Jun
09

June 9: Friends, Georgians, lend this an ear

James Edward Oglethorpe (1696-1785)

On June 9 1732 a British philanthropist received a royal charter to establish the colony of Georgia. James Edward Oglethorpe intended to settle the new land with English debtors from the overcrowded London prisons.

In the end it was the Scots who made up the bulk of the settlers. Oglethorpe, however, made the land available to many persecuted groups.

The quite liberal colony’s charter had only one flaw. It banned Catholicism. If the snub was intended to annoy Spanish Florida, it succeeded.

In 1740 the war broke out. This conflict was aptly named the War of Jenkins’ Ear. The ear belonged to an Englishman. As the story goes, he lost it to a Spanish custom’s official fond of amputations.

The war of the ear lasted nine years.

It ended in a draw.

To read the full story and more about Georgia’s history and that of Oglethorpe visit:  http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1058

You’ll be amazed at the richness of this obscure moment in history dusted off, with a light touch on Military Success Network.

James Oglethorpe courtesy of Georgia Info Digital Library of Georgia

 

By the way, Oglethorpe retired to live the life of a gentleman back in England with his wife Elizabeth. He eventually lived to see the colony that he founded become part of the United States of America.

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