Dissertation

Anglican missionaries in trustee era Georgia, 1732-1752

Allen, Garth Joseph

2016

Overview

Historians of the long eighteenth century have often debated the influence that the Anglican Church had on the English culture during this period. Many have asserted that the Anglican Church was simply a relic from a former time which no longer played a central role in English life. Others have claimed that the Anglican Church remained vibrant and influential throughout England and its colonies. I believe that the historical evidence strongly supports the claim that the Anglican Church exerted a robust influence on English culture during this era. I further claim that the Georgia Colony during the Trustee Era (1732-1752) serves as an excellent example of the influential role that the Anglican Church played in English culture during the eighteenth century. The Georgia Colony was founded by a group of men who were profoundly influenced by their Anglican Christian religion. There were seven Anglican priests that served as Trustees from 1732-1752. The Trustees of the Georgia Colony envisioned it as a place of refuge for the worthy poor of England and persecuted Protestants who wished to flee from the Catholic countries of the European continent. The Trustees committed to sending Anglican priests to Georgia as missionaries. These missionaries would provide religious services for the colonists, would seek to evangelize the local Indians and African slaves they encountered. The Trustees prohibited the use of alcoholic beverages in Georgia because of their negative effects on physical health and their tendency to dull peoples’ morals. In addition to this, the Trustees also forbade the colonists of Georgia to purchase and own slaves. The Trustees’ vision was thoroughly informed by their Anglican faith and can be discerned from the letters, journals, and other documents that they had written. Their vision was also promoted by several different people in their employ who wrote promotional pamphlets, letters, and journals. The Trustees gathered annually on the anniversary of the inception of the Georgia Trust and heard a sermon from an Anglican cleric in an Anglican church. These sermons were collected and printed and provide another source from which we can garner information about the Trustees’ vision for the colony. The Anglican priests who served as missionaries in the Georgia Colony served as agents of the Trustees and were entrusted with the task of bringing their vision to fruition. Over the course of twenty years, ten Anglican priests served in the Georgia Colony as missionaries. Many of these missionaries did not stay long in Georgia and had little discernible impact in establishing the vision of the Trustees. There were other difficulties, which the missionaries faced that the Trustees did not anticipate. After twenty years, the colony that the Trustees envisioned never materialized and they ceded control of Georgia to the English Parliament. Although the Georgia Colony did not succeed during the Trustee Era, the mere fact that the endeavor took place at all is evidence for the strength and influence of the Anglican Church during the long eighteenth century.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Religion / Religious history
• ISBN: 9781339740287, 1339740281