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Laissez Faire in Georgia, 1732–18601

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Milton S. Heath
Milton S. Heath
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina
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Extract

It is necessary to indicate at the outset the general character of the historical material with which this paper deals. I have been able to discover in this period of Georgia's history almost no advocacy or discussion of the doctrine of laissez faire as such. On the other hand, one finds much discussion of private and public enterprise which, if removed from the context of events, would seem to involve most of the commonly accepted tenets of laissez faire. Lastly, there are the main currents of social action, which, upon investigation, are found to have comprised a varying mixture of private and public activities. It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the logic of the social policy which directed these currents simply by observing the varying proportions of private and public action; it would be necessary first to go behind the action and study both the ends and the means. In the limited space allotted to this paper, it is possible to present only the barest outlines of the more important events and discussions in which the issue of public interference or of private versus public action arose. Interpretations and evaluations must be left, for the most part, to additional studies

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 3 , Supplement S1 , 1943 , pp. 78 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1943

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References

2 Colonial Records of Georgia (A. D. Candler, editor), I, 396; IV, 11–12, 59–60.

3 Ibid., I, 345–6, 530–33; IV, 29–30, 48–50, 242–4, 390; XXII, Pt. I, 67.

4 Ibid., II, 7, 227–8.

5 Ibid., IV, 11–15, 59–60, 201, 208, 282, 465–91.

6 Ibid., I, 396; IV, 111, 242–4.

7 Ibid., I, 530–3, 544.

8 James Habersham, “Letters,” Collections of Georgia Historical Society, VI, 30–33—hereafter cited as Collections.

9 Ibid., 71–73.

10 Ibid., 80. Habersham came to Georgia with Rev. George Whitefield in 1737; he managed Whitefield's Orphan House for 7 years; he entered the mercantile business in 1744 and rose to be the colony's leading merchant; he became a councillor and secretary of the Province in 1754, and served as governor in Wright's absence, 1771–73; he owned several plantations and 198 slaves.

11 S. H. Sutherland, Population Distribution in Colonial America, 254–73.

12 Colonial Records of Georgia, XIX, Pt. II, 56, 128, 145, 243, 290–2.

13 William Schley, Digest of the English Statutes of Force in Georgia, 163–183.

14 Joseph Clay, Letter to John W. Stanley, Jan. 24, 1783 (Collections, v. VIII).

15 Ibid., Letter to Robert Dillon, April 24, 1784; Georgia Laws, 1784–1705; Augusta Chronicle, Sept. 15, 1792, “Grand Jury Proceedings”; ibid., Sept. 11, 1792, “Land Grants offered for sale”; ibid., Aug. 8, 1793, “Lands listed for sale for taxes”; ibid., Aug. 2. 1794, “Lands listed for sale for taxes.” A number of northern men, including Robert Morris, were included among the large speculators in Georgian lands at this time.

16 Clay, Letter to Noel Fanning, April 23, 1783; to John Wright, Feb. 17, 1734; to John Wilcock, April 24, 1784; to Robert Dillon, April 24, 1784; to Gen. Cotesworth Pinckney, 1790 (Collections, v. VIII).

17 Articles on land laws, Augusta Chronicle, Sept. 15, 1792; August 7, 14, 21, 18, 1802.

18 Laws of Georgia, February 13, 1796.

19 Art. I, sec. 23.

20 Cession was ratified by Georgia. Laws of Georgia, June 16, 1802.

21 Laws of Georgia, March 11, 1803.

22 “The Fraction Scandal,” Augusta Chronicle, August 20, 1808.

23 Joseph Clay, Letter to J. W. Stanley, Jan. 24, 1783 (Collections, v. VIII).

24 Clay to Cornelius Coppinger, Feb. 8, 1783 (op. cit.).

25 Tariff on tobacco not manufactured in U. S., $1 per lb.; all other goods not manufactured in U. S., 21/2% ad valorem; tonnage tax on British vessels, 2/0 per ton; others 0/9; negroes 30/0; revenue duties on 22 enumerated items, or groups; 25% rebate of duties on all goods imported in vessels built in Georgia, 10% if built in other states of U. S.; 15% deduction for importation of specie to pay duties; subsidies on all distilled liquors produced in Georgia equal to amount of duties on imported liquors (Act of March 13, 1786), Colonial Records, XIX, Pt. II, 498–515.

26 Acts of Georgia, March 10, 1787.

27 Colonial Records, XIX, 204–8.

28 Ibid., Pt. II, 245–8.

29 Revolutionary Records of Georgia, III, 393–7.

30 Colonial Records, XIX, Pt. II, 380–94. The four public warehouses designated were: one at the mouth of the Broad River above Augusta, one at Augusta, one near Savannah, and one at the mouth of the Ogeechee River.

31 Acts of Georgia, 1786–1800.

32 Ibid., December 23, 1791.

33 Colonial Records, XVIII, 430–2, 774–80, 797–9; XIX, 14–22, 70, 93, 153–5; XIX, Pt. II, 33–5, 38–44, 243–8; Acts of Georgia, December 16, 1794; February 2, 1798; December 5, 1799; December 5, 1801.

34 Ibid., February 21, 1796; January 24, 1797.

35 The last promotional regulations were enacted in 1816. They soon became dead letters.

36 Colonial Records, I, 430.

37 Ibid., XIII, 616–19; XVIII, 80–6, 515–25, 570–77; XIX, 45–6, 113–37; XIX, Pt. II, 8–23, 243–8.

38 Clayton, Compiled Statutes of Georgia, Nos. 110, 220, 316, 338; Lamar, Acts of Georgia, Nos. 372–5, 389–92, 701–8; Dawson, Acts of Georgia, No. 1469; “Ordinance to Regulate Market,” Augusta Chronicle, Nov. 25, 1818.

39 The assize of bread, for example, was still being published in Augusta during 1817, but it appears to have been discontinued after that year.

40 Georgia Laws, May 23, 1808.

41 Many articles and grand-jury presentments against the stay laws appeared in the Savannah and Augusta newspapers.

42 Augusta Chronicle, Oct. 29, 1808.

43 Senate and House Journals, Georgia Legislature, 1814; “Alleviating Act,” Augusta Herald, Dec. 1, 1814.

44 Georgia Laws, November 22, 1814.

45 Georgia had no supreme court until 1846. The superior courts had final jurisdiction. Under the original setup provided by the constitution of 1777, the chief justice of the State held superior court in each county and the lower house of the legislature was given review power. Under later revisions of the constitution, superior court districts were provided with separate superior court judges for each district. Each court became a law unto itself. See Messages to Legislature, Governor Troup, 1824–1827; Governor Forsyth, 1828.

46 Senate Journal, 1814, 33.

47 Augusta Herald, April 21, 1814.

48 The court gave its decision on Jan. 13, 1815; it was printed in the Augusta Herald, Jan. 19, 1815. Judge Berrien reviewed the history of the case and the decision before the Chatham grand jury at the April term, 1815 (Augusta Herald, May 4, 1815).

49 Georgia Laws, December 12, 1815.

50 “Messages,” Senate Journal, 1820, 1823.

51 “Message,” Senate Journal, 1824.

52 “Message,”Senate Journal, 1831.

53 Colonial Records, XIX, Pt. II, 419–33; 513–4; Georgia Laws relating to Savannah, 1787–1825, especially acts of: Feb. 10, 1787; Feb. 18, 1796; Dec. 4, 1799; Nov. 26, 1802; Dec. 12, 1803; Dec. 2, 1805; Nov. 29, 1806; Nov. 24, 1807; Dec. 4, 1815; Dec. 23, 1822; Dec. 19, 1823; Dec. 24, 1825.

54 Superior Court Justice Carleton found it necessary in 1805 to make a ruling that the Superior Court of the Southern District did have final jurisdiction over the Mayor's Court in Savannah. Walter Roe vs. Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, Georgia Reports Annotated, 1, 16.

55 Governor Troup's message, Senate Journal, 1827.

56 Ibid.

57 21st Congress, 2d Sess., Exec. Doc, No. 140.

58 “Internal Improvements,”Savannah Republican, May 9, 1831.

59 Governor Lumpkin's message, Senate Journal, 1834. This view was widely expressed at the time.

60 “An Internal Improvement Appeal to Governor Troup,” Savannah Republican, March 5, 1824.

61 Governor Forsyth's message, Senate Journal, 1829; Governor Lurapkin to Cuthbert Reese, Letter Books, 1831–33, 106; to Col. Wm. C. Lyman, ibid., 228–9.

62 Report of Board of Public Works to the Legislature, Nov. 10, 1826; reprinted in Savannah Republican, Nov. 17, 1826.

63 Laws of Georgia, 1828. The majorities for the bank in the legislature were approximately the same as those by which Governor Early's veto of the stay law in 1814 was over-ridden, and the territorial distribution of the vote was much the same, after allowing for the increase in area and the number of counties.

64 Message,Senate Journal, 1829.

65 Southern Agriculturist, I (1828), 108–9, 433–5; The Plantation, I (1860), 346–7. Also, E. M. Coulter, Thomas Spaulding of Sapelo, passim.

66 The Georgia Railroad, Central of Georgia Railroad, and Monroe Railroad; Georgia Laws, 1833.

67 Georgia Laws, 1836.

68 The characteristics and general outlines of the project had been taking form over the preceding twenty years. They were first stated concretely in the Report of the Board of Public Works, 1826 (op. cit.). Thereafter they rapidly developed into final form through the actions of conventions, discussions, writings, and a great number of speeches.

69 Message to legislature, Senate Journal, 1836.

70 Governor Gilmer's message (ibid.), 1839.

71 Georgia Laws, 1837; ibid., 1838; Report of Committee on Banks, Senate Journal, 1838, 120; Minority Report of Joint Committee, House Journal, 1841, 436; Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, July 30, Sept. 27, 1845.

72 Georgia Laws, 1838.

73 Georgia Laws, 1839. This move was strongly urged by Governor Schley (a Democrat) in 1837.

74 Report of Central Bank, 1840; reprinted in Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, Nov. 23, 1840.

75 Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, 1840–45.

76 Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, July 10, 1845; “Central Bank,” ibid., Aug. 15, 1845.

77 House Journal, 1839. The list of signers included Millen, Tombs, and Alexander H. Stephens.

78 Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, July 12, 15, 16, 24, 1845.

79 Whig Party Statement, 1845; reprinted in the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, Aug. 28, 1845.

80 Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, Aug. 14, Sept. 9, 1845.

81 “Crisis of the Country,” Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, Sept. 1, 1840.

82 Statements by White, Wm. B., Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, May 10, 20, June 23, 1841.Google Scholar

83 Various acts: Georgia Laws, 1843–1854.

84 Georgia Lews, 1855–1856, No. 108, Feb. 27, 1856.

85 Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, July 30, 1845.

86 “Calhourn,” Federal Union, Dec. 22, 1857, and succeeding issues of this newspaper.

87 Federal Union, November 30, 1858.