With the Declaration of Independence, the 13 American colonies began to wage war against the British government.
The only problem was that each of these colonies
had their own ideas of how to govern. How could they fight a war together if
they were not united?
What if they defeated the British? What then?
The Continental Congress was composed of delegates from each colony.
They had met together to draw up a declaration but there was nothing to
hold them together after the war began, only their common complaints against Great Britain.
They decided to draw up a document that would give them legal
authority to form a government. They would need the government when they
defeated the British. The Articles of Confederation were drawn up in 1777.
They were ratified by each state in 1781. They would serve as the nation's first constitution.
As stated in Article 3, it was a league of friendship between the states.
United by their desire for independence and freedom, thirteen states
combine to form the League of Friendship. Together they worked to provide for a central government.
It did not provide for a central government.
It was a loose partnership of states that promised to help each other when needed.
Georgia's first constitution approved in 1777 was simple, too. There were only eight
counties and only one house in the legislature.
There was a governor but he had no power. He served just one term.
The legislative branch had the real power and could override any of the governor's decisions.
The government also had a judicial branch, but this was only to decide
disputes between the counties and other cases of law within the state.
Within a few years, it was obvious that the problems between the states and in the
counties in Georgia were too complex to be handled by a loose confederation and no executive power.
Both the United States and the state of Georgia decided
they would have to have a central government.
Neither one had a strong executive branch having lived through a brutal
time dealing with the King of England, who was more of a tyrant than an administrator.
In 1787, each state sent representatives to Philadelphia to a
Constitutional Convention which met to write a new constitution and set up our government.
Georgia's representatives were Abraham Baldwin, William Few,
William Pierce, and William Houstoun.
Baldwin and Few would be the only ones to remain and sign the document when it was completed.
The Great Compromise was prompted by the votes of William Houstoun and Abraham
Baldwin on the question of equal representation of each state.
Houstoun voted to give large states more representatives.
Baldwin voted to give each state equal representation. Before Georgia voted there was a tie between
the other states, and after Georgia voted there was still a tie.
The result was a Great Compromise that created two houses of Congress: the Senate, which gave each
state equal representation, and the House, which gives representation to each state according to its population.
Georgia supported the Constitution with its
strong national government because of the state's conflicts with its Native
American population. The state needed protection along the frontier.
Native Americans were balking at allowing settlers to invade and make their homes
on Indian lands. Georgia was the newest and had the smallest population of any
state. They needed help from the other states to protect their property.
Georgia was also glad that the states were promised a Bill of Rights that
would keep the central government from overstepping its bounds and becoming too
strong. They wanted individual freedoms to be protected. By 1789 Georgia had a
new constitution and the United States Constitution had been ratified by the other states.
Georgia, the smallest of the thirteen states, had its protection on
the frontier and was destined for growth. As the state grew, so did its
representation in the new government. Since then, Georgia has become the
largest state east of the Mississippi River in terms of land acreage.
It has become a transportation hub and what many call the Empire State of the South.