monwealth existing within the limits of the State with the sovereign power of that State. The Supreme Court, in 1832, declared all such laws void, but its decision was disregarded by the State authorities. The Creeks were expelled in 1832, and in 1835 the Cherokees ceded to the United States all of the disputed territory, removing from the State in 1838.
The Whig Party was always strong in Georgia, and when the secession movement broke out there was a powerful Unionist element in the State. The radical party, however, prevailed, and, on January 19, 1861, a convention passed an ordinance of secession by 208 votes against 89. During the war the State bore more than its share of misfortune. (For military operations in Georgia, see Civil War.) Great commercial depression was followed by actual deprivation. In 1863 there was want in northern Georgia, and in 1864 the northwestern part of the State was laid waste, and scores of thousands were living on Government bounty. At the end of the war it was estimated that four-fifths of the public wealth had been destroyed. The arbitrary acts of the Confederate Congress had been resented by the State authorities, and as early as 1863 there was a large faction in favor of reconstruction. The State was under military rule until June, 1865. On October 30th a convention of delegates at Milledgeville repealed the ordinance of secession; on November 7th the war debt of the State was repudiated, and a new constitution adopted; and on December 5th the Legislature ratified the Thirteenth Amendment. In 1866, however, the Legislature refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and by the reconstruction acts of March, 1867, Georgia came once more under military rule. A constitutional convention assembled in December, 1867, and in April 25, 1868, a new constitution was adopted by popular vote. The Legislature chosen at the same time complied with the demands of the reconstruction acts, and elected United States Senators. In July General Meade declared civil government restored, but as the Legislature afterwards expelled its colored members, on the ground of ineligibility, and failed to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment (1869), the State was again excluded from Congress, and again subjected to military rule, under which the expelled negroes were reseated, and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments ratified, February, 1870. Georgia's representatives in Congress were not admitted till January, 1871. During this period trouble was caused by the Ku-Klux Klan (q.v.).
Business activity recommenced immediately after the war, and, owing to its splendid resources, the State prospered in spite of a long period of misgovernment. Under the wasteful administration of Rufus B. Bullock, Governor from 1868 to 1871, the public debt was increased from $5,000,000 to $16,000,000; the larger part of this debt was contracted through the fraudulent indorsement of railroad bonds, which the State later repudiated. Before 1880 charges of embezzlement were frequently brought against public officials, in particular against the State treasurers. Legislation during the period was concerned in great measure with railway affairs the railroads for the most part being under Government control. After 1880 economic development became especially marked as manufactures of cotton, iron, steel, and oil spread over the northern part of the State, and the mining of coal grew to large proportions. The Cotton Exposition of 1881, and the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1898, both held at Atlanta, testified to the prosperity of the State. The division of races continued clean-cut; and though there was no disposition among the better class of whites to hinder the negro in the exercise of his civil rights, political equality was begrudged him, and social equality absolutely denied. As late as 1891 the Legislature decreed that separate public conveyances be provided for whites and negroes, and as late as 1897 the appointment of a negro as postmaster was made impossible by public opinion. Instances of mob law and racial feud were frequent after 1894.
In national politics the State was Democratic throughout the nineteenth century, except in 1840 and 1848, when it cast its electoral vote for the Whig candidate. In State politics, Georgia, since 1874, has been immaculately Democratic, and since 1882 the Republicans have not participated in the State elections. From 1890 to 1898, however, the Populist Party was very powerful. The present Constitution was adopted in 1877, when Atlanta was made the capital.
| Colonial Governors | ||
| John Reynolds | 1754-57 | |
| Henry Ellis | 1757-60 | |
| James Wright | 1760-76 | |
| Archibald Bullock | (President of Georgia) | 1776-77 |
| Button Gwinnet | ““ | 1777 |
| State Governors | ||
| John A. Truetlen | 1777-78 | |
| John Houston | 1778-79 | |
| John Martin | 1782 | |
| Lyman Hall | 1783 | |
| John Houston | 1784 | |
| Samuel Elberr | 1785 | |
| Edward Telfair | 1786 | |
| George Matthews | 1787 | |
| George Handley | 1788 | |
| Under Federal Constitution | ||
| George Walton | Democratic-Republican | 1789-90 |
| Edward Telfair | ““ | 1790-93 |
| George Matthews | ““ | 1793-96 |
| Jared Irwin | ““ | 1796-98 |
| James Jackson | ““ | 1798-1801 |
| David Emanuel | ““ | 1801 |
| Josiah Tattnal | ““ | 1801-02 |
| John Milledge | ““ | 1802-06 |
| Jared Irwin | ““ | 1806-09 |
| David B. Mitchell | ““ | 1809-13 |
| Peter Early | ““ | 1813-15 |
| David B. Mitchell | ““ | 1815-17 |
| William Rabun | ““ | 1817-19 |
| Matthew Talbot | ““ | 1819 |
| John Clark | ““ | 1819-23 |
| George M. Troup | ““ | 1823-27 |
| John Forsyth | ““ | 1827-29 |
| George R. Gilmer | National Republican (later Whig) | 1829-31 |
| Wilson Lumpkin | Democrat | 1831-35 |
| William Schley | “ | 1835-37 |
| George R. Gilmer | Whig | 1837-39 |
| Charles J. Macdonald | Democrat | 1839-43 |
| George W. Crawford | “ | 1843-47 |
| George W. B. Towns | “ | 1847-51 |
| Howell Cobb | “ | 1851-53 |
| Herschel V. Johnson | “ | 1853-57 |
| Joseph E. Brown | “ | 1857-65 |
| James Johnson | “ | 1865 |
| Charles J. Jenkins | “ | 1865-67 |
| Gen. T. H. Ruger | Military | 1867-68 |
| Rufus B. Bullock | Republican | 1868-71 |
| Benjamin Conley | “ | 1871-72 |
| James M. Smith | Democrat | 1872-77 |
| Alfred H. Colquitt | “ | 1877-82 |
| Alexander H. Stephens | “ | 1882-83 |
| Henry D. McDaniel | “ | 1883-86 |
| John B. Gordon | “ | 1886-90 |
| William J. Northen | “ | 1890-94 |
| William Y. Atkinson | “ | 1894-99 |
| Allen D. Candler | “ | 1899-1903 |
| Joseph M. Terrel | “ | 1903 |
