slaves could internally weaken the colony and assist the enemy at St.Augustine. But, instead of slaves defecting southwards to the Spanish, runaways from the Carolinas found refuge in Georgia, thus irritating its northern neighbour. The banning of slavery also reduced the work force, and this was felt to be a constraint on Georgia's early economic growth. Many settlers thus began to oppose Oglethorpe, regarding him as misguided and " [their] perpetual dictator." Many new settlers soon set their eyes on South Carolina as a less restrictive and, they hoped, a more profitable place to settle. In 1750, after Oglethorpe had left the colony, the ban was lifted.

In 1739, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, fought between English Georgia and Spanish Florida as part of a larger conflict, the War of Austrian Succession, Oglethorpe was responsible for a number of successful raids on Spanish forts, as well as the unsuccessful siege of St. Augustine. Among his most valuable Indian allies in this siege was Mary Musgrove. Her Indian name was Coosaponakeesa (lovely fawn) and she was married to John Musgrove, a trader. She was born in 1700 in the Creek town of Coweta, Alabama

In 1745, Oglethorpe was promoted to the rank of major-general. His conduct in connection with the Jacobite Rising of that year resulted in his court-martial, but he was acquitted. In 1765, he was raised to the rank of general. He died at Cranham Hall, Cranham, England.

See also

* Fort Frederica National Monument
* Battle of Bloody Marsh

References

External links

* [http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/James_Oglethorpe James Oglethorpe Timeline]
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1058&sug=y The New Georgia Encyclopedia]