On November 17, 1732, James Edward Oglethorpe and approximately 114 passengers left Gravesend, England, for Georgia on the frigate Anne. When the colonists set off, there was no one from debtor’s prison on board—despite what most believe about the colonists who first settled Georgia.

It took the Anne two months to travel from England to America. They stopped first in Charleston, South Carolina, and then proceeded further south to Port Royal, South Carolina. Here the colonists waited while Oglethorpe ventured ahead with Carolina Rangers to pinpoint the spot where they would settle. They traveled all this way without knowing exactly where they would be living! However, it did not take Oglethorpe too long to locate Yamacraw Bluff, a stretch of land one mile long overlooking the Savannah River. By February 12*, Oglethorpe had gathered all of the colonists at Yamacraw Bluff, and the group set about creating temporary shelters and laying out the new city.

Oglethorpe imagined the Georgia colony to be an ideal agrarian society; he opposed slavery and allowed people of all religions to settle in Savannah even though the charter stated that Catholics and Jewish people were not allowed. Oglethorpe defied this provision of the charter and allowed a group of Jewish people to settle in Savannah during the summer of 1733. In addition to his religious tolerance, Oglethorpe worked with and respected the local Indian tribes. He established a relationship with the Yamacraw Creeks, protecting them from traders who wanted to take advantage of them and settling land disputes with treaties.

Oglethorpe also established a ten-acre garden to the east of the city called Trustee’s Garden. The experimental garden belonged to the Trustees of the colony and was modeled after medicinal and botanical gardens in England. This garden would have plants to be used in medicines and plants for raw materials to make luxury goods, such as mulberry trees to feed the silkworms that the Trustees hoped would thrive in Georiga. Oglethorpe also grew orange trees, apple trees, pear tree, olives, figs, pomegranates, and other fruits that grew well in the warm climate.

But the early days of the colony were soon overshadowed by the threat from the Spanish. Oglethorpe found himself thinking more and more about how he could protect the citizens of the colony from an invasion from the Spanish. He repeatedly asked Parliament and the Trustees back in England for more resources to protect the colony. Often Parliament and the Trustees didn’t provide enough money and resources, and Oglethorpe used his own money to provide everything the colony needed. He knew he could lose everything if the colony didn’t succeed, but he had confidence in the final outcome.

In 1737, on a trip to England, Oglethorpe persuaded King George to make him a colonel in the British army and give him a regiment of soldiers to bring back to Savannah. Oglethorpe had minimal military experience, but he got what he wanted and found himself in charge of protecting not only Georgia but also South Carolina against the Spanish forces to the south.