The
town of Savannah was laid out to the
plan Oglethorpe conceived while still in
England, thus Savannah became one of the
first planned cities in the Americas.
Each male settler was given fifty acres,
which included a town lot, a garden lot
of 5 acres, and a farm of 44 acres. Each
town
square was organized so that the
north and south sides contained
residental buildings, while the east and
west sides were reserved for public
buildings. With this town square
arrangement, each of the squares could
then be defended as an individual
fortress from invaders.
Oglethorpe's
plan for Savannah was based around a
series of public squares.
Oglethorpe
was fortunate in that his settlement was
able to avoid hostility and bloodshed with
the local indians. Chief Tomochichi of the
Creek indians, with the aid of indian
trader John Musgrove, formed a treaty with
the settlers and allowed them to colonize
up the Savannah River and along the coast.
This treaty allowed the Savannah
settlement to prosper while other American
colonies struggled with the indians.
Numerous groups of colonists came to
Savannah in its first few years.
Jews joined the colony in the summer of
1733, fleeing the Spanish Inquistion from
Portugal. Methodists, led by John
and Charles Wesley arrived in 1736 to
teach the gospel to the indians.
Frederica and Greorge Whitefield came in
1738, and along with James Habersham,
founded America's first orphanage, which
was named Bethesda, House of Mercy.
The colony fulfilled one of the hopes of
England, but it failed to fulfill the
other. In 1742, General Oglethorpe
defeated the Spanish at the famous Battle
of Bloody Marsh. The Spanish never
again threatened the English colonies.
Meanwhile, the "Silk Hope" was
fading. Georgia proved unsuitable
for silk production and instead turned to
rice and cotton. In 1752, the
charter of the Trustees was returned to
England and Georgia colony became a royal
province.
During the 1760's, while most of the
American colonies protested, Savannah
remained loyal to England, and was not
represented at the first Continental
Congress. However, as patriotic fever
spread south, Georgia joined the cause.
Three men from Georgia: Lyman Hall, George
Walton, and Button Gwinnett signed the
Declaration of Independance in 1776.
In 1778, Savannah was invaded and captured
by the British. In the fierce siege of
Savannah that followed, many heros lost
their lives including Count Pulaski and
Sergeant Jasper. Savannah was not
reoccupied until 1782 under the leadership
of General Nathanael Greene and General
Anthony Wayne.
Savannah enjoyed great prosperity in the
years following the Revolutionary War. Eli
Whitney invented the cotton gin on a
plantation up the Savannah river and the
cotton industry in Savannah soon became
the world leader. Savannahians applauded
the S.S. Savannah as it became the first
steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean in
1819. During this era of prosperity in
Savannah, architect William Jay arrived
from England and was responsible for
designing some of Savannah's most elegant
structures, including the Telfair Academy
of Arts and Sciences.
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