Colonial Period

The territory included in Georgia was first claimed by the Spanish. Juan Ponce de León may have reached the coast as early as 1513. Hernando de Soto explored the interior during his 1540 expedition. In 1566, Spanish soldiers from Florida, under the leadership of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, established a fort on St. Catherines Island. Later, Franciscan priests were sent from Spain to found missions along the coast; the first was built on Cumberland Island in 1566. In 1663, England also laid claim to the territory. The Spanish abandoned the region in the late 17th century because of raids by Indians, French and English pirates, and English settlers from the Carolinas.

The first English settlement in the territory, Fort King George, was built at the mouth of the Altamaha River in 1721. In 1732, King George II signed a charter giving James Edward Oglethorpe, an English philanthropist, and his business associates control over the land lying between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers. The following year, Oglethorpe brought more than 100 settlers from Britain to establish a colony at Yamacraw Bluff (the site of what is now Savannah). Oglethorpe's motive was to establish a haven for the poor and persecuted, while his backers were interested in Georgia's economic potential. The British government supported colonization in order to discourage the Spanish from reentering the area. In 1735 Augusta was founded.

During the War of Jenkins' Ear, which began in 1739, the Georgia-Florida border was the scene of clashes between the British and Spanish. Oglethorpe, who had been named commander-in-chief of British forces in South Carolina and Georgia, led the fight against the Spanish. In 1742, the Spaniards were defeated at the battle of Bloody Marsh. Soon after, Oglethorpe returned permanently to England, and the colony made a transition from the military government that originally had been established to a civil government.

The colonists who settled in Georgia were predominantly poor people from Great Britain and Protestants from the Continent who had fled religious persecution. At first slavery was prohibited, but the restriction was lifted in 1749 to increase the number of agricultural laborers. The trustees who financed the settlement expected to make money from the production of silk, wine, and spices to be sold in England. Georgia did not prosper however, because the attempt to produce silk and wine was a failure. Although some 4,000 settlers had been brought to Georgia following 1732, only about 2,000 whites and 1,000 blacks remained in the colony in 1750.

Considering the venture unsuccessful, the trustees gave up their charter and the colony to King George in 1752. In 1754, Georgia became a royal province under control of the British government, with a governor, a council, and an elected house of commons. Savannah was named the capital. Eventually, the colonists began growing crops more suitable to the region, such as rice, indigo, and wheat, and making wood products. Georgia's economy flourished. New land was acquired through cession from the Creeks and Cherokees, and population increased dramatically, reaching about 50,000 (almost half slaves) on the eve of the Revolutionary War.