Diverse Groups Reading PDF

Important groups in the GA Colony Directions: Students are placed in groups of four. One person in each group chooses a group of early Georgia settlers to study and complete the portion of the chart they correspond to (Jews, Salzburgers, Highland Scots, Malcontents). Use the information below and y...

Important groups in the GA Colony Directions: Students are placed in groups of four. One person in each group chooses a group of early Georgia settlers to study and complete the portion of the chart they correspond to (Jews, Salzburgers, Highland Scots, Malcontents). Use the information below and you can also use other resources like the online book, powerpoints, and handouts. After you have completed your part of the chart, take turns teaching the rest of your group about the immigrant group that you studied. Finally, all students will rank the groups in importance with the last activity. Diverse Settlers of Georgia During the Trustee Period 32 c. evaluate the role of diverse groups (Jews, Salzburgers, Highland Scots, and Malcontents) settling Georgia during the Trustee Period Plan for the Trustee Colony Jews The summer of 1733 was extremely harsh on Georgia’s first settlers. Heat and polluted river water combined to sicken and kill many of the residents. This was the situation that Georgia’s first Jewish immigrants found themselves in after they arrived. Neither the Trustees in England nor Oglethorpe knew that forty-three Jewish men, women, and children set out for Georgia, but, despite the Trustees’ anti-Semitism, the pragmatic Oglethorpe did not deny their landing. Immediately, Georgia’s first English settlers benefited from Oglethorpe’s decision. With the death of their only physician Dr. Cox, the illness of his replacement Noble Jones, and the failure of folk and Indian remedies, the colonists held little hope for survival until the timely arrival of the Jewish physician, Dr. Samuel Nunez. No one under his care died, and Oglethorpe soon informed the Trustees of this fortune. Although the Trustees responded in typical anti-Semitic fashion by instructing Oglethorpe not to deed any land to the Jews, Oglethorpe again applied common sense to the situation. Oglethorpe granted property in Savannah to fourteen Jewish males because he needed more farmers, soldiers, and experienced tradesmen. Savannah’s first Jews established the Congregation Mickve Israel soon after their arrival, and their Gothic Revival synagogue, dedicated in 1878, stands on Monterey Square and still serves the congregation. The Jewish community quickly asserted themselves as important and productive members of the new colony. Among the first Jewish settlers was Abraham De Lyon who was raised in Portugal and well-acquainted with grape-growing and wine making. The Trustees desired to begin grape and wine production in Georgia, yet did not send anyone trained to do so. Abraham De Lyon however accepted this role and grew grapes for wine. For the militia, Oglethorpe employed Benjamin Sheftall as his first lieutenant. Other Jews became successful planters, store owners, tavern keepers, and shipping merchants. Summary Video Link Salzburgers  The town of Ebenezer was settled by German-speaking Protestants called Salzburgers who were forced to leave Germany because of their religious beliefs. The first Salzburger settlement did not have good access to the Savannah River and the colonists suffered from diseases like malaria. At their second site, closer to the Savannah River, the Salzburgers still struggled with disease, but the isolated religious community managed to prosper and grow. Upon their arrival in March 1734, the Germans found only one person among the colonists who could speak fluent German: Oglethorpe’s Jewish lieutenant Benjamin Sheftall. Sheftall and his wife, who also spoke German, befriended the new arrivals and provided them with many services, often asking for no pay in return. In appreciation, some Salzburger men helped Sheftall in the cultivation of his fields. The spiritual leader of the Salzburgers, the Reverend Johann Martin Boltzius, hoped to cultivate the Sheftalls’ spirituality and convert them to Christianity in return. He did not succeed. The Salzburgers soon found a home in a place they named Ebenezer. Though the first Ebenezer became a failure, their second was more popular. More Germans followed, often in response to initially overly-optimistic tales of the success to be had there. Eventually New Ebenezer was successful, though not by producing silk as originally intended, but through dairy, grain, and beef production and from operating grist mills. Boltzius and his community also established an orphanage which became the model for George Whitefield’s Bethesda orphanage in Savannah. One of the children raised there, John Adam Treutlen, became the first elected governor of Georgia under the 1777 constitution. Some later-arriving Germans, many of them indentured servants, also found a home at Oglethorpe’s southern defensive post Frederica where they earned a reputation as farmers. Most importantly, they helped defend Georgia’s southern frontier, and that of the thirteen English colonies, against the Spanish in Florida. Serving with them was a hardy contingent of Highland Scots. Summary Video Link The Highland Scots Scottish immigrants to the colonies in the eighteenth century outnumbered all others (the Germans were second). The Highlanders had the reputation of being the best soldiers. Oglethorpe and the Highlanders established the town of Darien along the Altamaha River and the settlement provided a company of infantry to Fort Frederica on St. Simon’s Island. The Highland Scots maintained many of their cultural practices including their reliance on clan leaders, the Gaelic language, and their plaid attire for several years. Although the Highlanders served Oglethorpe well in defending against the Spanish, some of their most important contributions to the new colony were economic. This was in large part because they retained and adapted their Scottish heritage. Hard work and agricultural experience combined to make Darien a successful settlement. When the Highlanders found most of the soil unsuitable for crop growing, they quickly adapted themselves to timber production and cattle raising. The timber industry in Darien continued to be a staple in the local economy for over 150 years. Scots as a whole played important roles in the politics, economics, and military of colonial Georgia. Summary Video Link Malcontents Exchanges among Georgia’s inhabitants became heated as a group of “malcontents,” led in large part by Lowland Scots who settled in Savannah, demanded that the ban on slavery be lifted because of the poor economic conditions. The Trustee’s supporters, led by Boltzius at Ebenezer and the Highland Scots at Darien, objected and fought against lifting the ban. In England, the Trustees held Ebenezer up as an example of hard working white families achieving success without the use of slaves. The malcontents countered that these supporters and success stories came from only those groups that continued to receive substantial funding from the Trustees or religious entities in Europe. Meanwhile, rice planters from South Carolina foresaw a collapse of Georgia and hoped it would be integrated into South Carolina. Many speculators began to grab rice-growing land and some brought slaves in illegally to begin working the land. The argument for slavery won out, and the institution of slavery legally came to Georgia on January 1, 1751. With the addition of slavery, and with the Trusteeship giving way to royal control in 1752, Georgia finally became a typical colony of the British empire found throughout the world. As such it lured more merchants, speculators, and planters than it was able to do without slaves. Few if any slaves came directly from Africa during the first fifteen years of legalized slavery in Georgia. Many were “seasoned” slaves from the West Indies, but most came via South Carolina slave traders or were brought down by South Carolina planters operating in Georgia. Georgian planters came to believe that slaves from Carolina or Caribbean locations were unacceptable elsewhere and that Georgia might be little more than a last resort for slavers to dump undesirables. By 1765 however, Georgian planters established their own direct links to Africa’s Windward Coast. For the next one hundred years African slaves and their offspring formed an unwilling, unfortunate labor force that became essential to the growth and development of Georgia. (Georgia Historical Society)  Destination Explanation Directions: Using the chart below, answer the following questions for each Georgia Group: 1) Where were they from? 2) Why did they come to Georgia? 3) What did they do in Georgia? Georgia Group Where were they from? Why did they come to What did they do in Georgia? Georgia? Jews Salzburgers Highland Scots Malcontents Closing and Summarizing Activity 1. Decide which group belongs in the top 1st place ranking to the 4th place ranking. Rank the diverse groups (Jews, Salzaburgers, Highland Scots, Malcontents) and place their name in the box. 2. List Facts and details supporting the claim. 3. Explain your reasoning in at least one sentence. Rank 1 List Facts Explain your reasoning Rank 2 List Facts Rank 3 List Facts Rank 4 List Facts