After the invention of the cotton gin, the progress of the people
and the development of the agriculture of the State went forward very
rapidly. The population began to increase. The movement of families from
Virginia and North Carolina grew constantly larger. In Virginia, and
in settled portions of North Carolina, it was found that the soil
and climate were not favorable to the growth of the cotton plant:
consequently hundreds of families left their homes in these States, and
came to Georgia.
When Oglethorpe settled the Colony, the charter under which he acted
prohibited the introduction and use of negro slaves in the Colony. It
is hard to say at this late day whether this portion of the charter was
dictated by feelings of humanity, especially when we remember that
in those days, and in most of the Colonies, there were many white
people--men, women, and children--employed and used as slaves. From
the very first, many of the Georgia colonists were anxious to introduce
negro slaves, but the trustees firmly refused to allow it. There was a
strong party in favor of introducing negroes, and those who opposed
the movement presently found themselves in a very small and unpopular
minority. By 1748 the excitement over the question had grown so great,
that those colonists who were opposed to negro slavery were compelled to
abandon their position. Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the eloquent preacher, had
already bought and placed negro slaves at his Orphan House at Bethesda,
near Savannah. The colonists had also treated this part of the charter
with contempt. They pretended to hire negroes' homes in South Carolina
for a hundred years, or during life. They paid the "hire" in advance,
the sum being the full value of the slaves. Finally negroes were
bought openly from traders in Savannah. Some of them were seized; but
a majority of the magistrates were in favor of the introduction of
negroes, and they were able to postpone legal decisions from time to
time.
Rev. George Whitefield, whose wonderful eloquence has made his name
famous, and Hon. James Habersham, had great influence with the trustees;
and it was mainly due to their efforts that the colonists were legally
allowed to purchase and use negro slaves. Mr. Habersham affirmed that
the Colony could not prosper without slave labor. Rev. Mr. Whitefield,
on the other hand, was in favor of negro slavery on the broad ground of
philanthropy. He boldly declared that it would be of great advantage
to the African to be brought from his barbarous surroundings and placed
among civilized Christians. When we remember what has happened, who
can deny that the remark of the eloquent preacher was not more to the
purpose, and nearer to the truth, than some of the modern statements
about American slavery? What really happened (as any one may discover by
looking into impartial history) was, that thousands of negroes who had
been captured in battle, and made slaves of in their own country,
were taken from that dark land and brought into the light of Christian
civilization. Their condition, mentally and morally, was so improved,
that, in little more than a century after White-field made his
statement, the government of the United States ventured to make citizens
of them. The contrast between their condition and that of the negroes
who remained in Africa is so startling, that a well-known abolitionist,
writing twenty years after emancipation, has described slavery as a
great university, which the negroes entered as barbarians, and came out
of as Christians and citizens.
The efforts of the Colony to secure a repeal of the act prohibiting
slavery were successful. The trustees in London concluded that it would
be better to permit slavery, with such restrictions and limitations as
might be proper, than to permit the wholesale violations that were then
going on; and so in 1749 the colonists of Georgia were allowed by law to
own and use negro slaves.
Thus, when the cotton gin came fairly into use, slavery had been legally
allowed in Georgia for nearly half a century. The rest of the Colonies
had long enjoyed that privilege. The cotton gin, therefore, had a
twofold effect,--it increased the cotton crop and the value of the
lands, and it also increased the use of negro slaves. The Virginians and
North Carolinians, who came to Georgia, brought their slaves with them;
and the Georgians, as their crops became profitable, laid out their
surplus cash in buying more negroes. The slave trade became very
prosperous, and both Old England and New England devoted a large amount
of capital and enterprise to this branch of commerce.
As the population increased, and the cotton crop became more valuable,
the demand for land became keener. To this fact was due the intense
excitement kindled by the Yazoo Fraud in 1794. The cotton gin had been
introduced the year before, and the people were beginning to see and
appreciate the influence the invention would have on their prosperity.
Instead of selling land to speculators, they wanted to keep it for
themselves and children, or at least to get something like its real
value.
The cotton gin had increased not only the demand for negro slaves, but
also the demand for land; and indirectly it was the cause of the various
troubles the State had with the Indians after the close of the War for
Independence. The troubles with the Indians also led finally to serious
misunderstandings between the United States Government and that of
Georgia. In May, 1796, a treaty was made between the United States and
the Creeks. This treaty created some indignation among the people, and
was denounced as an interference by the General Government with State
affairs. The lands which the Indians ceded to the United States were a
part of the Territory of Georgia, and the transaction gave rise to much
discussion and considerable bad feeling.
In ten years, from 1790 to 1800, the population in Georgia had increased
more than eighty thousand. During the next ten years the increase in the
population was more than ninety thousand. This increase meant a still
greater demand for farm lands. Westward the Territory of Georgia
extended to the Mississippi River. The agitation which began over this
rich possession when the Yazoo Fraud was attempted, was kept up until
1800, when Georgia appointed four of her most prominent citizens to
meet with commissioners appointed by the United States; and settle all
questions that had arisen. The result was, that Georgia ceded to the
General Government all her lands belonging to the State, south of
Tennessee and west of the Chattahoochee River. These lands were to be
sold, and out of the proceeds the State was to receive $1,250,-000. It
was also provided that the United States, at its own expense, should
extinguish the Indian titles to the lands held by the Creeks between
the forks of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers, and that in like manner the
General Government should extinguish the Indian title to all the other
lands within the State of Georgia. Under this agreement, and the Indian
treaty based upon it, nearly all of the lands lying between the Oconee
and Ocmulgee rivers were opened up for occupation and cultivation.
All the Territory of Georgia was looked upon by the people as a public
domain, belonging to the State for distribution among the citizens. The
lands east of the Oconee were divided among the people under the plan
known as the "Head Right System." By this system every citizen was
allowed to choose, and survey to suit himself, a body of unoccupied
land. This done, he received a title called a "head right land warrant,"
which was issued to him when he paid a small fee and a nominal price
for the land. If no one had previously appropriated the same land, the
warrant was his title. But much confusion arose in the distribution of
titles, and serious disputes grew out of it. The poorer sections of land
were neglected, and only the most fertile sections surveyed.
When the lands west of the Oconee were acquired, the clumsy Head Right
System was given up for what is known as the "Land Lottery System." "All
free white males, twenty-one years of age or older, every married man
with children under age, widows with children, and all families of
orphan minors," were allowed to draw in the lottery. Lists of these
persons were made out in each count, and sent to the governor. The
lottery was drawn under the management of five responsible persons. The
tickets to be drawn were marked with the numbers of the land lots, and
these were put into boxes with numerous blanks. Those who were fortunate
enough to draw numbered tickets were entitled to plats and grants of
their lots, signed by the governor.
The lots were not all of the same size. Some contained 202 1/2 acres,
others 490 acres. Twelve months after the drawing was completed, the
fortunate person was required to pay into the State treasury four
dollars for every hundred acres contained in his lot.
Many of those who had the good fortune to draw prizes in the
land-lottery scheme paid the necessary amount of money, and received
titles to their land lots; but many others neglected to pay in the
money, and thus forfeited their titles.
It has been said that the land hunger of the people at this time was
both selfish and sordid; but if we come to look at the matter closely,
selfishness is behind much of the material progress that the world has
made. The selfishness of individuals is not more conspicuous than the
selfishness of communities, commonwealths, and nations. In history we
find the rumseller, the land grabber, and the speculator following
hard upon the heels of the missionary. The selfishness of nations is
frequently given the name of "patriotism," and rightly so, since it is a
movement for the good of all.
When Georgia had fairly begun to recover from the disastrous results of
the War for Independence, the troubles that resulted in the War of 1812
began to make themselves felt. France and England were at war; and the
United States Government tried to remain neutral, giving aid to neither
the one nor the other. But this was not pleasing to either of these
great powers. Both were interested in the trade and commerce of this
country, and both issued orders affecting American affairs. The United
States resented the interference, and protested against it Great
Britain, with an arrogance made bitter by the remembrance of her
humiliating defeat at the hands of a few feeble Colonies, replied to the
American protest, declaring that American ships would still be searched,
and American sailors impressed into the service of the British, wherever
found on the high seas. In 1807 a British man-of-war fired on an
American merchant vessel as it was leaving harbor. Three men were
killed, eighteen wounded, and four sailors seized. This outrage inflamed
the whole country, and in December of that year Congress passed a law
preventing American vessels from leaving their ports to trade with
foreign nations. This law was deeply resented by the New England States,
and they held at Hartford, Conn., the first secession convention that
ever met in this country.
[Illustration: British Impressement of Americans 188]
Georgia was foremost among the States to denounce and resist the
aggressive acts of Great Britain. In 1808 the Legislature sent an
address to the President of the United States, approving the measures he
had taken, and declared that the people of Georgia were strong in their
independence, and proud of their government, and that they would never
wish to see the lives and property of their brethren exposed to the
insult and rapacity of a foreign power; but if the war should come, they
would, in proportion to their number and resources, give zealous aid to
the government of their choice.
The British, meanwhile, made arrangements to force a cotton trade with
Georgia and South Carolina, and for the purpose fitted out a number
of vessels of from ten to fifteen guns each. These vessels were to
be employed in opening the ports of Georgia and Carolina. A war brig
anchored at Tybee, and two of its officers went to Savannah. When they
had made known their purpose, they were peremptorily ordered away. They
returned to their vessel and put to sea; but as they were leaving, they
fired at a pilot boat in the harbor, and committed other outrages.
This incident and others aroused the indignation of the people. The
Legislature passed resolutions, addressed to the President of the
United States, declaring that all hope of a peaceful termination of
the difficulty had been lost, that the duty of the United States was to
maintain its sovereign rights against the despots of Europe, and that
the citizens of Georgia would ever be found in readiness to assert the
rights and support the dignity of the country whenever called on by the
General Government. By the time the treaty of peace was made, the day
before Christmas in 1814, the war spirit in Georgia had been roused
to the highest pitch by the numerous outrages committed by the Indian
allies of the British.
But the story of the Indian troubles belongs to a chapter by itself.