Georgia

I would be willing to bet all the American history textbooks I had in school had the same sentence about the colony of Georgia, which was essentially to say that the place was founded by convicts. However, Christina M. Girod in this informative volume on Georgia for The Thirteen Colonies series shows that what I was taught way back when does not provide an accurate picture of the southernmost of the original American colonies. Girod acknowledges that Georgia had perhaps the most unique beginning of all the English colonies established in America, but focuses more on the colony banning slavery and any activity with Native Americans that could be harmful to the natives instead of on the English colony that supplanted the Spanish one being founded by those from debtor's prison. Girod also emphasizes that Georgia was unique in that no single ethnic group of immigrants dominated the colony's population. By the end of this informative volume young readers will have a much better appreciation for what Georgia was like before it eventually developed a society and economy more like those of the other southern colonies.The Thirteen Colonies books cover each future state in five chapters: (1) Precolonial Times: Conflict and the Struggle to Dominate Georgia begins with the original inhabitants--the Cherokee, Creek and other tribes--and the exploration of the area by Hernando de Soto which led to the establishment of the Guale District (and the rise of Pirates like Blackbeard); (2) Establishing the Colony: A Noble Experiment explains the plan of James Edward Oglethorpe, the "Father of Georgia," to solve the English unemployment problem and overflowing debtor prisons by sending colonists to Georgia, where the colony of Savannah was established and eventually a war was fought with Spain over the area; (3) Changes in Daily Life in Georgia covers how Oglethorpe's egalitarian ideal eventually gave way to developing a prosperous economy; (4) The Revolution and Georgia's War looks at how Georgia reacted to the Stamp Act and the capture of Savannah during the war, which the British held until the end; and (5) Rebirth in the New Union details how the rise of King Cotton wrought significant changes in Georgia's economy and the colony became the fourth state to ratify the new federal Constitution. "Georgia" is illustrated with historical black & white etchings, drawings, engravings, and paintings, as well as maps that flesh out Girod's text. The back of the book contains Notes, a colonial Chronology of Georgia, sources For Additional Reading, Works Consulted, and an Index. As is the rule of thumb with this excellent series, the less you know about a colony from your American history textbook the more informative you will find a volume to be. I would like to think that there are school systems in the state of Georgia that have adopted this particular volume for students to learn about their home (6th grade perhaps?). I certainly know a lot more about Georgia t