USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Although the Georgia Trustees originally envisioned the new Georgia colony as a second chance for debtors in British jails, the geographic location was also ideal to defend the British colonies from Spain, which occupied Florida to the south.

Detailed explanation-2: -From an imperial viewpoint, Georgia functioned as buffer zone between British settlements and their imperial rivals; the new colony was to be a garrison province that would defend the British, especially from Spanish Florida.

Detailed explanation-3: -Initially conceived by Oglethorpe as a refuge for London’s indebted prisoners, Georgia became a buffer for England against Spanish Florida. In 1742, the Spanish invaded Georgia and lost what would be their last attack on East Coast British colonies.

Detailed explanation-4: -Q: Eighteenth-century Georgia was really just King George’s penal colony, right? A: Georgia wasn’t penal in the strict sense, like Devil’s Island in French Guiana. But as conceived by its founder James Oglethorpe and his trustees in London, Georgia was expressly built on the theory of work release.

Detailed explanation-5: -Although many believe that the colony was formed for the imprisoned, the colony was actually formed as a place of no slavery. Oglethorpe did have the vision to make it a place for debtors, but it transformed into a royal colony.