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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing) 6 0 Browse Search
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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Amelia Island, (search)
Amelia Island, An island at the mouth of the St. Mary River, near the boundary between Georgia and Florida. In the summer of 1817 Gregor McGregor, styling himself Brigadier-general of the armies of New Granada and Venezuela, and general-in-chief employed to liberate the provinces of both the Floridas. commissioned by the supreme councils of Mexico and South America, took possession of this island. His followers were a band of adventurers which he had collected in Charleston and Savannah; and when he took possession he proclaimed a blockade of St. Augustine. In the hands of these desperadoes the island was soon converted into a resort of buccaneering privateers under the Spanish-American flag, and a depot for smuggling slaves into the United States. Another similar establishment had been set up on Galveston Island, off the coast of Texas, under a leader named Aury. This establishment was more important than that on Amelia Island, as well on account of numbers as for the great
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Georgia, (search)
ployed by Oglethorpe, and peace was restored. Slavery was prohibited in the colony, and the people murmured. Many settlements were abandoned, for tillers of the soil were few. Finally, in 1750, the restrictions concerning slavery were removed: and in 1752, the trustees having surrendered their charter to the crown. Georgia became a royal province, with privileges similar to the others. A General Assembly was established in 1755, and in 1763 all the lands between the Savannah and St. Mary rivers were, by royal proclamation, annexed to Georgia. The colony prospered from the time of the transfer to the crown. The Georgians sympathized with their Northern brethren in their political grievances, and bore a conspicuous part in the war for independence. A State constitution was adopted by a convention on Feb. 5, 1777, and Georgia took its place among the independent States of the Union, with Button Gwinnett (q. v.), one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, as acting
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Howe, Robert 1732- (search)
d, but without just cause. Among others whose voices were raised against him was Christopher Gadsden, of Charleston. Howe required him to deny or retract. Gadsden would do neither, and a duel ensued. They met at Cannonsburg, and all the damage either sustained was Robert Howe. a scratch upon the ear of Gadsden by Howe's ball. Howe died Nov. 12, 1785. In retaliation for incursions from Florida (q. v.), General Howe, at the head of 2,000 Americans, mostly militia of South Carolina and Georgia, attempted the capture of St. Augustine. He met with very little opposition before he reached the St. Mary River, where the British had erected a fort, called Tonyn, in compliment to the governor of the province. On the approach of Howe they destroyed the fort; and, after some slight skirmishing, retreated towards St. Augustine. But the Americans were driven back from Florida by a fever which swept away nearly one fourth of their number, and rendered their retreat absolutely necessary.