James Oglethorpe Founder of Georgia

James Oglethorpe Born Dec 22, 1696 in London, England Feb 1, 1733 Oglethorpe and fellow settlers arrive at the site of modern day Savannah. Died June 30, 1785 in Cranham Hall, England

Life in England In 1714, Oglethorpe was admitted to Corpus Christi College at Oxford University. 1722- He ran for Parliament and won. He occupied a seat in the House of Commons.

Need for Change In 1729 Oglethorpe’s life changed. A close friend of his, Robert Castell, was put in London’s Fleet Prison because of his debts. Prisoners were required to pay fees for decent room and board, but his friend was unable to pay. Castell died while in prison from a disease. This led Oglethorpe to launch a national campaign to reform England’s prisons.

Prisons After Oglethorpe investigated the prisons, steps were taken to reform the prisons. However, prison reform did not change that debtors were put in jail for the lack of money. Oglethorpe with the help of John Lord Viscount Percival and others started to explore the chances of creating a new colony in America.

Georgia’s Founding In 1732, King George II granted Oglethorpe a charter to colonize land located south of the South Carolina colony. However, Spain and Britain both claimed the land, nut neither had people living there at the time.

First Settlement Oglethorpe arrived on Savannah’s coast on February 12, 1733 and after receiving permission from Tomochichi, he built the first settlement of Savannah. He established good relations with Native Americans and bought the land for Savannah from them. Oglethorpe named the new colony after King George II. Oglethorpe was in Georgia from 1733-1736. He was give the rank of colonel and an army to defend the colony from Spain.

Invasion of the New Colony War broke out between Spain and Britain in 1739. Oglethorpe planned to protect Georgia from the Spanish forces in Florida, so he led an attack on St. Augustine, but failed to capture it. In 1742, Spanish forces retaliate and Oglethorpe fought back a Spanish invasion on Fort Federica. This battle came to be known as the Battle of Bloody Marsh. Oglethorpe was then promoted to brigadier general in the British Army. Oglethorpe then returned to England in 1743.

Return to Britain When Oglethorpe returned to Britain he again served in Parliament for 32 years, married Elizabeth Wright in September 1744, and settled at Cranham Hall. In 1753 Georgia’s charter expired and control switched to the king. Oglethorpe enjoyed seeing his colony become part of the United States of America in 1776.

Georgians still remember Oglethorpe Oglethorpe’s presence in our state is still here. Oglethorpe County was named after him, so were two towns; Oglethorpe and Oglethorpe University. Also there are many schools, streets, parks, and business name after the founder of Georgia.

Remember: Oglethorpe Oglethorpe started our colony because he believed that debtors needed a better place to live than the jails in London. Georgia gave them an opportunity to strive to have a better life. Oglethorpe was a caring man that changed the lives of many others by his actions.

References http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/people/oglethorpe.html http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/oglethorpe.htm http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/biographies/oglethorpe/ http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1058&sug=y