Interviewees:
-
Stan Deaton
- Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian, Georgia Historical Society
-
Christy Crisp
- Vice President of Education and Programs, Georgia Historical Society
Georgia’s politicians in 1776 uniformly supported the Declaration, with no recorded dissent. The colony had instructed its Continental Congress delegates—Gwinnett, Hall, and Walton—to support whatever the Congress determined was best for the common cause, and they did so. Georgia’s Revolutionary government appears to have received the Declaration without notable internal controversy. Beyond the immediate moment, the Revolution dramatically expanded the circle of political leadership: men like Elijah Clark, a backcountry militia leader who may not have been able to sign his own name, rose to military prominence and post-war political influence. Georgia’s 1777 constitution broadened voting and office-holding rights for white men significantly, accelerating changes that might otherwise have taken decades and bringing backcountry leaders and the common man into governance in ways the colonial system would never have permitted.
