Founders envisioned Georgia as a ‘charity colony’: Untrue for millions today
On Thursday, Georgia celebrates the 293rd anniversary of its founding by British Gen. James Oglethorpe in 1733.
Georgians should be proud that the 13th British American colony has become a political and economic powerhouse. Thanks to a highly productive workforce, accommodating tax laws and strong public infrastructure, various news outlets have ranked Georgia as the best state for business in America.
Did you know, though, that Georgia’s founders envisioned our state as an experiment in both economic development and social welfare reform? Spurring economic growth to uplift the poor and downtrodden drove the innovative strategy that gave birth to the Georgia colony.
Oglethorpe and the early colony’s trustees would certainly celebrate our progress; however, they would be disappointed, if not appalled, by CNBC’s scathing review of the Peach State in its America’s Top States for Business study.
The authors of the 2025 report concluded that Georgia is a leading state for business (B ranking), but it ranks low in quality of life (F ranking).
Ga. was designed as a haven for debtors and ‘the unfortunate’
The Georgia colony was planned as an “asylum of the unfortunate,” where England’s “worthy poor” could earn a living exporting products from small farms. Oglethorpe and trustees sought to resolve socioeconomic problems troubling 18th-century British society. Farmland boundaries and Industrial Age technological advances have left tens of thousands of Britons unemployed and destitute.
In those days, creditors could legally have delinquent debtors incarcerated until their debts were satisfied. Serving in the British Parliament, the charismatic Oglethorpe chaired a special committee that investigated three debtor prisons. The committee uncovered widespread corruption among prison officials and inhumane living conditions for impoverished prisoners.
Four years before Oglethorpe established the Savannah settlement, he passed legislation that freed 10,000 debtor prisoners and made him a national hero. But these freed debtors had nowhere to go and joined thousands of homeless beggars who slept on the sidewalks of London and other cities.
Oglethorpe built support for a charity colony for former debtors, with opportunities for employment, financial stability and moral improvement. Slavery was banned because the founders believed it would prevent widespread economic growth. Georgia was the only British American colony to prohibit the enslavement of Black people prior to the American Revolutionary War.
The Georgia trustees planned to populate their new colony situated between the British colony of South Carolina and Spanish-controlled Florida by transporting 100 former debtor prisoners. Soon, though, they encouraged as many poor and persecuted colonists as possible to immigrate.
Rankings show Ga. has an uphill battle in the 21st century
Fast-forward to now. For 12 consecutive years, Georgia has earned the distinction of “top state for business” from Area Development magazine. The state is known as one of the most business-friendly in the country.
However, Georgia’s origin story — our historical DNA — expected economic growth to enhance the financial well-being of families on the margins of society. This support is a unique aspect of our heritage that’s woefully missing today.
Daily life for millions of Georgians — the unemployed and underemployed, women and children, the elderly and the uninsured — is growing increasingly bleak. Compared to other states, Georgia’s quality-of-life rankings are downright dismal:
- Georgia ranks 30th out of all 50 states in terms of cost of living (CNBC survey).
- WalletHub ranks Georgia 41st — among the worst states — to raise a family.
- Georgia ranks 39th in overall child well-being. We fell two spots after improving the seven previous years, which researchers called “a troubling reversal” (2025 Kids Count Data Book).
- Georgia’s maternal mortality rate is among the nation’s highest: 37.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, with 87% of deaths deemed preventable (State of the State of Maternal & Infant Health in Georgia report).
- Most tragically, Georgia’s infant mortality rate hovers above the national average at 7.1 per 1,000 live births, with stark disparities based on race and religion.
- More than 11% of Georgians are uninsured and our state ranks 40th in access to primary care and 48th in mental health services (CNBC survey).
- Researcher Charles Hayslett observes that rural Georgia has suffered a “breathtaking drop” in per capita income over the last 20 years (The Current GA).
Georgia’s business success cannot offset the perennial underperformance in these critical quality-of-life metrics.
As we approach the 300th anniversary of Georgia’s founding, our north star should be the visionary motto that guided Oglethorpe and his fellow trustees: Non sibi sed aliis (Latin for “Not for self, but for others”).
Our political, corporate and nonprofit leaders must transform the original vision for Georgia into a 21st-century call to action: All of our people — not just our businesses — deserve to thrive.
Mike Thurmond, the author of “James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia: A Founder’s Journey from Slave Trader to Abolitionist,” is a Democratic primary candidate for governor of Georgia.
