Georgia

Chartered in 1732 and settled the next year by James Oglethorpe, Georgia was the last of the thirteen colonies founded — conceived as a fresh start for the "worthy poor" and a military buffer between the Carolinas and Spanish Florida. Its early bans on slavery and rum did not last.

Georgia's coast saw hard fighting in the Revolution, including the British capture of Savannah. The colony ratified the U.S. Constitution as the fourth state, in January 1788.