INTRODUCTION

This volume spans the years 1764-1782 and consists mainly of Governor James Wright’s correspondence with the Board of Trade. During Wright’s leave in England from 1771 to 1773, there are a few letters from President of the Council James Habersham, who acted in Wright’s stead in Georgia. There are also memorials and petitions to the Board of Trade and the King, royal Orders in Council, reports of the legal counsellors of the Board of Trade on Georgia’s laws, and miscellaneous documents.

Although this volume includes the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary years, it details mainly ordinary governmental affairs and life in Georgia. Governor Wright, the obvious leader until 1775, summed up his viewpoint about his job on February 4, 1764, when he wrote the Board of Trade that he would “in every respect Endeavor to acquit my Self in such a manner as I hope your Lordships will be of opinion becomes a faithful & vigilant servant of the Crown. “ The editors, one of whom has known and worked with Wright for thirty years, are in agreement that this was Wright’s greatest endeavor.

The topics which loom large in this volume show a great deal about life and problems in Georgia and the concern of Georgians, especially of Governor Wright. The biggest item is undoubtedly expansion, There is Wright’s work in England to secure the approval for the 1773 Indian cession and the actual granting and settling of the lands of both the 1763 and 1773 Indian cessions. Helping to bring in new settlers was important; but Wright was more concerned with the 90,000 acres granted south of the Altamaha River by Governor Boone of South Carolina in 1763 before this area was added to Georgia. Wright resented these grants, the fact that the grantees did not settle them or pay taxes on them, and the fact that the Board of Trade took a legalistic approach to the rights of the grantees whenever Georgia tried to force them to live up to the law.

Although the Bosomworth affair, which took up so much of the last several volumes, was ended before this volume begins, it continues in the several memorials of Isaac Levy who was attempting to get some settlement from the Bosomworths for the financial backing he had given them.

An excellent overall picture of Georgia through Wright’s eyes is given in his answers to queries from the Board of Trade of 1762 as amended in 1766.

Wright would have made the Georgia Trustees happy with his continual concern to expand and improve the silk culture in Georgia. The weather and the “seed “ were never quite good enough, but Wright was always hopeful for the next year. Instead of the additional help from London for which the Governor continually asked, the bounty was effectively ended by 1770. This, plus revolt in the 1770s, finally ended the Trustees’ hopes of great silk production in Georgia.

There is some concern in Wright’s letters about pre-revolutionary activities, 1765-1775, especially the Stamp and Townshend Acts and the increasing desire for freedom of action on the part of the Georgia Commons House of Assembly. The years 1776-1782 contain only a few miscellaneous documents, not all of which are connected with revolt and fighting.

Hence the theme of this volume is expansion rather than revolt. For most Georgians until 1776, this was undoubtedly their main concern!

Editorial Guidelines

The original volume division and internal arrangement created by Allen D. Candler and Lucian Lamar Knight, the original editors of this series, are retained. This will facilitate references in works already published which used these volumes in manuscript.

Original spellings are retained unless the meaning is not clear. A single word may be explained in brackets immediately after its appearance in the text. More lengthy explanations will be given in footnotes. Punctuation, often absent in eighteenth-century manuscripts, has been supplied for the sake of clarity, though many sentences are long by modern standards. All raised letters have been lowered, abbreviations that are not clear have been expanded, and slips of the pen have been corrected silently. No attempt at uniform spelling, even of proper names, has been made; rather the original text has been followed. For proper names a single most common spelling has been used in the index.

Each document is given a short introduction which contains the name of the writer and recipient, place written, date written, date received and/or read by the Board of Trade where indicated, Public Record Office location if available, and the topic or topics in the documents.