What Type of Government Did Colonial Georgia Have?
Colonial Georgia was originally under a trustee system. The Board of Trustees served in humanitarian roles, and they elected 15 members, called the Common Council, to conduct business for the colony. The colony defaulted to monarch rule in 1755.
The Privy Council finalized the charter that established the Georgia colony in 1732. James Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony, governed the territory with other trustees. The colony was a place where prison debtors and the poor could live a new life. Land ownership was limited to 50 acres for those who were brought in by the trustees, but colonists who could pay for their travels were allowed to own more land.
Alcohol was forbidden, and slavery was not permitted. Oglethorpe eventually lifted the bans, and slavery was allowed in 1749 after receiving complaints from colonists. The council managed the colony for two decades after the colony’s founding, and Oglethorpe left the colony before the trustees handed over the province to the crown after it became unmanageable.
