Early on, a number of Spanish explorers visited the inland
region of Georgia, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.
The local moundbuilder culture, described by Hernando de Soto
in 1540, had completely disappeared by 1560.
The conflict between Spain and Britain over control of Georgia
began in earnest in about 1670, when the British, moving south
from their Carolina colony in present-day South Carolina met
the Spanish moving north from their base in Florida. In 1724,
it was first suggested that what was by then a British colony
be called Province of Georgia in honor of King George II.
Massive British settlement began in the year 1732 with James
Oglethorpe, an Englishman in the British parliament, who
promoted the idea that the area be used to settle people in a
debtors' prison. On February 12, 1733, 113 settlers landed in
the HMS Anne at what was to become the city of Savannah. In
1752, Georgia became a royal colony. Georgia's first
constitution came in 1777, but was later changed.
On January 18, 1861 Georgia joined the Confederacy and became
a major theater of the American Civil War. In December 1864, a
large swath of the state from Atlanta to Savannah was
destroyed during General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to
the Sea. This event served as the historical background for
the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and the 1939 film. On July
15, 1870, following Reconstruction, Georgia became the last
former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.
The state song, Georgia on My Mind by Hoagy Carmichael was
originally written about a woman of that name, but after
Georgia native Ray Charles sang it, the state legislature
voted it the state song. Ray Charles sang it on the
legislative floor when the bill passed. This act was
significant in that it symbolized to many the move away from
segregation and racism.
