WESTWARD EXPANSION 1 Growth & Prosperity After the American Revolution

Colonies  States 2 You know how the 13 original colonies were established. Americans fought the British for Freedom and became the United States of America. The 13 original states. Where did the rest come from?

Proclamation of King George III restricts settlement past the Appalachian Mountains to preserve peace with the Native Americans. Once American won her independence, this was no longer recognized and settlers wanted to travel West on Wagon trails.

Settlers Move West 4 Wagons could not be pulled over the Mountains. Settlers had to use wagon roads; Philadelphia Wagon Train. Settlers discover Cumberland Gap, an old Indian Passage through the Appalachian mountains. Settlement to the West continued.

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State Encourages Population Growth 6 A growing population means more representation in the Congress = giving GA a greater influence in National government. New Settlers would turn forests into farms helping GA’s agricultural economy to grow.

Georgia’s Capital Moves 7 To stay in the center of the State’s population, GA’s capital city moves five times!

Summarize 8 Explain WHY did Georgia State officials encourage new settlement after the Revolutionary War; what did they want the population growth for?

Education in GA 9 In the minds of many Georgians, education was best left to individuals rather than the government to teach. Three major factors kept basic public education a low priority for Antebellum Georgians. 1. The need for children to work in fields 2. The wide distribution of population 3. Poor conditions of roads

Despite low availability of public education, higher education became a priority.  In 1785, the General Assembly had charted the University of GA – the nation’s first state chartered university.  The Medical College of GA was established in 1828 in Augusta.  One of the first women’s colleges in the country was the Georgia Female College, later called Wesleyan Female College. 10 Colleges & Universities

Georgia’s Capital Moves 11 To stay in the center of the State’s population, GA’s capital city moves five times!

The Great Revival 12 The “Great Revival” affected Georgians & church membership Through camp meetings and revivals, thousands of Georgians were converted. Church membership increased. New Baptist and Methodist churches were established Black Churches established: The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) & African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion)

Slavery divides New Churches Baptists and Methodists in the South split from the Baptists and the Methodists in the North over the issues of Slavery. By the 1830’s Slavery was being defended by Southern preachers. 13

Yazoo Land Fraud Largest political scandal in GA History. Georgia Legislators were bribed to illegally sell millions of acres to land speculators. Many people purchased land from speculators and never received the land because the whole land deal was illegal. 14

Georgia After Yazoo Land Fraud Georgia had land claims to the Mississippi River. Native Americans lived on this land. After the Yazoo Land Fraud, GA gave up this land to the US Government in exchange for the Government promising to remove all remaining Native Americans from Georgia. 15

Georgia’s Land Lottery After the Yazoo Land Fraud, GA was desperate to get settlers to come to GA. The State held a Land Lottery in it’s capital of Milledgeville. Georgia’s capital had moved twice by this time. 16

Georgia’s Land Lottery White Males; 21 years of age; lived in GA for a year; and was a US Citizen. Men who had a wife & child got 2 chances to draw for land. Widows and Orphans had a chance to draw as well. 17

Louisiana Purchase Most of the USA was obtained through the Louisiana Purchase in Purchased from France for $15,000, ,000 square miles. Largest real estate deal in US History. 18

19 GA legislators are bribed to sell land to land speculators for CHEAP - Yazoo Land Act 1795 GA Citizens ANGRY about bribery. They vote the legislators out of office & elect new legislators who repeal the Yazoo Land Act of Other GA citizens had bought land from the speculators - they never got their land or their money back. Those GA citizens sued the state of Georgia. The cause went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the citizens should be repaid by the state of GA since it was the legislators/state fault for the whole mess. State of GA gave up the Yazoo lands to the U.S. Government. Citizens were repaid the money they spent on the land by the State.

New Technologies Steamboats and railroads brought faster and cheaper transportation. New machines helped create the factory system. Cotton gin, corn harvester and mechanical reaper increased agricultural production. 20

Importance of Waterways Waterways were the first North -> South transportation routes. Important waterways were inland “highways” for transportation to and from the frontier. These waterways also served as trading paths; thus creating towns. 21

Importance of Waterways Factories were powered by water (hydro electric power) so factories were built along rivers. Towns developed around those factories. 22

Growth and Transportation Steamboats ROADS Provided a fast and efficient way to transport large quantities of cotton downstream and could return upstream with supplies for the frontier. Georgia’s first Road Law of 1775 – All males between 16 – 60 had to work on the roads for 12 days a year 23

Railroads come to GA Cotton marketing towns, such as Athens and Forsyth, were far from navigable river – shipping cotton by wagon over rough dirt roads was slow and expensive. Also sometimes rivers became too shallow for riverboats. 24

Atlanta – “The Gate City” By 1860, Atlanta was a major rail center of the Deep South. It was the main link between the Atlantic seaboard and the Mid-West; therefore, the name Gate City 25

Planned Cities & University The State wanted orderly growth. They wanted attractive, healthy places to live as well as attractive commercial cities. Cities such as Milledgeville, Athens, Macon and Columbus were all planned cities. 26