Georgia as a Royal Colony
After the victory against Spain, Oglethorpe returned to answer charges about the failure of the St. Augustine War, which was a war when GA lost to Spain. He was free of charges, but he never went back to England. When he stayed in England, he married to a women in 1744. He never returned to GA. Without Oglethorpe to lead them, GA failed. After Oglethorpe left, William Stephens became the president of the GA colony. Soon, all of the regulations that GA banned, soon were allowed, since the trustees stopped caring. IN 1742, rum/alcohol started to get sold. In 1750, slavery was legalized. After Stephens retired, Henry Parker took his place, but died a year later. Then for the next 3 years, GA was led by Patrick Graham. Then soon the British parliament decided not to waste anymore money on GA. in 1752, GA was given back to King George because the trustees couldn't keep up with GA anymore. GA became a royal colony, even though there was still a year left in the charter.
Impact of Royal Governors Over the time that Georgia was a royal colony, there were 3 governors: John Reynolds, Henry Ellis, and James Wright. They all made a big impact on GA.
John Reynolds was the first governor of GA. He was welcomed by most colonist on October 29, 1754. He was an unexperienced naval officer, who didn't have the skills needed to preform the job. He was asked to be removed by the colonist from his harsh and cold attitude. He was known to be an ineffective leader, and was also very unpopular, with both the colonist and the natives. He was removed from office by the King on 1756. The Next GA governor was Henry Ellis. He had important characteristics that Reynolds didn't have. He encouraged self-governing. He is remembered for his friendliness towards the natives, and the colonist also favored him quiet a lot. He was able to restore the colony from Reynolds rule, set up a bicameral government, and let the colonist have more of a say in their government too. The last royal governor was James Wright. He was the most powerful, popular, and effective leader out of all the leaders. He first helped the size of GA increase after the French and Indian war, and he also won territory from the French, causing to improve the economy and allow slavery and land ownership. He was the last governor before the Revolutionary War. |