NARRATOR: The colony of Georgia was founded in 1733 just North of Spanish Florida by an English philanthropist named James Oglethorpe.

- James Oglethorpe was a gentleman and a do-gooder in a way. He was interested in the plight of the poor in England.

NARRATOR: Oglethorpe planned the Georgia colony as a haven for survivors of England's harsh debtors prisons.

KAREN ORDAHL KUPPERMAN: The idea was that it would be a place where the English deserving poor could be sent where they would have property of their own, and they could work for themselves.

NARRATOR: Georgia also welcomed soldiers into its settlements because it was under nearly constant attack by the Spanish and by various Indian tribes. Oglethorpe maintained tight control of his colony by banning liquor and denying his colonists the right to assemble. He also banned Catholics fearing they would sympathize with the Spanish. And he banned Africans for fear of insurrection.

It's vulnerable location and harsh restrictions proved unattractive. And Georgia failed to draw many new settlers. To bring people to Georgia, Oglethorpe changed his rules in 1750 and allowed slavery to foster economic growth. A year later the colony was returned to the King. Under English control, Georgia came to resemble aristocratic South Carolina rather than the egalitarian refuge for the poor originally envisioned by Oglethorpe. By 1770, slaves made up more than half its population.