Transcript THE FIRST COLONISTS COME TO GEORGIA

THE FIRST COLONISTS
COME TO GEORGIA
In late November 1732, James Oglethorpe
and 114 settlers sailed from England on
the ship Anne.
 57 days later the Anne sailed into Charles
Town harbor where Oglethorpe conferred
with South Carolina officials about the new
colony
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The next day they sailed south to Port Royal, the
southernmost outpost. Oglethorpe and some
Carolina rangers sailed south to explore the
Savannah River, Georgia’s northern boundary.
About 18 miles up river Oglethorpe found an
ideal place for a settlement he was told was
called Yamacraw Bluff, and just upstream from
that spot was a small village of Yamacraw
Indians.
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A nearby South Carolina trader and his wife
notified Oglethorpe he would need to receive
permission to settle in the area from Tomochichi,
who was chief of the Yamacraws.
Due to the Yamacraws not being farmers but
hunters they welcomed the new English outpost
because they already had established good
trade with other English settlers
Tomochichi concluded that a nearby
settlement might improve life for his poor
village.
 Oglethorpe then returned to Port Royal to
gather the colonists for the final leg of their
journey.
 On February 12, 1733 the colonists arrived
at Yamacraw Bluff thus officially creating
Georgia.
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GEORGIA’S FIRST SETTLEMENT
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Living in tents the colonists began building
Georgia’s first settlement named Savannah or
the nearby river.
They started by clearing the pine forest located
atop Yamacraw Bluff using only hand tools
sawing them into lumber for houses and
buildings.
After the trees were sawed Noble Jones
surveyed the land that would become
Savannah.
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The town of Savannah was laid out using a
special plan designed in London.
Open spaces called “squares” were one of its
main features with each public square becoming
a kind of neighborhood center.
Just as Savannah was beginning to take shape,
a crisis occurred. The colonists who got their
drinking water from the river started getting sick
with dysentery and other diseases.
In April, their only doctor died and during
the next 10 month one in four colonists
died.
 Thankfully the problem improved once a
town well was dug.
 Savannah began to replace the lost life
with new colonists. Among the first group
were 40 Jews who had been displaced
from Portugal and Spain.
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Other immigrants included Italian silk
producers, Lutheran Salzburgers,
Germans, Swiss and other nationalities.
These were in addition to the English who
came on charity or paid their own way.
 By the end of the first year, Savannah had
more than 50 houses as well as several
public buildings.
 Oglethorpe however continued to live in a
tent, insisting that all colonists be housed
first.
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