Savannah History

When General Oglethorpe landed in 1733, the area was populated with Yamacraw Indians. For thousands of years before Oglethorpe, the area was populated by Indians.

King George II of England granted a charter for a Colony (named Georgia in honor of King George II) to a group of 21 trustees, they adopted as their motto the Latin phrase "Non Sibi Sed Aliis" which is translated "not for themselves but others." The idea was to help the poor, strengthen the colonies and promote increased trade. The trustees were not permtted to own land in Georgia and they received no salary. The charter granted the colony the land between the Savannah River on the north and the Altamaha River on the south and westward to the Pacific Ocean. Georgia was the last of the original 13 colonies.

On November 17, 1732 the 200-ton galley ship Anne sailed to the new world. It was laden with 114 colonists, comprising 35 families. A few of the colonists were able to pay their passage, but many were indentured servants who were bound to work out their passage over a 5 to 7 year term. At the end of that period, they were promised a cow, a sow and 50 acres. Many didn't live to receive it. Of the 114 original settlers, 50 were dead by the end of the second year. When Oglethorpe arrived, he looked originally at Tybee Island, but seeing it was mostly marshland, they navigated the Savannah River (called Isundiga, or Bluewater by the Indians) about 15 miles to a bluff which had high ground, dry soil, and fresh water from the river. He was greeted at Yamacraw Bluff by Tomochichi, the chief of the Yamacraw Indians.

Some say the town was named "Savannah," the English derivative of the Spanish "Sabina," the name of the river. Others say it was named for the grassy plains, or savannas, surrounding the town on all sides.Oglethorpe laid out the town with four squares of about one acre each that was expanded to 24 squares as the town grew. Each square (ward) had four trust lots with two located on the east and west sides of the squares. Each square had four "tythings" for the erection of the colonists' private homes, two on the north side and two on the south. Each tything lot measured 60x90' and backed up to a lane. Those who were not indentured servants were given a tything lot in town, five acres of garden land just outside the town, and a 44-acre farm beyond the garden lots. In return, the colonists were to remain in Georgia for at least three years, with the first year devoted to public works.In the early days, Savannah had several prohibitions enforced. Slaves, lawyers, distilled spirits, and Catholics were all taboo.In 1743 the newly promoted "General" Oglethorpe left Savannah, never to return, but his concern for Georgia lasted his lifetime.

The Civil War

On January 19, 1861, Georgia became the fifth state to secede from the Union. By 1864 Georgia had supplied more troops to the cause and had suffered more casualties than any other Confederate state. In the fall of that year, Union General William T. Sherman began his march from Atlanta to the sea. The path of march was through the heart of central Georgia and to end in Savannah. Sherman was burning everything in his path. On December 22, 1864, shortly after his entry into the city, Sherman sent a telegram to President Lincoln offering Savannah with its 25,000 bales of cotton as a Christmas present. Union soldiers wrote home that Savannah was the most beautiful place they had ever seen. Savannah was spared the torch, but a fire broke out in the downtown ammunition depot and more than 100 buildings were lost.

Savannah is the setting of many beautiful historic homes, churches, cemeteries, and of course the squares and parks. I hope you found this bit of history interesting, and will visit beautiful Historic Savannah!.

A reprint from the Savannah Morning News....printed St. Patrick's Day 2007...about the origin of Savannah.

THE STORY OF SAVANNAH

As the 200-ton galley ship "Anne" approached the mouth of the Savannah River on February 12, 1733, history was in the making. By day's end, America's 13th original colony would be founded.
The 114 settlers on board pegged their hopes on 387-year old English aristocrat James Edward Oglethorpe, a member of Parliament and an advocate for the poor. Contrary to popular history, however, not all of Savannah's original inhabitants were debtors. Nearly two-third were families and tradesmen looking for a new start.

From a small outpost of clapboard buildings carved out of a dense forest, Savannah grew to be a busy seaport, surrounded by prosperous plantations, and a growing economy. But peace and prosperity would be short lived. Turmoil between the colonies and England climaxed in the 1770's. Georgia, however, remained loyal to the Crown. She was the only colony not to send representatives to the First Continental Congress.
By1775, with the ramifications of the fighting at Lexington and Concord unfolding, Georgia's loyalties slowly changed. She sent representatives to the Second Continental Congress and in 1776, Three Georgians attached their names to the Declaration of Independence.

Savannah fell to British forces during the Revolutionary War in 1778 and remained occupied for the duration of the war, despite an attempt by Allied forces to free the city during the "Siege of Savannah" on October 9. 1979.

After General Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown in 1781, British forces soon abandoned Savannah, bringing major changes. The city served as the state capital until 1786. A city government was established, and Savannah became a municipality on December 13, 1789. In 1791, President George Washington, on the southern leg of his tour through the country, visited Savannah.

The greatest change, however, came from the hand of New Haven, Connecticut, native Eli Whitney. While staying at an area plantation in 1790, Whitney invented the cotton gin, transforming the Southern economy. With the influx of new wealth, magnificent Savannah homes and beautiful churches were constructed. But prosperity came at a horrific cost, an increased reliance on the slave system, which in time would rip the nation apart.

When South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860, Georgia quickly followed, signing the ordinance of secession one month later. Fort Pulaski, however, located at the mouth of the Savannah River, had fallen to Union forces, and Savannah remained quiet for most of the war. The situation changed when General William Tecumseh Sherman's 60,000man army cut a swath of destruction fro Atlanta to the sea. Sherman occupied Savannah on December 21, 1864. But the city was lucky. Sherman spared the torch and offered her as a Christmas gift to President Lincoln.

After the war, Savannah's economy, like the rest of the South, was in shambles. By the 1870's, however, the city's economy revived, spurred again by cotton.

With the birth of the historic-preservation movement in the 1950's, many of the city's old homes and buildings were saved from annihilation and restored, making the city what it is today, a haven for tourists who travel to the colonial capital to visit her homes, her moss draped squares, and capture - if only for a moment what it must have been like for those first colonists who landed here so long ago.

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