Post-Revolution Georgia
October 19, 2015
After the Revolution…
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Years of hardship and change followed the
American Revolution in Georgia
The war proved that the state government
was not equipped to handle problems
Educational growth was slow
The war ruined the state’s economy
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Food was scarce because many farmers had left
their farms to fight and no food had been grown
during that time
Government in Georgia
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Georgia had adopted its first constitution in
1777 to help the colony transition into a state
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Looked very much like the Articles of
Confederation (weak central government)
Governor had very little power
Georgians soon realized that they needed to
change their constitution to make it more like
the new national one
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Established 3 branches of government
Lyman Hall was elected governor
Georgia’s Capital City
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For much of the colony and state’s early
history, the capital had rotated between
Savannah and Augusta
As the population moved further west,
the legislature appointed a commission
to find a site for a permanent, centrally
located capital
Louisville
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The new capital, Louisville, was located in
what is today Jefferson County
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It was named after French King Louis XVI for his
help in the Revolutionary War
Louisville served as the capital for 10 years
However, as people continued to move
farther and farther west, another new capital
was needed
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In 1804, a new capital, Milledgeville, was built in
Baldwin County
Georgia’s New Capitals
Louisville
Milledgeville
Education in Georgia
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Very few people had any education
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Some only had a few years of elementary
education
Governor Hall recommended that land
be set aside to build schools, but few
were actually built
In 1784, the government set aside
20,000 acres of land for a state college
The University of Georgia
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In 1785, UGA was chartered as a land-grant
university
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Land-grant university: a school for which the
federal government donated the land
It is the oldest school of its kind in the
country
UGA opened for classes in 1801
It was an all-male, all-white school
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Women were not admitted until 1918, black
students were not admitted until 1961
Religion in Georgia
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After the war, many ministers left to
return to Great Britain
However, churches continued to grow,
both in size and importance to their
communities
There were Jewish synagogues, Roman
Catholic churches, African Baptist
churches, and Methodist churches
The spread of Baptist and
Methodist churches
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These were the two largest denominations in
Georgia
Ministers often traveled long distances to
conduct church services
People would attend service whenever and
wherever they could
Slaves often attended church with their
masters
Splits in the Church
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The issue of slavery was quickly becoming
a dividing problem in the new United
States
Northern and Southern Baptist and
Methodist churches actually split up over
the issue
Southern Methodists formed Methodist
Episcopal Church
Southern Baptists formed the Southern
Baptist Convention
New Settlers
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During all of this change and hardship, the
one constant in Georgia was new people
moving in
These new settlers needed to land to build
their homes
Older residents of Georgia also wanted to
expand their land holdings
As a result, the state government opened
up more and more western lands to
settlers