Begun the 15th of October, 1735.
Those who have cleared their 5 Acre Lotts,
have made a very great Profit out of them by Greens, Roots and Corn.
Several have improv’d the Cattle they had at first, and have now 5 or 6 tame
Cows; others, who to save the Trouble of Feeding
1735-6.
February. Savannah.
them, let them go into the Woods, can
rarely find them, and when they are brought up, one of them will not give half
the Quantity of Milk, which another Cow fed near Home will give. Their
Houses are built at a pretty large Distance from one another, for fear of Fire;
the Streets are very wide, and there are great Squares left at proper
Distances, for Markets and other Conveniences. Near the River-side there
is a Guard-house inclosed with Palisades a Foot think, where there are 19 or 20
Cannons mounted, and a continual Guard kept by the Free-holders. This
Town is governed by 3 Bailiffs, and has a Recorder, Register, and a Town Court,
which is holden every six Weeks, where all Matters Civil and Criminal are
decided by grand and petty Juries, as in England; but there are
no Lawyers allowed to plead for Hire, nor no Attornies to take Money, but (as
in old times in England) every Man pleads his own Cause. In
case it should be an Orphan, or one that cannot speak for themselves, there are
Persons of the best Substance in the Town, appointed by the Trustees to take
care of the Orphans, and to defend the Helpless, and that without Fee or
Reward, it being a Service that each that is capable must perform in his
Turn. They have some Laws and Customs peculiar to Georgia; one is, that all Brandies and distilled Liquors are prohibited under
severe Penalties; another is, that no Slavery is allowed, nor Negroes; a Third,
that all Persons who go among the Indians must give
Security for their good Behavior; because theIndians, if any Injury is
done to them, and they cannot kill the Man who does it, expect Satisfaction
from the Government, which if not procured, they break out into War, by killing
the first white Man they conveniently can. No Victualler or Alehouse-keeper
can give any Credit so consequently
1735-6.
February, Savannah.
cannot recover any Debt. The
Free-holds are all entailed, which has been very fortunate for the Place.
If People could have sold, the greatest part, before they knew the Value of
their Lotts, would have parted with them for a trifling Condition, and there
were not wanting rich Men who employed Agents to Monopolize the whole Town: And
if they had got Numbers of Lotts into their own Hands, the other Free-holders
would have had no Benefit by letting their Houses, and hardly of Trade, since
the Rich, by means of a large Capital, would underlet and undersell, and the
Town must have been almost without Inhabitants, as Port Royal in Carolina is, by the best
Lotts being got into a few Hands.
The mentioning the Laws and Customs leads me to
take notice that Georgia is founded upon Maxims different from
those on which other Colonies have been begun. The Intention of that
Colony was an Asylum to receive the Distressed. This was
the charitable Design, and the governmental View besides that, was, with
Numbers of free white People, well settled, to strengthen the southern Part of
the English Settlements on the Continent of America, of which this
is the Frontier. It is necessary therefore not to permit Slaves in such a
Country, for Slaves starve the poor Labourer. For if the Gentleman can
have his Work done by a Slave who is a Carpenter or a Bricklayer, the Carpenter
or Bricklayers of that Country must starve for want of Employment, and so of
other Trades.
In order to maintain many People, it was proper that the Land should be divided
into small Portions, and to prevent the uniting them by Marriage
1735-6.
February. Savannah.
or Purchase. For every Time that two
Lotts are united, the Town Loses a Family, and the Inconveniency of this shews
itself at Savannah, notwithstanding the Care of the Trustees
to prevent it. They suffered the Moiety of the Lotts to descend to the Widows
during their Lives: Those who remarried to Men who had Lotts of their own, by
uniting two Lotts made one be neglected; for the strength of Hands who could
take care of one, was not sufficient to look to and improve two. These
uncleared Lotts are a Nusance to their Neighbours. The Trees which grow
upon them shade the Lotts, the Beasts take shelter in them, and for want of
clearing the Brooks which pass thro’ them, the Lands above are often prejudiced
by Floods. To prevent all these Inconveniences, the first Regulation of
the Trustees was a strict Agrarian Law, by which all the Lands near Towns
should be divided, 50 Acres to each Freeholder. The Quantity of Land by
Experience seems rather too much, since it is impossible that one poor Family
can tend so much Land. If this Alottment is too much, how much more
inconvenient would the uniting of two be? To prevent it, the Trustees
grant the Lands in Tail Male, that on the expiring of a Male-Line they may
regrant it to such Man, having no other Lott, as shall be married to the next
Female Heir of the Deceased, as is of good Character. This manner of
Dividing, prevents also the Sale of Lands, and the Rich thereby monopolizing
the Country.
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