-
191
leo frank case
The Leo Frank case is one of the most notorious and highly publicized cases in the legal annals of Georgia. A Jewish man in Atlanta was placed on trial and convicted of raping and murdering a thirteen-year-old girl who worked for the National Pencil Company, which he managed. Before the lynching of Frank two years later, the case became known throughout the nation. The degree of anti-Semitism involved in Frank's conviction and subsequent lynching is difficult to assess, but it was enough of a fa -
University of Georgia Founded
he University of Georgia (UGA) is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive educational institution in Georgia. Chartered by the Georgia General Assembly in 1785, UGA was the first university in America to be created by a state government, and the principles undergirding its charter helped lay the foundation for the American system of public higher education. UGA strives for excellence in three fundamental missions: providing students with outstanding instruction in classrooms and laboratories -
capital move to louisville
The commission appointed by the legislature in 1786 to find a new site for the capital was not entirely unbridled in its task, for the legislature's mandate also stipulated that the commission select a location within twenty miles of an Indian trading post known as Galphin's Old Town, or Galphinton, on the Ogeechee River in what is now Jefferson County. George Galphin had established a trading post at the site two decades earlier. The commission was authorized to purchase 1,000 acres for the new -
Yazoo Land Fraud
In 1795 one of Georgia’s worst political scandals took place - the Yazoo Land Fraud. At that time, Georgia’s legal boundary extended west to the Mississippi River. Many state leaders wanted to open this area to settlement, but Creeks, Cherokees, and other Native Americans lived there. If they could be persuaded to leave, then whites could settle the large expanse of land, greatly increasing Georgia’s population, and bringing profit to those who sold the land. -
missouri compromise
In the years leading up to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, tensions began to rise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions within the U.S. Congress and across the country. They reached a boiling point after Missouri’s 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state, which threatened to upset the delicate balance between slave states and free states. To keep the peace, Congress orchestrated a two-part compromise, granting Missouri’s request but also admitting Maine as a free state. -
international cotton exposition
In the late nineteenth century, fairs and expositions were an important way for cities to attract
This engraving shows the 1887 Piedmont Exposition's main building. Located in Atlanta's Piedmont Park, the structure was 570 feet long, 126 feet wide, and two stories high. The Exposition opened on October 10 to nearly 20,000 visitors.
1887 Piedmont Exposition Main Building
visitors and investors who, in an era before radio and television, were eager to see new technological marvels on display. -
Tom Watson and POPULISTS
The public life of Thomas E. Watson is perhaps one of the more perplexing and controversial among Georgia politicians. In his early years he was characterized as a liberal, especially for his time. In later years he emerged as a force for white supremacy and anti-Catholic rhetoric. He was elected to the Georgia General Assembly (1882), the U.S. House of Representatives (1890), and the U.S. Senate (1920), where he served for only a short time before his death. Nominated by the Populist Party as i -
1906 Atlanta Race Riots
During the Atlanta race riot that occurred September 22-24, 1906, white mobs killed dozens of blacks, wounded scores of others, and inflicted considerable property damage. Local newspaper reports of alleged assaults by black males on white females were the catalyst for the riot, but a number of underlying causes lay behind the outbreak of the mob violence. -
Period: to
1906Atlanta Rqace Riots
During the Atlanta race riot that occurred September 22-24, 1906, white mobs killed dozens of blacks, wounded scores of others, and inflicted considerable property damage. Local newspaper reports of alleged assaults by black males on white females were the catalyst for the riot, but a number of underlying causes lay behind the outbreak of the mob violence. -
eli whitney and the cotton gin
the implement or machine used to pull the cotton fibers from the seed. Each fiber grows from the seed like hairs from the head. There are two basic types—the black-seed cotton, from which the fibers pull away rather easily, and the green-seed cotton, from which it is difficult to free the fibers. North American colonists commonly used the roller gin, adapted from the "churka" of India, with which cotton fibers were pulled from the seed by -
dahlonega gold rush
There are several popular stories of the beginning of Georgia's gold rush;
Benjamin Parks is said by some to be the person who discovered gold in Georgia.
Benjamin Parks
but in fact, no one is really certain who made the first discovery or when. According to one anecdote, John Witheroods found a three-ounce nugget along Duke's Creek in Habersham County (present-day White County). Another says that Jesse Hogan, a prospector from North Carolina, found gold on Ward's Creek near Dahlonega. Yet anot -
worcester v georgia
In the 1820s and 1830s Georgia conducted a relentless campaign to remove the Cherokees, who held territory within the borders of Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee at the time. In 1827 the Cherokees established a constitutional government. The Cherokees were not only restructuring their government but also declaring to the American public that they were a sovereign nation that could not be removed without their consent. An infuriated Georgia legislature responded by purporting to ex -
trail of tears
A journey west. To settlers it meant expanding horizons. Hope. Dreams of riches and a new life. To the Cherokee Nation the journey west was a bitter pill forced upon them by a state and federal government that cared little for their culture or society, and even less about justice. It is a travesty and tragedy of both our Georgia history and our American heritage that forced the Cherokee west along a route they called "The Trail of Tears."
