H4 & H5a
Statehood and Westward Expansion
GA Constitution of 1777
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Was set up based on separation of powers and the rights of citizens
Constitutional convention in Savannah
Eight counties were formed, local governments were also set-up
Guaranteed freedom of religion, press, and trial by jury
Unicameral, or one house legislature
Legislature had very broad powers, including the ability to make appointments for the
judicial branch and the executive branch
Wanted to limit the influence and power of the governor
One-year terms, selected by the legislature rather than the people
Power was in the hands of the 12 lawmakers from the legislature who served as an
executive council; they could accept or reject any proposals initiated by the governor
John Treutlen was the first governor
Articles of Confederation
• Congress could not pay soldiers during the Revolutionary War or after
the war
• States rejected or ignored requests for help from the federal
government
• Congress could not regulate trade between states or the Us and a
foreign countries
• Each state had it’s own money
• Foreign countries had little respect for the US
• Meeting was set to changes the Articles
Constitutional Convention
• Larger states wanted representation based on population; the smaller
states wanted equal representation
• Abraham Baldwin’s vote for small state position forced the Great
Compromise
• Great Compromise: Each state gets two senators, The House of
Representatives is based on population
• 3/5 compromise: Three out of every five slaves were taxed and
counted towards a states population
Establishment of the University of Georgia
• Governor Lyman Hall recommended that the state set aside land for
schools
• 1784, 20,000 acres of land was set aside for a state college
• 1785, The University of Georgia was charted as a land grant
university(Federal government donated the land).
• Oldest of it’s kind in the country
• All-white, all-male student body
Louisville
• Third capital of Georgia
• Named after the King of France for his help with the war
• All the records of the Yazoo Land sales were collected and burnt here
• Moved to be more centrally located to the westward moving
population in GA
Spread of Baptist and Methodist churches
• Methodist circuit riders formed ministries in the frontier region
• Serve could sometimes take place once a month
• Revivals and camp meetings increase church membership in the
“Bible Belt”
• 1787, Free blacks started the Springfield Baptist church in Augusta
• Great revival movement, 2nd Great Awakening
• Slavery caused a big division
• Southern Baptists left the American Baptist Union when its foreign
mission would not accept slave owners as missionaries