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Books on Savannah History

When he founded Savannah, the capital of his newly chartered colony Georgia, James Oglethorpe had some Utopian ideas. His planned city would be built around four squares and four simple prohibitions. No rum. No slavery. No lawyers. No Papists.

As with many good intentions, Oglethorpe’s vision for his idyllic society didn’t last long. Like any American kid up until the age of 21 knows, banning liquor just makes you want it more. That was a doomed policy from the get-go, especially in the hard days of the city’s inception.

The ban on slavery was also well intentioned. But it was legal in South Carolina — and nearby Charleston was absolutely flourishing. When Savannahians discovered how fertile their ground was for cotton, and considered how convenient it would be to force the work upon others, it didn’t take long for them to revolt against Oglethorpe’s decrees. Soon enough, the afable society folk were lounging on the front porches of their plantation houses, sipping Chatham Artillery Punch and watching slaves break their backs for master’s profit. The good life, indeed!

The ban on Catholics is perhaps more curious, considering Savannah’s open-armed policy to other religions. But remember that the colony was originally founded as a buffer zone between the Carolinas and Spanish Florida. Catholics weren’t distrusted because they believe in transubstantiation, but because they might be Spanish spies. It’s another law, though, which would be relaxed soon after the colony’s founding.

And the decree against lawyers? Please. An aspiring lawyer probably just brought suit against the city, who realized they’d need a lawyer to defend the anti-lawyer law. “Curses!”