GEOKGIA 725 which received the name of Savannah. Here the settlement was commenced in the spring of 1733. The condition upon which the lands were parcelled out was military duty, and so grievous were the restrictions to which the colonists had to submit that many returned into Carolina, where the lands were held in fee simple. The number of inhabitants in the colony nevertheless continued to increase, con- siderable accessions to its population being received from Germany and Scotland. In 1739 war broke out between Spain and Eng- land, and Gen. Oglethorpe was appointed to the command of the South Carolina and Georgia troops. Having mustered 1,000 men and a number of Indian allies, he invaded Florida, but, failing in an expedition against St. Augustine, returned unsuccessful. In 1742 this invasion was retaliated, and a Spanish fleet of 36 ships and 5,000 men appeared in the Altamaha river, took Fort St. Simon, and were proceeding against Fort Frederica, on St. Simon's island, when from a stratagem conceived by Oglethorpe they became alarmed, retired to their ships, and sailed for Florida. Peace was soon restored ; but restrictions of various kinds, and especially the prohibition of slavery, rendered the people discontented, and many abandoned their settlements, while those who remained with difficulty obtained a scan- ty subsistence. The restrictions upon slavery were removed about 1750, and in 1752, the trustees having surrendered their charter to the crown, Georgia became a royal govern- ment, with privileges and regulations similar to those of the other colonies. The first good effect of the change of government was felt in the establishment of a general assembly in 1755. The limits of the colony to this time were the Savannah on the north and the Altamaha on the south, extending westward to the Pacific. In 1763 all the lands between the Altamaha and St. Mary's were annexed to Georgia by a royal proclamation. From this period the colony made rapid progress ; the rich swamps and lowlands on the rivers were brought into cultivation, and production rapidly increased. At the commencement of the revolution the colonists did not hesitate to make the grievan- ces of their northern brethren their own, and take part in the coming struggle. In July, 1775, a convention gave the sanction of the colony to the measures of congress, and ap- pointed delegates to that body. During the war that ensued Georgia was overrun by Brit- ish troops, and the principal inhabitants were compelled to abandon their homes and fly into the neighboring states. In 1778 Savannah was captured, and in 1779 Augusta and Sunbury. In the latter year an unsuccessful attempt was made by the Americans and French to recap- ture Savannah. Georgia framed its first con- stitution in 1777, a second in 1789, and a third in 1798, which was several times amended. The constitution of the United States was ratified by Georgia on Jan. 2, 1788. After the revolutionary war Georgia suffered on her frontiers from the incursions of the Creeks and Cherokees. In 1790 and 1791 treaties were concluded with the chiefs of those nations. By the treaty of Fort Wilkinson in 1802 the Creeks ceded to the United States a large tract which has since been assigned to Georgia, and now forms the S. W. counties of the state. In the same year Georgia ceded to the United States all its claims to the lands westward of its present limits. Subsequently serious diffi- culty arose between the state and national gov- ernments respecting the Cherokees, which was terminated by the removal of that tribe in 1838 to the Indian territory, when Georgia came into possession of their lands. In the presi- dential election of 1860 the vote of Georgia was 51,889 for Breckenridge, 42,886 for Bell, and 11,590 for Douglas. Immediately after the result became known the legislature (Nov. 18) ordered an election to be held on Jan. 4, 1861, for the choice of delegates to a con- vention to consider the question of withdraw- ing from the Union. This convention, consist- ing of 301 delegates, assembled at Milledgeville on Jan. 16, and on the 19th passed an ordi- nance of secession by a vote of 208 to 89. A proposition to call a congress of the disaffected states, with a view to cooperation, was defeated by a vote of 164 to 133. All the delegates subsequently signed the ordinance except six, who caused an entry to be made in the journal that they acquiesced in the will of the majority. On the 24th 10 delegates were appointed to the congress of the seceded states, to be held at Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 4, and on March 16 the constitution of the Confederate States was unanimously ratified. Ordinances were also passed resuming jurisdiction over places ceded to the United States, and transferring all forts, arsenals, and munitions of war to the confederate government. On Jan. 3, 1861, Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur island at the mouth of the Savannah river, mounting 60 guns, was seized by order of Gov. Brown, and at the same time Fort Jackson, 4 m. below Savannah, was occupied. On the 24th the arsenal at Augusta, containing two 12-pound howitzers, two can- non, about 20,000 small arms, and large stores of ammunition, was taken possession of by 700 state troops under Gov. Brown. Georgia, ex- cept on the coast, was not the theatre of active hostilities until 1864. On Nov. 25, 1861, Com. Du Pont, who had just taken Port Royal, S. C., occupied Big Tybee island at the mouth of the Savannah, and soon after other points com- manding Fort Pulaski were taken possession of, and that fort was reduced, April 11, 1862, by a bombardment from batteries erected on Tybee island. Early in March Com. Du Pont, with a fleet from Port Royal, took possession of St. Mary's, Brunswick, Darien, and St. Si- mon's island, and left a small force at each. On Feb. 28, 1863, the Nashville, a confederate ironclad, was destroyed in the Ogeechee river by Commander Worden ; and on March 3 an
