Antebellum

The period encompassing the decades before the Civil War shows two distinctly American societies diverging both economically and ideologically. As the North grew into an industrial powerhouse, it continued to benefit from the South’s primarily agrarian system, built on a foundation of forced labor. These profoundly different cultures and perspectives would eventually clash in the War Between the States.

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Some slaves made the dream of freedom a reality when they joined the Underground Railroad

A Tour of the Underground Railroad

Savannah tour guide Ogbanna explains the Underground Railroad and the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, established in 1773. Murry Dorty of the Coastal Heritage Society explains how songs had hidden meanings to help and inspire runaways along the way.

Slaves came to Georgia bringing nothing more than memories from their African homeland.

A Trip to Hog Hammock

Just a short ferry boat ride away from the Georgia coast lies Hog Hammock, an African-American community on Sapelo Island with cultural traditions that tie it to Africa. Cornelia Bailey, a descendant of slaves who worked the plantations on Sapelo, imagines the terrible sadness her ancestors felt knowing they were so far away from home with no way to return. Today the residents of Hog Hammock are recognized for the African cultural traditions they pass on, such as making baskets, cast nets, and the unique music of the Sea Island Singers.

The Crafts, fugitive slaves and authors of the book Running A Thousand Miles For Freedom.

Escaping Slavery: The Story of William and Ellen Craft

Explained by Dr. John Inscoe of the New Georgia Encyclopedia and Dr. Barbara McCaskill, William and Ellen Craft's daring escape from slavery involved Ellen Craft posing as a white slaveholder with her light skin and William posing as her body servant. Their perilous journey took them through major east coast cities north to Philadelphia then Boston. After escaping to freedom, they traveled widely in the United States as abolitionists.

It took the steam powered locomotive to bring about a transportation revolution.

From River to Rail: Georgia's Transportation History

In the early 1800s there were no reliable means of transportation. Waterways were the easiest routes and most of Georgia’s larger cities grew up along rivers. Michelle Gillespie at Agnes Scott College and Lesa Campbell of the Southeastern Railway Museum explain how it took the steam powered locomotive to bring about a transportation revolution in Georgia.

Today if you drive through Georgia in the summer, you will pass miles and miles of cotton

Making Cotton Pay

John Johnson, Director of Interpretation and Education at the Agrirama in Tifton, explains the economic impact of going from one person able to seed one pound of cotton a day to Eli Whitney's cotton gin seeding 50 pounds of cotton a day. Dr. Jerry DeVine of Albany State College notes that the increase in cotton production saw a parallel increase in slavery. Slaves and land were the two greatest forms of wealth in Georgia, with more money invested in slaves than land.

African slaves brought with them a strong oral tradition of storytelling

The Roots of Uncle Remus

Storyteller Akbar Imhotep entertains visitors to Joel Chandler Harris’s Atlanta home, Wren’s Nest, explaining how African slaves brought with them a strong oral tradition of storytelling, especially trickster tales, and told them in the evenings when the work was done. These folktales were recorded by Joel Chandler Harris and known as the Uncle Remus stories when published.

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Social Studies

Change and Conflict

As Georgia transitioned from colony to state, settlers expanded west into the interior of the southern United States searching for land and freedom. They increasingly came into conflict with groups like the Creek and Cherokee. Eventually conflict led to the forced removal of native groups as Georgia grew into the Antebellum era, expanding a plantation and slave economy and subsequently allying itself with the Confederate States of America. Secession from the Union brought devastating consequences during the Civil War with Georgia’s cities and economy being ravaged by invading armies, leaving behind the ashes of a proud state.