The MalcontentsA Document Based Lesson

Image Source- http://www.georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu

Georgia Performance Standard SS8H2

• The student will analyze the colonial period of Georgia’s history. a. Explain the importance of James Oglethorpe, the Charter of 1732, reasons for settlement (charity, economics, and defense), Tomochichi, Mary Musgrove, and the city of Savannah. b. Evaluate the Trustee Period of Georgia’s colonial history, emphasizing the role of the Salzburgers, Highland Scots, malcontents, and the Spanish threat from Florida. c. Explain the development of Georgia as a royal colony with regard to land ownership, slavery, government, and the impact of the royal governors.

Essential Question

1. Who were the Malcontents? What major roles did they play in the development of Colonial Georgia?

Hook Exercise

Image Source-

Questions:

1. Using your prior knowledge, answer the following question. What is the land and climate near Savannah like? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Economic markets operate with the help of land, labor (workers), capital (start-up resources), and entrepreneurship (risk-taking). Considering the circumstances, which of these do you believe would be most necessary to make the economy of the new Savannah settlement successful? ________________________________________________________________________

The Malcontents

Overview:

Among those to voice displeasure with the policies of General James Oglethorpe and the Georgia Trustees during the early years of Georgia's settlement, the Malcontents issued the most vociferous complaints. The leaders of the group, composed primarily of Scottish settlers near Savannah, included Patrick Tailfer and Thomas Stephens. The Malcontents first made their objections heard in 1735 shortly after their arrival in the new colony.

The Documents:

1. Document A- A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America (Image)

2. Document B- A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America (Excerpts 1-4)

3. Document C- The Trustees Justify Their Policies: With Regard to Land- 1742 (Excerpts 1-4)

4. Document D- The Trustees Justify Their Policies: With Regard to Slaves- 1742 (Excerpts 1-4)

Content Source- New Georgia Encyclopedia (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org)

Images Source- http://www.georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu

Malcontents

People who were displeased with the policies of General James Oglethorpe and the Georgia Trustees during the early years of Georgia's settlement.

Content Source- New Georgia Encylopedia (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org)

Trustee Georgia

Trustee Georgia is the name of the period covering the first twenty years of Georgia history, from 1732–1752, because during that time the English Province of Georgia was governed by a Board of Trustees.

Content Source- Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org)

Limit

A confining or restricting object, agent, or influence.

Content Source- The Free Dictionary (http://www.thefreedictionary.com)

Prohibition

A law or decree that forbids.

Content Source- Dictionary.com (http://www.dictionary.reference.com)

The Malcontents

Whereas many of Georgia's original settlers came with monetary aid from the Trustees, most of the Malcontents arrived without assistance and thus did not have the same loyalty to the colony's founders. In particular, the Malcontents objected to the Trustees' limits on land ownership and prohibitions on slavery and rum. Since the Malcontents could afford to purchase slaves and vast tracts of land, they felt the policies of the Trustees prevented them from realizing their economic potential.

Between 1737 and 1738 Patrick Tailfer organized a group of colonists who objected to the actions of the Trustees. One of their first public complaints came in 1738, when the group wrote and circulated a petition that called for drastic changes in the colony's administration. Although 121 residents signed the petition, the Trustees refused to amend the laws. Frustrated by the lack of local authority or change in Georgia and its administration, many of the Malcontents' leaders left the colony in 1740. Representatives of the Trustees believed internal dissent would decline with the Malcontents' departure.

In 1740 William Stephens, the father of Thomas Stephens and secretary to the Trustees, wrote a memorial entitled A State of the Province of Georgia. The document claimed the Trustees and their policies enjoyed wide support throughout Georgia and—owing to the unique laws governing the colony—economic success seemed assured. For many residents Stephens's description did not reflect reality. Speaking for the Malcontents, Tailfer refuted Stephens's claims in a tract entitled A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia. Writing from Charleston, South Carolina, Tailfer reiterated his belief that Georgia's survival required significant changes. Tailfer wanted members of Parliament and others who provided funding for Georgia to understand that many of its residents were prevented from succeeding financially because of the Trustees' policies.

Content Source- New Georgia Encyclopedia (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org)

Background Essay Terms

1. Monetary2. Afford3. Economic Potential4. Petition5. Amend6. Dissent7. Memorial8. Refuted9. Reiterated10. Parliament

A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America

Image Source- New Georgia Encyclopedia (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org)

Questions:

1. Using the words on the image for reference, answer the following question. What do you think was Patrick Talifer’s purpose in publishing this pamphlet? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What other documents are included in the pamphlet? ______________________________________________________________________

3. How do you think Talifer felt about James Oglethorpe and the Trustees? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America

“The First Thing he (Oglethorpe) did after he arrived in Georgia, was to make a kind of Solemn Treaty with a Parcel of fugitive Indians, who had been formerly banished (by) their own Nation for some Crimes and Misdemeanors they had committed, and who had some Months before this, got Liberty from the Governor of South Carolina, to settle there. Some of these he afterwards Home with him under the Title of Kings, &c. and all of them have ever since maintained at the Publick Charge, at vast Expense, when many poor Christians were starving in the Colony, for want of Bread; and we may safely affirm… that a larger sum of Money has been expanded for the Support of those useless Vagrants, than ever was laid out for the encouragement of Silk, Wine, or any other manufacture in the Colony.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 1) Patrick Tailfer• Why do you think that the authors described the

Treaty of Savannah as solemn? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• How were the Yamacraw Indians described in the first paragraph? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• What claims did the Malcontents make about the relationship between Oglethorpe and the Indians? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Were the Indians an economic burden on the colonists? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• How were white settlers portrayed by the Malcontents? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America

“Secondly, He prohibited the Importation of Rum, under pretence, that it was destructive to the Constitution and an Incentive to Debauchery and Idleness: However specious these pretences might seem, a little Experience soon convinced us, that this Restriction was directly opposite to the Well-being of the Colony. For in the first place, we were cut off from the most immediate and probable way of exporting our timber… to the Sugar Islands, Rum being the principal Return they make: In the second Place, the Experience of all the Inhabitants of America, will prove the Necessity of Qualifying Water with some Spirit… A third Reason… Tho’ the Laws were in force against it, … yet great quantities were imported, only with this Difference, that in place of Barter or Exchange, the Ready Money was drain’d from the Inhabitants…”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 2) Patrick Tolfer• Using the tone of the author as reference, what

claims were the Malcontents making about Oglethorpe’s prohibition of alcohol? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• What were the Malcontents claims about alcohol? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• According to the Malcontents, what limitations on trade were imposed because of the prohibition of rum? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• According to the Malcontents, what public health issue could be dealt with by allowing alcohol? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America

“THE THIRD Thing he did, was regularly to set out to each Freeholder in Savannah, Lots of Fifty acres, in three distinct Divisions, viz. The Eighth Part of One Acre for a House and Garden in the town; Four Acres and seven-eights, at a small Distance from Town; and Forty-five Acres at a considerable Removal from thence. No regard was had to Qualify of the Ground in the Divisions…. Some, with great Labour and Expence, essayed the Making of Tarr: This, as was well known to the Trustees, never quited Costs: Others tried to make planck and saw Boards; which by the great Price they were obliged to sell them at by Reason of the great Expence of white Servants, was the chief Means of ruining those who thought to procure a Living by their Buildings in Town… The Falling of Timber was a task very unequal to the strength and Constitution of white Servants… and the Yearly Sickness of each Servant, generally speaking, cost his Master as much would have maintained a Negro for four years. These things were represented to the Trustees in the Summer of 1735, in a Petition for the Use of Negroes…”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 3) Patrick Tolfer• What complaints did the Malcontents have toward

the quality of land and how it was distributed? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• What complaints did the Malcontents have about where the land was? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• What false claims did the Malcontents make about white indentured servants? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• What false claims did the Malcontents make about African slaves? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America (Excerpt 4)

Source- http://www.loc.gov• “The Representing the Climate, Soil, &c. of

Georgia in false and too flattering Colours; at least, the not contradicting those Accounts when publickly printed and dispers'd, and satisfying the World in a true and genuine Description thereof.”

• “The Restricting the Tenure of Lands from a Fee simple to Tail-Male, cutting off Daughters and all other Relations.”

• “The Restraining the Proprietor from selling, disposing of, or leasing any Possession.”

• “The Restricting too much the Extent of Possessions; it being impossible that fifty Acres of good Land, much less Pine Barren, could maintain a white Family.”

• “The Laying the Planter under a Variety of Restraints in clearing, fencing, planting, &c. which was impossible to be complied with.”

• “The Exacting a much higher Quit-Rent than the richest Grounds in North-America can bear.”

• “But chiefly the Denying the Use of Negroes, and persisting in such Denial after, by repeated Applications, we had humbly remonstrated the Impossibility of making Improvements to any Advantage with white Servants.”

8. “The Denying us the, Privilege of being judged by the Laws of our Mother Country; and subjecting the Lives and Fortunes of all People in the Colony, to one Person or Set of Men, who assumed the Privilege, under the Name of a Court of Chancery, of Acting according to their own Will and Fancy.”

9. “General Oglethorpe's taking upon him to nominate Magistrates, appoint Justices of the Peace, and to do many other such Things, without ever exhibiting to the People any legal Commission or Authority for so doing.”

10. “The Neglecting the proper Means for Encouraging the Silk and Wine-Manufactures; and disposing of the liberal Sums contributed by the Publick, and by private Persons, in such Ways and Channels as have been of little or no Service to the Colony.”

11. “The Misapplying or Keeping up Sums of Money which have been appointed for particular Uses, such as Building a Church, &c. several Hundreds of Pounds Sterling (as we are inform'd) having been lodged in Mr. Oglethorpe's Hands for some Years by past, for that Purpose, and not one Stone of it yet laid.”

12. “The Assigning certain fix'd Tracts of Land to those who came to settle in the Colony, without any regard to the Quality of the Ground, Occupation, Judgment, Ability or Inclination of the Settler, &c. &c. &c.”

A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 4)1. In this section of the document, there are twelve

distinct criticisms of the James Edward Oglethorpe, the Trustees, and their rules. What were the most powerful indictments of the leaders in the colony? Rank what you believe are the top six. Provide reasons to support your choices.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Land OwnershipImage Source- http://www.georgiahistory.com

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Land)

“As to the First, The Persons sent over were poor indigent People, who had for the most part so indiscreetly managed what they had been Masters of here, that it did not seem safe to trust so absolute a Property in their Hands, at least in the Infancy of the Colony, and before they had by a careful and industrious Behaviour given some Reason to believe they would prove better Managers for the future.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 1)1. Why were the Trustees

reluctant to hand over complete ownership of the land to the colonists? ________________________________________________

2. When, if ever did the Trustees plan to hand over full title to the land in the Georgia Colony? ________________________________________________________________________

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Land)

“As to the Second, They were sent over to inhabit, cultivate, and secure, by a personal Residence, the Lands Granted to them within the Province, and they voluntarily engaged so to do; And in expectation that they would perform those Engagements, they were Maintained at the Expence of the Publick during their Voyage, and their Passage was paid for them, and they were provided with Tools, Arms, Seeds, and other Necessaries, and Supported from the Publick Store, many of them at least for four Years together from their first Landing, in which respect the Publick may be said to have Purchased those People for a valuable Consideration, their Personal Residence, and all the Industry and Labour they could bestow in the Cultivation of this Province, and to have given them even Pay for the Hazard they might run in the Defence of it.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 2)1. What reminders from the Trustees, to the

colonists are present in the document? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What do you think that the Trustees were trying to say with regard to “obligations”? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Land)

“As to the Third, It was thought unsafe to Grant them such an Estate as might be the Means of introducing such sort of People as might Defeat what the Trustees had always at Heart, viz. The Preservation of the Protestant Religion in that Province, which was necessary to be taken Care of, both on a Political and Religious Account, the French lying to the West and the Spaniards, to the South of the Preface of Georgia.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 3)1. Why were the Trustees afraid

of land being sold by the Georgia colonists to the Spanish or to the French? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which religious group was not allowed to become Georgia colonists? ________________________

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Land)

“As to the Fourth, A Monopoly of several Lots into one Hand would necessarily have been the consequence of a Free Liberty of Buying and Selling Lands within the Province, which would have been directly contrary to the Intent of the Charter, whereby the Grant of Lands to any one Person is limited not to exceed five hundred Acres. . . .”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 4)1. How did the Georgia Charter

defend against a new feudal system being brought to the colony? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Were the land limitations in the charter intended to be punitive or utopian in nature? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SlaveryImage Source- http://www.history100slavery.wordpress.com

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Slaves)

“It was thought the White Man, by having a Negro Slave, would be less disposed to Labour himself; and that his whole Time must be employed in keeping the Negro to Work, and in watching against any Danger he or his Family might apprehend from the Slave, and that the Planter's Wife and Children would by the Death or even the Absence of the Planter, be at the Mercy of the Negro.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 1)1. According to the document, why

was slavery bad for the “White Man” in Colonial Georgia? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What evidence is present in the document that the Trustees were actually afraid of slaves? Why do you think that they were afraid? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Slaves)

“It was also considered that the Produces designed to be raised in the Colony, would not require such Labour as to make Negroes necessary for Carrying them on; for the Province of Carolina produces chiefly Rice, which is a Work of Hardship proper for Negroes, whereas the Silk and other Produces which the Trustees proposed to have the People employed on in Georgia, were such as Women and Children might be of as much use in as Negroes.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 2)1. Which crops were conducive

to the use of slave labor? ________________________________________________

2. What was to be one of the primary goods produced in the Georgia colony? ________________________

3. Who were to serve as the laborers in the Georgia Colony? ________________________________________________

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Slaves)

“In was likewise Considered, that the admitting of Negroes in Georgia would naturally facilitate the Desertion of the Carolina Negroes through the Province of Georgia, and Consequently this Colony instead of proving a Frontier and adding strength to the Province of South Carolina, would be a Means of drawing off the Slaves of Carolina, and adding thereby a strength to Augustine.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 3)1. In this passage, the Trustees

seem to view slavery as a potential security issue. Explain their concerns with regard to the defense of the colony. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Trustees Justify Their Policies- 1742 (With Regard to Slaves)

“From these several Considerations, as the Produces to be raised in the Colony did not make Negro Slaves necessary, as the Introduction of them so near to a Garrison of the Spaniards would weaken rather than strengthen the Barrier, and as they would introduce with them a greater Propensity to Idleness among the Poor Planters, and too great an Inequality among the People, it was thought proper to make the Prohibition of them a Fundamental of the Constitution.”

Source- http://www.loc.govQuestions: (Excerpt 4)1. Among many other reasons, the

Trustees seemed to be trying to prevent the creation of a social hierarchy. Do you believe this is so? What evidence is present in the document that supports this argument? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Outcome: Which group won the argument?

Source- New Georgia Encyclopedia (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org)

Malcontent spokesman Patrick Tailfer's arguments were heard but did not result in immediate change. Officials in London ordered additional surveys of popular sentiment following the publication of Tailfer's pamphlet, but the Trustees and their increasingly controversial statutes remained. In 1742 Thomas Stephens, representing the Malcontents and other disaffected settlers from London, published a pamphlet entitled The Hard Case of the Distressed People of Georgia. The Trustees maintained their power, but Stephens's arguments were increasingly heard in Georgia and England. When the Trustees passed a law in 1750 allowing slavery, many credited the change to the actions and writings of the Malcontents; when slavery and unlimited land ownership were allowed, they could claim victory.

Discussion Questions: Tying It All Together…

1. Did the Malcontents have persuasive arguments about their attitudes toward Indians, rum, land, and slaves?

2. At who’s feet did the Malcontents lay most of the blame?

3. Were the Malcontents more concerned about social justice or personal security?