potatoes, 23,000 acres, production 1,610,000 bushels, value $3,494,000; sweet potatoes, 142,000 acres, production 13,064,000 bushels, value $14,370,000; cotton, 5,288,000 acres, production 1,730,000 bales, value $309,670,000; tobacco, 31,000 acres, production 16,430,000 pounds, value $3,532,000.
Manufactures.—There were in 1914 4,639 manufacturing establishments in the State, employing 104,461 wage earners. The capital invested amounted to $258,326,000; the wages paid to $38,128,000; the value of materials used to $160,089,000; and the value of the finished product to $253,271,000. The manufacturing is principally carried on in Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Macon, and Columbus. The chief articles of manufacture are cotton goods, lumber-mill products, flour and grist, cotton-seed oil, foundry and machine shop products, fertilizers, naval stores, railroad cars, brick and tile, wagons and carriages, clothing, furniture, hosiery, and leather goods.
Banking.—In 1919 there were 93 National banks in operation, having $12,258,000 in capital, $10,422,000 in outstanding circulation and $50,875,000 in U. S. banks. There were also 653 State banks, with $29,264,000 capital and $21,485,000 surplus. In the year ending Sept. 30, 1920, the exchanges at the United States clearing-houses at Atlanta aggregated $3,204,770,000, an increase over the previous year of $1,855,484,000.
Education.—The school population in 1918 numbered 841,861. There were enrolled in the public schools 679,747 pupils, with an average daily attendance of 452,064. There were 15,172 teachers. The total fund paid for public schools was $7,619,267, and the total for educational purposes, including colleges and secondary schools, amounted to nearly $10,000,000. The institutions for higher education include the University of Georgia, at Athens; the Georgia School of Technology; and the North Georgia Agricultural College.
Churches.—The strongest denominations in the State are the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Episcopal.
Railways.—Tne railway mileage of the State in 1920 was about 7,400. There are about 500 miles of electric railway in the State.
Finances.—The receipts for the fiscal year 1918 were $7,686,445, and the disbursements $8,332,569. There was a balance on January 1, 1918, of $1,459,264, and on January 1, 1919, $813,139. The bonded debt of the State, in 1919, amounted to $5,918,202. The assessed valuation of real and personal property is about $1,000,000,000.
State Government.—The governor is elected for a term of two years. Legislative sessions are held annually beginning on June 25, and are limited to 50 days each. The Legislature has 51 members in the Senate and 193 in the House. There are 12 Representatives in Congress. The State government in 1921 was Democratic.
History.—Georgia was settled by a colony of 120 persons in 1733, under a patent granted to Oglethorpe, Whitefield, and the Wesleys, June 9, 1732. It was established as a barrier between the Spanish and Indians on the S. and the Carolinas on the N., and to provide a refuge for debtors, orphans, and other needy and destitute persons. In the war between England and Spain in 1739-1743, Oglethorpe made an alliance with the Creek Indians and led the combined troops of Carolina and Georgia in an invasion of Florida, and in 1742 he drove off the Spanish fleet that had attacked the forts on the Altamaha. After the peace, the Georgians demanded slaves, which had previously been prohibited. In 1752 the trustees surrendered the colony to the crown and negro slavery was introduced. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War Georgia, having few claims for redress and no charter on which to base them, hesitated to join the other colonies, and was not represented in the Constitutional Congress in 1774. In March, 1775, St. John's parish sent a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in July all the parishes sent representatives. On July 10, 1775, a schooner commissioned by Congress captured a British ship laden with powder off Savannah. In 1778 Georgia ratified the Articles of Confederation, and in the same year the British captured Savannah, and held it till the close of the war, despite attempts by the Americans and French to retake it. In 1779 Augusta and Sunbury were taken by the British.
The first State constitution was framed in February, 1777, and on Jan. 2, 1788, Georgia unanimously ratified the Constitution of the United States. The second State constitution was adopted in 1789, and a third, by which the importation of slaves was prohibited, in 1798. There was some difficulty with the Creeks and Cherokees in 1783-1790, but treaties of peace were concluded with them in 1790 and 1791. In 1802 the Creeks ceded what is now southwestern Georgia to the United States, which in turn ceded it to the State, receiving in exchange all the State's claims W. of the Chattahoochee, or what is now Alabama
