After the trustees had returned Georgia back to the king in 1752, Georgia faded away as a propietary colony (colony that is governed by a board of trustees) and became a royal colony (colony that was governed by the king himself). To improve the colony of Georgia, King George II set a royal governor within the colony to govern it for him. In all of Georgia's history, Georgia only had 3 royal governors until they had the rush to set their sights on independence.
The first royal governor of Georgia was the navy captain John Reynolds. When Reynolds came into office, he repealed all of the trustee laws that were made and made Georgia a successful colony due to the mass production of crops from all of that slave labor. A bicameral or two chamber legislature was also established at the time and the legislature would help out the governor. The lower house was the Commons House of Assembly where citizens that had up to 500 acres of land could be a member. The higher house was the Governor's Council who were chsen by the king. Reynolds came up with the idea of a self-government where the people had a bit more say in the government. This means that he will let the people help him run the colony the way it should be. He also developed the court system in Georgia. When people could not solve their problems, they would be sent to the Court of Conscience, and they would later be sent to the Governor's Council if the problem couldn't be solved in court. Reynolds got along with the Governor's Council, but one meeting about the colony's defenses changed it all. After that, the colonists didn't seem to like him anymore and he was later replaced.
The second royal governor of Georgia was Henry Willis. Unlike Reynolds, Willis had many skills that Reynolds never had and he had also helped Georgia. Willis made Georgia a very successful colony in economics because he allowed more and more slaves and larger plantations for Britain to make money off of. He became pretty popular and ws probably popular amongst the king for making him so rich. Reynolds really didn't make good relationships with other groups before, but Willis could. He brought many of these groups together and established some good relationships. Alas, he became ill in 1759 and asked the king if he could return to Britain. He was instead moved to Novia Scotia in 1761.
The first royal governor of Georgia was the navy captain John Reynolds. When Reynolds came into office, he repealed all of the trustee laws that were made and made Georgia a successful colony due to the mass production of crops from all of that slave labor. A bicameral or two chamber legislature was also established at the time and the legislature would help out the governor. The lower house was the Commons House of Assembly where citizens that had up to 500 acres of land could be a member. The higher house was the Governor's Council who were chsen by the king. Reynolds came up with the idea of a self-government where the people had a bit more say in the government. This means that he will let the people help him run the colony the way it should be. He also developed the court system in Georgia. When people could not solve their problems, they would be sent to the Court of Conscience, and they would later be sent to the Governor's Council if the problem couldn't be solved in court. Reynolds got along with the Governor's Council, but one meeting about the colony's defenses changed it all. After that, the colonists didn't seem to like him anymore and he was later replaced.
The second royal governor of Georgia was Henry Willis. Unlike Reynolds, Willis had many skills that Reynolds never had and he had also helped Georgia. Willis made Georgia a very successful colony in economics because he allowed more and more slaves and larger plantations for Britain to make money off of. He became pretty popular and ws probably popular amongst the king for making him so rich. Reynolds really didn't make good relationships with other groups before, but Willis could. He brought many of these groups together and established some good relationships. Alas, he became ill in 1759 and asked the king if he could return to Britain. He was instead moved to Novia Scotia in 1761.
After Willis, came the last governor of Georgia, James Wright. Wright was the most popular governor out of all 3 royal governors. He believed in the idea of self-governement and also believed that Georgia would be better if he expanded the farms and allowed more trade by opening up the west. He later did open up the west and had also completed the defenses around Savannah with palisades (fences made of stakes). By doing so, Wright had been able to raise Georgia's economy largely. As time went on, he still continued to be the popular governor. He even had the money to open up new schools, but all of this led to the creation of economical classes such as the crackers. The crackers were a group of upper classmen who usually insulted all of the lower classes. James Wright was later driven out of Georgia by the colonists because they wanted independence from Britain. They wanted independence because they resented the laws of the British.