Based on Britain’s mercantilist policies during Georgia’s colonial period, which of the following TWO were MOST LIKELY believed by British settlers at the time of Georgia’s founding? (Choose the two correct answers.)
Answers
Answer:
In the 1730s, England founded the last of its colonies in North America. The project was the brain child of James Oglethorpe, a former army officer. After Oglethorpe left the army, he devoted himself to helping the poor and debt-ridden people of London, whom he suggested settling in America. His choice of Georgia, named for the new King, was also motivated by the idea of creating a defensive buffer for South Carolina, an increasingly important colony with many potential enemies close by. These enemies included the Spanish in Florida, the French in Louisiana and along the Mississippi River, and these powers' Indian allies throughout the region.
Explanation:
Twenty trustees received funding from Parliament and a charter from the King, issued in June 1732. The charter granted the trustees the powers of a corporation; they could elect their own governing body, make land grants, and enact their own laws and taxes. Since the corporation was a charitable body, none of the trustees could receive any land from, or hold a paid position in, the corporation. Too, since the undertaking was designed to benefit the poor, the trustees placed a 500-acre limit on the size of individual land holdings. People who had received charity and who had not purchased their own land could not sell, or borrow money against, it. The trustees wanted to avoid the situation in South Carolina, which had very large plantations and extreme gaps between the wealthy and the poor.
The undertaking was paternalistic through and through. For example, the trustees did not trust the colonists to make their own laws. They therefore did not establish a representative assembly, although every other mainland colony had one. The trustees made all laws for the colony. Second, the settlements were laid out in compact, confined, and concentrated townships. In part, this arrangement was instituted to enhance the colony's defenses, but social control was another consideration. Third, the trustees prohibited the import and manufacture of rum, for rum would lead to idleness. Finally, the trustees prohibited Negro slavery, for they believed that this ban would encourage the settlement of "English and Christian" people.
Georgia's first year, 1733, went well enough, as settlers began to clear the land, build houses, and construct fortifications.