Where have you gone…James Oglethorpe?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Woo, woo, woo

Those aren’t the lyrics but they are timely because the eyes of the nation are focused on the U.S. Senate races in Georgia, which was founded as a Utopian scheme by Oglethorpe, an 18th century social reformer who is the focus of today’s #stampoftheday.

Born December 22, 1696, Oglethorpe is pictured on a 3-cent stamp issued in February 1933 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the settlement of Georgia. Born to a prominent British family, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1722 and had an undistinguished career until 1728 when one of his friends, who had been jailed for unpaid debts, died after he was unable to pay then-required fees for room and board and was instead thrown into a cell with a prisoner who had smallpox.

Upset by this turn of events, Oglethorpe chaired a parliamentary committee to investigate the jails, work that led several important reforms. But, he soon concluded, these did not address the underlying problems that forced so many debtors into jail. So he and several colleagues began exploring the possibility of creating a new colony in America where, if given a chance, England’s “worthy poor” could become self-sufficient farmers, merchants, and artisans. While Oglethorpe hadn’t identified a location for this effort, it soon became clear that the government would support creation of a colony that would serve as a buffer between prosperous South Carolina and Florida, which was controlled by Spanish forces that welcomed runaway slaves.

It took two years to get needed funds and authorization but finally in 1732, King George II granted the needed charter to a group of 21 trustees, who included Oglethorpe. When the trustees began interviewing potential colonists, they looked for people with the needed skills and downplayed the idea of Georgia being a haven for debtors. As a result, none of 114 people who sailed with Oglethorpe in November 1732 was a formerly jailed debtor.

Nevertheless, Oglethorpe still wanted the new colony to be a just and equitable place. To do so, he established three particular notable guidelines for the new settlement. First, each settler received three plots of land totaling 50 acres: a lot in town a home, a garden plot near the town, and a 45-acre site for farming farther from town (where, Oglethorpe hoped, settlers would raise silkworms and grow grapes for wine). Self-supporting colonists could obtain additional 50-acre grants, but these were tied to the number of indentured servants supported by the grantee. And those servants would receive a land grant of their own upon completing their term of service. Otherwise, no one was permitted to acquire additional land through purchase or inheritance.

Second, for several reasons, no slavery was permitted. To begin with, Oglethorpe feared that allowing slavery would work against the colony’s role as a buffer because the Spanish were willing to give freedom to rebellious slaves. He also felt that slavery would have a negative effect on “the manners and morality of Georgia’s white inhabitants”. And finally, since Georgia was not intended to have massive plantations, he didn’t think slaves weren’t needed for its economic success.

Third, the towns themselves would be laid out according to a detailed plan that called for a distinctive street network with repeating squares of residential blocks, commercial blocks, and small green parks to create integrated, walkable neighborhoods. This is the basic layout that makes Savannah so appealing. And it’s one that has been widely hailed by many urbanists, such as Edmund Bacon, the great 20th century planner and architect, who called it “one of the finest diagrams for city organization and growth in existence.”

In addition, although it was not envisioned in the early planning, once in the New World. Oglethorpe successfully pushed for opening up the new colony to Jews, Lutherans, and other persecuted religious minorities. He also had what appears to have been a fairly enlightened approach to relations with Native Americans.

Despite his efforts, in 1737 Oglethorpe concluded that “the greatest part of those who have already gone [to Georgia] are nothing but miserable ones both as to their manners and as to their fortunes.” And those residents were not enamored by Oglethorpe’s many rules (including a ban on alcohol). Oglethorpe’s plans to cultivate silk in the colony failed because the trees in Georgia were the wrong type for this work. The alcohol ban was openly flouted. Some residents complained that the ban on land sales meant some citizens received fertile land while others were stuck with less productive sites. Finally, with the end of the Spanish threat and the continued success of the Carolinas, there was growing pressure to permit slavery.

For all these reasons, in 1751, Parliament lifted the slavery ban and a year later King George revoked the original charter and made Georgia a royal colony. By that time Oglethorpe had long abandoned the Georgia experiment. He moved back to England in 1743, served in the House of Commons until he was defeated in 1754, in part, apparently, because he supported the Jewish Naturalization Act, a controversial short-lived law passed in 1753.

In his later years, Oglethorpe became friends with various literary figures in London, including Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, and Oliver Goldsmith. And he lived long enough to tell John Adams, the first US ambassador to Great Britain that he had “great esteem and regard for America.”

From a distance, Oglethorpe’s story seems to embody the paradox that Georgia has long presented. At its best, this is the state that gave us John Lewis, Stacy Abrams, and even Brad Raffensperger, the rare Republican who believes in counting all the votes. And at its worst, it’s the state that gave us Lester Maddox, Herman Talmadge, a QAnon-supporting Congresswomen-elect, a vote-suppressing governor, and vote-denying Republican Senate candidates running overtly racist campaigns.

Here’s hoping that somewhere, the ghost of James Oglethorpe is alive and living and reminding the state’s residents of their better angels and dreams. Woo, woo, woo indeed.

Be well, stay safe, fight for justice, and work for peace.