James Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe (
22 December 1696 -
30 June 1785) was an
English general, a
philanthropist, and a founder of the state of
Georgia.
He was born in
London, the son of
Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe (
1650-
1702) of Westbrook Place,
Godalming.
He entered
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in
1714, but in the same year joined the army of
Prince Eugene of Savoy. Through the recommendation of
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, he became
aide-de-camp to the prince, and he served with distinction in the campaign against the
Turks,
1716-17, more especially at the siege and capture of
Belgrade. After his return to England, he was elected as member of parliament for
Haslemere in
1722. He campaigned for the improvement of the circumstances of poor
debtors in London prisons. For the purpose of providing a refuge for persons who had become insolvent and for oppressed
Protestants on the continent, he proposed the settlement of a
colony in America between Carolina and
Florida. He laid the groundwork for the colonization of the state, proposing that it be colonized with debtors released from the abominable conditions of England's
debtor's prisons.
Oglethorpe sailed for
Charleston, South Carolina on the ship
Anne, arriving in
1732, and settled near the present site of
Savannah, Georgia. He negotiated with the
Creek tribe for land and established a series of defensive forts. He then returned to England and arranged to have
slavery banned in Georgia. Oglethorpe and his fellow trustees were granted a
royal charter for the
Province of Georgia between the
Savannah and
Altamaha rivers on
June 9,
1732. [
1]
At that time, tension between
Spain and
England was high, and there was a fear among the English that the Spanish colony of
Florida was threatening the British
Province of South Carolina. Georgia was a key contested area, lying in between the two colonies. It was Oglethorpe's idea that British debtors should be released from prison and sent to Georgia. This would theoretically rid England of its undesirable elements, while providing her with a base from which to attack Florida. Ultimately, few debtors ended up in Georgia. Instead, many of Georgia's new settlers consisted of poor English tradesmen and artisans and religious refugees from
Switzerland and
Germany.
Owing to the colony's primary role as a military buffer between English and Spanish-held territories, the original model for the colonization of Georgia excluded the use of slave labor, fearing that slaves could internally weaken the colony and perhaps defect to the Spanish. The banning of slavery inadvertently resulted in a deficit in the work force that limited Georgia's early economic growth. Many settlers began to oppose Oglethorpe and regarded him as "[their] perpetual dictator." Many new settlers soon set their eyes on
South Carolina as a less restrictive and, they hoped, a more profitable place to settle. In 1750, after a series of political and military defeats, Oglethorpe lost his will to oppose slavery and the ban was lifted.
In
1739, during the
War of Jenkins' Ear, fought between English Georgia and Spanish Florida as part of a larger conflict, the
War of Austrian Succession, Oglethorpe was responsible for a number of successful raids on Spanish forts, as well as the unsuccessful siege of
St. Augustine. Among his most valuable Indian allies in this siege was Ahaya the
Cowkeeper, leader of the Alachua band of the Seminole tribe.
In
1745, Oglethorpe was promoted to the rank of
major-general. His conduct in connection with the
Jacobite Rising of that year resulted in his
court-martial, but he was acquitted. In
1765, he was raised to the rank of general. He died at Cranham Hall,
Essex.
Oglethorpe is the namesake of a character in the TV show
Aqua Teen Hunger Force*
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIALS OF JAMES OGLETHORPE, by Thaddeus Mason Harris, 1841.
(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)*
THE DIARY OF VISCOUNT PERCIVAL, (Manuscripts of the Earl of Egmont, a contemporary of Oglethorpe).
(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)James Edward Oglethorpe by Joyce Blackburn; 1994 reprint ISBN 0891769951.
James Oglethorpe: Humantarian and Soldier by Arthut Meier Schlesinger and Cookie Lommell;
(a short biography for young readers); 2000, Chelsea House, ISBN 0791059634.
Oglethorpe in Perspective: Georgia's Founder After Two Hundred Years by Phinizy Spalding; 1989, University of Alabama Press, ISBN 0817303863.
