Part 9

There was similar conflict in the relation of the United States and Georgia with the Cherokees. In 1785 the Cherokees of Georgia placed themselves under the protection of the Federal government, and in 1823 their chiefs, who were mostly half-breeds, declared: "It is the fixed and unalterable determination of this nation never again to cede one foot more of land," and that they could not "recognize the sovereignty of any state within the limits of their territory"; in 1827 they framed a constitution and organized a representative government. President Monroe and President J.Q. Adams treated the Cherokees with the courtesy due to a sovereign nation, and held that the United States had done all that was required to meet the obligation assumed in 1802. The Georgia legislature, however, contended that the United States had not acted in good faith, declared that all land within the boundaries of the state belonged to Georgia, and in 1828 extended the jurisdiction of Georgia law to the Cherokee lands. Then President Jackson, holding that Georgia was in the right on the Indian question, informed the Cherokees that their only alternative to submission to Georgia was emigration. Thereupon the chiefs resorted to the United States Supreme Court, which in 1832 declared that the Cherokees formed a distinct community "in which the laws of Georgia have no force," and annulled the decision of a Georgia court that had extended its jurisdiction into the Cherokee country (_Worcester_ v. _Georgia_). But the governor of Georgia declared that the decision was an attempt at usurpation which would meet with determined resistance, and President Jackson refused to enforce the decree. The President did, however, work for the removal of the Indians, which was effected in 1838.

On account of these conflicts a majority of Georgians adopted the principles of the Democratic-Republican party, and early in the 19th century the people were virtually unanimous in their political ideas. Local partisanship centred in two factions: one, led by George M. Troup, which represented the interests of the aristocratic and slave-holding communities; the other, formed by John Clarke (1766-1832) and his brother Elijah, found support among the non-slave-holders and the frontiersmen. The cleavage of these factions was at first purely personal; but by 1832 it had become one of principle. Then the Troup faction under the name of States Rights party, endorsed the nullification policy of South Carolina, while the Clarke faction, calling itself a Union party, opposed South Carolina's conduct, but on the grounds of expediency rather than of principle. On account, however, of its opposition to President Jackson's attitude toward nullification, the States Rights party affiliated with the new Whig party, which represented the national feeling in the South, while the Union party was merged into the Democratic party, which emphasized the sovereignty of the states.

The activity of Georgia in the slavery controversy was important. As early as 1835 the legislature adopted a resolution which asserted the legality of slavery in the Territories, a principle adopted by Congress in the Kansas Bill in 1854, and in 1847 ex-Governor Wilson Lumpkin (1783-1870) advocated the organization of the Southern states to resist the aggression of the North. Popular opinion at first opposed the Compromise of 1850, and some politicians demanded immediate secession from the Union; and the legislature had approved the Alabama Platform of 1848. But Congressmen Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, Whigs, and Howell Cobb, a Democrat, upon their return from Washington, contended that the Compromise was a great victory for the South, and in a campaign on this issue secured the election of such delegates to the state convention (at Milledgeville) of 1850 that that body adopted on the 10th of December, by a vote of 237 to 19, a series of conciliatory resolutions, since known as the "Georgia Platform," which declared in substance: (1) that, although the state did not wholly approve of the Compromise, it would "abide by it as a permanent adjustment of this sectional controversy," to preserve the Union, as the thirteen original colonies had found compromise necessary for its formation; (2) that the state "will and ought to resist, even (as a last resort) to the disruption of every tie that binds her to the Union," any attempt to prohibit slavery in the Territories or a refusal to admit a slave state. The adoption of this platform was accompanied by a party reorganization, those who approved it organizing the Constitutional Union party, and those who disapproved, mostly Democrats, organizing the Southern Rights party; the approval in other states of the Georgia Platform in preference to the Alabama Platform (see ALABAMA) caused a reaction in the South against secession. The reaction was followed for a short interval by a return to approximately the former party alignment, but in 1854 the rank and file of the Whigs joined the American or Know-Nothing party while most of the Whig leaders went over to the Democrats. The Know-Nothing party was nearly destroyed by its crushing defeat in 1856 and in the next year the Democrats by a large majority elected for governor Joseph Emerson Brown (1821-1894) who by three successive re-elections was continued in that office until the close of the Civil War. Although Governor Brown represented the poorer class of white citizens he had taken a course in law at Yale College, had practised law, and at the time of his election was judge of a superior court; although he had never held slaves he believed that the abolition of slavery would soon result in the ruin of the South, and he was a man of strong convictions. The Kansas question and the attitude of the North toward the decision in the Dred Scott case were arousing the South when he was inaugurated the first time, and in his inaugural address he clearly indicated that he would favour secession in the event of any further encroachment on the part of the North. In July 1859 Senator Alfred Iverson (1798-1874) declared that in the event of the election of a Free-Soil resident in 1860 he would favour the establishment of an independent confederacy; later in the same year Governor Brown expressed himself to a similar effect and urged the improvement of the military service. On the 7th of November following the election of President Lincoln the governor, in a special message to the legislature, recommended the calling of a convention to decide the question of secession, and Alexander H. Stephens was about the only prominent political leader who contended that Lincoln's election was insufficient ground for such action. On the 17th of November the legislature passed an act directing the governor to order an election of delegates on the 2nd of January 1861 and their meeting in a convention on the 16th. On the 19th this body passed an ordinance of secession by a vote of 208 to 89. Already the first regiment of Georgia Volunteers, under Colonel Alexander Lawton (1818-1896) had seized Fort Pulaski at the mouth of the Savannah river and now Governor Brown proceeded to Augusta and seized the Federal arsenal there. Toward the close of the same year, however, Federal warships blockaded Georgia's ports, and early in 1862 Federal forces captured Tybee Island, Fort Pulaski, St Mary's, Brunswick and St Simon Island. Georgia had responded freely to the call for volunteers, but when the Confederate Congress had passed, in April 1862, the Conscript Law which required all white men (except those legally exempted from service) between the ages of 18 and 35 to enter the Confederate service, Governor Brown, in a correspondence with President Davis which was continued for several months, offered serious objections, his leading contentions being that the measure was unnecessary as to Georgia, unconstitutional, subversive of the state's sovereignty, and therefore "at war with the principles for the support of which Georgia entered into this revolution."

In 1863 north-west Georgia was involved in the Chattanooga campaign. In the following spring Georgia was invaded from Tennessee by a Federal army under General William T. Sherman; the resistance of General Joseph E. Johnston and General J.B. Hood proved ineffectual; and on the 1st of September Atlanta was taken. Then Sherman began his famous "march to the sea," from Atlanta to Savannah, which revealed the weakness of the Confederacy. In the spring of 1865, General J.H. Wilson with a body of cavalry entered the state from Alabama, seized Columbus and West Point on the 16th of April, and on the 10th of May captured Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, at Irwinville in Irwin county.

In accord with President Andrew Johnson's plan for reorganizing the Southern States, a provisional governor, James Johnson, was appointed on the 17th of June 1865, and a state convention reformed the constitution to meet the new conditions, rescinding the ordinance of secession, abolishing slavery and formally repudiating the state debt incurred in the prosecution of the war. A governor and legislature were elected in November 1865, the legislature ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on the 9th of December and five days later the governor-elect was inaugurated. But both the convention and legislature incurred the suspicion and ill-will of Congress; the convention had congratulated the president on his policy, memorialized him on behalf of Jefferson Davis, and provided pensions for disabled Confederate soldiers and the widows of those who had lost their lives during the war, while the legislature passed apprenticeship, labour and vagrancy laws to protect and regulate the negroes, and rejected the Fourteenth Amendment. Although the civil rights were conferred upon the freedmen, Congress would not tolerate the political incapacity and social inferiority which the legislature had assigned to them, and therefore Georgia was placed under military government, as part of the third military district, by the Reconstruction Act of the 2nd of March 1867. Under the auspices of the military authorities registration of electors for a new state convention was begun and 95,168 negroes and 96,333 whites were registered. The acceptance of the proposition to call the convention and the election of many conscientious and intelligent delegates were largely due to the influence of ex-Governor Brown, who was strongly convinced that the wisest course for the South was to accept quickly what Congress had offered. The convention met in Atlanta on the 9th of December 1867 and by March 1868 had revised the constitution to meet the requirements of the Reconstruction Acts. The constitution was duly adopted by popular vote, and elections were held for the choice of a governor and legislature. Rufus Brown Bullock (b. 1834), Republican, was chosen governor, the Senate had a majority of Republicans, but in the House of Representatives a tie vote was cast for the election of a speaker. On the 21st of July the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, and a section of the state constitution (which denied the power of state courts to entertain against any resident of the state suits founded on contracts existing on the 15th of June 1865) was repealed by the legislature in pursuance of the congressional "Omnibus Bill" of the 25th of June 1868, and as evidence of the restoration of Georgia to the Union the congressmen were seated on the 25th of July in that year.

But in September of the same year the Democrats in the state legislature, being assisted by some of the white Republicans, expelled the 27 negro members and seated their defeated white contestants, relying upon the legal theory that the right to hold office belonged only to those citizens designated by statute, the common law or custom. In retaliation the 41st Congress excluded the state's representatives on a technicality, and, on the theory that the government of Georgia was a provisional organization, passed an act requiring the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment before the admission of Georgia's senators and representatives. The war department now concluded that the state was still subject to military authority, and placed General A.H. Terry in command. With his aid, and that of Congressional requirements that all members of the legislature must take the Test Oath and none be excluded on account of colour, a Republican majority was secured for both houses, and the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified. Georgia was now finally admitted to the Union by Act of Congress, on the 15th of July 1870.

The Reconstruction period in Georgia is remarkable for its comparative moderation. Although there was great political excitement, there was not as much extravagance in public administration as there was in other Southern States, the state debt increasing approximately from $6,600,000 to $16,000,000. The explanation lies in the fact that there were comparatively few "carpet-baggers" or adventurers in the state, and that a large number of conservative citizens, under the leadership of ex-Governor Brown, supported the Reconstruction policy of Congress and joined the Republican party.

The election of 1871 gave the Democrats a majority in the legislature; Governor Bullock, fearing impeachment, resigned, and at a special election James M. Smith was chosen to fill the unexpired term. After that the control of the Democrats was complete. In 1891 the Populist party was organized, but it never succeeded in securing a majority of the votes in the state.

LIST OF GOVERNORS

I. _Administration of the Trustees._

James Edward Oglethorpe[8] 1732-1743 William Stephens[9] 1743-1751 Henry Parker[9] 1751-1753 Patrick Graham[9] 1753-1754

II. _Royal Administration._

John Reynolds 1754-1757 Henry Ellis 1757-1760 Sir James Wright 1760-1782

III. _Provincial Administration._

William Ewen[10] 1775 Archibald Bulloch[11] 1776 Button Gwinnett[11] 1777 Jonathan Bryan[11] 1777

IV. _Georgia as a State._

John A. Treutlen[12] 1777-1778 John Houston 1778-1779 John Wereat[13] 1779 George Walton 1779-1780 Richard Hawley 1780 Stephen Heard[13] 1780-1781 Myrick Davies[13] 1781 Nathan Brownson 1781-1782 John Martin 1782-1783 Lyman Hall 1783-1785 Samuel Elbert 1785-1786 Edward Telfair 1786-1787 George Matthews 1787-1788 George Handley 1788-1789 George Walton 1789-1790 Democratic-Republican Edward Telfair 1790-1793 " " George Matthews 1793-1796 " " Jared Irwin 1796-1798 " " James Jackson 1798-1801 " " David Emanuel 1801 " " Josiah Tattnall 1801-1802 " " John Milledge 1802-1806 " " Jared Irwin 1806-1809 " " David B. Mitchell 1809-1813 " " Peter Early 1813-1815 " " David B. Mitchell 1815-1817 " " William Rabun[14] 1817-1819 " " Matthew Talbot[14] 1819 " " John Clarke 1819-1823 " " George M. Troup 1823-1827 " " John Forsyth 1827-1829 " " George R. Gilmer 1829-1831 National Republican Wilson Lumpkin 1831-1835 Democratic-Republican William Schley 1835-1837 Union George Gilmer 1837-1839 Democrat Charles J. McDonald 1839-1843 Union George W. Crawford 1843-1847 Whig George W.B. Towns 1847-1851 Democrat Howell Cobb 1851-1853 Constitutional Union Herschell V. Johnson 1853-1856 Democrat Joseph E. Brown 1857-1865 " James Johnson[15] 1865 " Charles J. Jenkins 1865-1868 " Thomas H. Ruger 1868 " Rufus B. Bullock 1868-1871 Republican Benjamin Conley[14] 1871-1872 " James M. Smith 1872-1876 Democrat Alfred H. Colquitt 1876-1882 " Alexander H. Stephens 1882-1883 " James S. Boynton[14] 1883 " Henry D. McDaniel 1883-1886 " John B. Gordon 1886-1890 " W.J. Northen 1890-1894 " W.Y. Atkinson 1894-1898 " A.D. Candler 1898-1902 " Joseph M. Terrell 1902-1907 " Hoke Smith 1907-1909 " Joseph M. Brown 1909-1911 " Hoke Smith 1911- "

A brief bibliography, chiefly of historical materials, is given by U.B. Phillips in his monograph "Georgia and State Rights," in vol. ii. of the _Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1901_ (Washington, 1902). Valuable information concerning the resources and products of the state is given in the publications of the Department of Agriculture, which include weekly and monthly _Bulletins_, biennial _Reports_ and a volume entitled _Georgia, Historical and Industrial_ (Atlanta, 1901). The Reports of the United States Census (especially the Twelfth Census for 1900 and the special census of manufactures for 1905) should be consulted, and _Memoirs of Georgia_ (2 vols., Atlanta, Ga., 1895) contains chapters on industrial conditions.

The principal sources for public administration are the annual reports of the state officers, philanthropic institutions, the prison commission and the railroad commission, and the revised Code of Georgia (Atlanta, 1896), adopted in 1895; see also L.F. Schmeckebier's "Taxation in Georgia" (_Johns Hopkins University Studies_, vol. xviii.) and "Banking in Georgia" (_Banker's Magazine_, vol. xlviii.). Education and social conditions are treated in C.E. Jones's _History of Education in Georgia_ (Washington, 1890), the Annual Reports of the School Commissioner, and various magazine articles, such as "Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mill" (_Century Magazine_, vol. xix.) and "A Plea for Light" (_South Atlantic Quarterly_, vol. iii.). The view of slavery given in Frances A. Kemble's _Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation in 1838-1839_ (New York, 1863) should be compared with R.Q. Mallard's _Plantation Life before Emancipation_ (Richmond, Va., 1897), and with F.L. Olmsted's _A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States_ (New York, 1856).

The best book for the entire field of Georgia history is Lawton B. Evans's _A Student's History of Georgia_ (New York, 1898), a textbook for schools. This should be supplemented by C.C. Jones's _Antiquities of the Southern Indians, particularly of the Georgia Tribes_ (New York, 1873), for the aborigines; W.B. Stevens's _History of Georgia to 1798_ (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1847-1859) and C.C. Jones, jun., History of Georgia (2 vols., Boston, 1883) for the Colonial and Revolutionary periods; C.H. Haskins's _The Yazoo Land Companies_ (Washington, 1891); the excellent monograph (mentioned above) by U.B. Phillips for politics prior to 1860; Miss Annie H. Abel's monograph "The History of Events Resulting in Indian Consolidation West of the Mississippi," in vol. i. of the _Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1906_ (Washington, 1908) for a good account of the removal of the Indians from Georgia; the judicious monograph by E.C. Woolley, _Reconstruction in Georgia_ (New York, 1901); and I.W. Avery's _History of Georgia from 1850 to 1881_ (New York, 1881), which is marred by prejudice but contains material of value. _The Confederate Records of the State of Georgia_ were published at Atlanta in 1909. See also: E.J. Harden's _Life of George M. Troup_ (Savannah, 1840); R.M. Johnston and W.H. Browne, _Life of Alexander H. Stephens (Philadelphia, 1878), and Louis Pendleton, Life of Alexander H. Stephens_ (Philadelphia, 1907); P.A. Stovall's _Robert Toombs_ (New York, 1892); H. Fielder's _Life, Times and Speeches of Joseph E. Brown_ (Springfield, Mass., 1883) and C.C. Jones, jun., _Biographical Sketches of Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress_ (New York, 1891). There is much valuable material, also, in the publications (beginning with 1840) of the Georgia Historical Society (see the list in vol. ii. of the _Report of the American Historical Association for 1905_).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] According to the usual nomenclature, the branch flowing S.W. is called the Chattooga; this unites with the Tallulah to form the Tugaloo, which in turn unites with the Kiowee to form the Savannah proper.

[2] The manufacturing statistics for 1900 which follow are not those given in the Twelfth Census, but are taken from the _Census of Manufactures_, 1905, the 1900 figures here given being only for "establishments on a factory basis," and thus being comparable with those of 1905. In 1890 there were 53 mills with a capital of $17,664,675 and a product valued at $12,035,629.

[3] In these valuations for 1900 and for 1905 the rough lumber dressed or remanufactured in planing mills enters twice into the value of the product.

[4] The population of the state was 82,548 in 1790, 162,686 in 1800, 252,433 in 1810, 340,989 in 1820, 516,823 in 1830, 691,392 in 1840, 906,185 in 1850, 1,057,286 in 1860, and 1,184,100 in 1870.

[5] This negro percentage includes 211 Chinese, Japanese and Indians.

[6] The state has had four other constitutions--those of 1777, 1789, 1798 and 1868.

[7] Owing to the custom which holds in Georgia of choosing state senators in rotation from each of the counties making up a senatorial district, it happened in 1907 that few cities were represented directly by senators chosen from municipalities. It is believed that this fact contributed to the passage of the prohibition law.

[8] _De facto._

[9] President of the Colony.

[10] President of the Council of Safety.

[11] President of Georgia.

[12] First Governor under a State Constitution.

[13] President Executive Council and _de facto_ Governor.

[14] President of Senate.

[15] Provisional.

GEORGIA, a former kingdom of Transcaucasia, which existed historically for more than 2000 years. Its earliest name was Karthli or Karthveli; the Persians knew it as Gurjistan, the Romans and Greeks as Iberia, though the latter placed Colchis also in the west of Georgia. Vrastan is the Armenian name and Gruzia the Russian. Georgia proper, which included Karthli and Kakhetia, was bounded on the N. by Ossetia and Daghestan, on the S. by the principalities of Erivan and Kars, and on the W. by Guria and Imeretia; but the kingdom also included at different times Guria, Mingrelia, Abkhasia, Imeretia and Daghestan, and extended from the Caucasus range on the N. to the Aras or Araxes on the S. It is now divided between the Russian governments of Tiflis and Kutais, under which headings further geographical particulars are given. (See also CAUCASIA.)

_History._--According to traditional accounts, the Georgian (Karthlian), Kakhetian, Lesghian, Mingrelian and other races of Transcaucasia are the descendants of Thargamos, great-grandson of Japheth, son of Noah, though Gen. x. 3 makes Togarmah to be the son of Gomer, who was the son of Japheth. These various races were subsequently known under the general name of Thargamosides. Karthlos, the second son of Thargamos, is the eponymous king of his race, their country being called Karthli after him. Mtskhethos, son of Karthlos, founded the city of Mtskhetha (the modern Mtskhet) and made it the capital of his kingdom. We come, however, to firmer historic ground when we read that Georgia was conquered by Alexander the Great, or rather by one of his generals. The Macedonian yoke was shaken off by Pharnavaz or Pharnabazus, a prince of the royal race, who ruled from 302 to 237 B.C. All through its history Georgia, being on the outskirts of Armenia and Persia, both of them more powerful neighbours than itself, was at times more or less closely affected by their destinies. In this way it was sometimes opposed to Rome, sometimes on terms of friendship with Byzantium, according as these were successively friendly or hostile to the Armenians and the Persians. In the end of the 2nd century B.C. the last Pharnavazian prince was dethroned by his own subjects and the crown given to Arsaces, king of Armenia, whose son Arshag, ascending the throne of Georgia in 93 B.C., established there the Arsacid dynasty. This close association with Armenia brought upon the country an invasion (65 B.C.) by the Roman general Pompey, who was then at war with Mithradates, king of Pontus and Armenia; but Pompey did not establish his power permanently over Iberia. A hundred and eighty years later the Emperor Trajan penetrated (A.D. 114) into the heart of the country, and chastised the Georgians; yet his conquest was only a little more permanent than Pompey's. During one of the internecine quarrels, which were not infrequent in Georgia, the throne fell to Mirhan or Mirian (265-342), a son of the Persian king, who had married a daughter of Asphagor, the last sovereign of the Arsacid dynasty.