James Oglethorpe, father of Georgia : a founder's journey from slave trader to abolitionist / Michael L. Thurmond ; [foreword by James F. Brooks].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thurmond, Michael L., author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Oglethorpe, James, 1696-1785.

Oglethorpe, James.

Slaveholders--Georgia--Biography.

Slaveholders.

Abolitionists--Georgia--Biography.

Abolitionists.

Governors--Georgia--Biography.

Governors.

Equiano, Olaudah, 1745-1797--Influence.

Equiano, Olaudah.

Diallo, Ayuba Suleiman, 1701-1773--Influence.

Diallo, Ayuba Suleiman.

Georgia--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

Georgia.

Slave trade--Great Britain--History.

Slave trade.

Royal African Company.

Diallo, Ayuba Suleiman, 1701-1773.

Equiano, Olaudah, 1745-1797.

Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Great Britain.

Genre:

Biographies

History

Physical Description:

xiv, 241 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Father of Georgia

Founder's journey from slave trader to abolitionist

Place of Publication:

Athens : The University of Georgia Press, [2024]

Summary:

"Founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12, 1733, the Georgia colony was envisioned as a unique social welfare experiment. Administered by twenty-one original trustees, the Georgia Plan offered England's "worthy poor" and persecuted Christians an opportunity to achieve financial security in the New World by exporting goods produced on small farms. Most significantly, Oglethorpe and his fellow Trustees were convinced that economic vitality could not be achieved through the exploitation of enslaved Black laborers. Due primarily to Oglethorpe's strident advocacy, Georgia was the only British American colony to prohibit chattel slavery prior to the American Revolutionary War. His outspoken opposition to the transatlantic slave trade distinguished Oglethorpe from all of America's more celebrated founding fathers. James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia uncovers how Oglethorpe's philosophical and moral evolution from slave trader to abolitionist was propelled by his intellectual relationships with two formerly enslaved Black men. Oglethorpe's unique "friendships" with Ayuba Suleiman Diallo and Olaudah Equiano, two of eighteenth-century England's most influential Black men, are little-known examples of interracial antislavery activism that breathed life into the formal abolitionist movement. Utilizing more than two decades of meticulous research, fresh historical analysis, and compelling storytelling, Michael L. Thurmond rewrites the prehistory of abolitionism and adds an important new chapter to Georgia's origin story"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of illustrations

Foreword, by James F. Brooks

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: "No common slave". In the land of Christians

Worldly servitude and spiritual freedom

"Asilum of the unfortunate"

A scene of horror

"The labour of negros"

"The debatable land"

Diallo is a free man

Part II: A prohibition against slavery. "O God, where are thy tender mercies?"

The prophecy

The Stono rebellion

A fortress of freedom

Ten times worse than pagans

Arming enslaved soldiers

Part III: "Give me liberty or give me death!" A sincere lover of justice

"A very uncommon case"

"We hold these truths to be self-evident"

"An act of justice"

"Let my people go!"

Death at Ebenezer Creek

"Glory be to God, we are free!"

Lincoln's second inaugural address

Conclusion. The Oglethorpe Legacy: "The friend of the oppressed negro"

Appendix. Primary documents on enslavement and abolition.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-234)and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9780820366043

0820366048

OCLC:

1389607844