THE GEORGIA FRONTIER IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD By SHANE ALAN RUNYON A ...

269 Pages·2005·1.19 MB·English

BORDERS AND RUMORS:
THE GEORGIA FRONTIER IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD

By

SHANE ALAN RUNYON

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2005
Copyright 2005

by

Shane Alan Runyon
This dissertation is dedicated to Stacy and the gatitos. Thanks for the patience.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When I began working on this project I knew the endeavor would take time,
but I never imagined how much time it would take. Despite the additional hours,
weeks, and months this project would not have been completed without the
assistance of my committee and colleagues.
First, I would like to thank Dr. Jon Sensbach (my supervisory committee
chair) for the hours he spent on this dissertation. His support and calming
reassurance made this process much easier than I ever imagined. I would also
like to thank committee members Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Kathleen Deagan,
Murdo Macleod, and Juliana Barr. Although Dr. Deagan is probably unaware of
this, the inspiration for this dissertation began when I was 18 and took a part-
time job as a site interpreter on one of her many archaeological excavations in St.
Augustine, Florida. The pleasure I experienced in working on the Cubo Line
excavation sparked my interest in Spanish Florida. For this, I will be forever
grateful.
Dr. Macleod offered extremely useful advice throughout my graduate
career. I am honored to have been his student and I am truly impressed with his
ability to spot the misplaced comma or missing accent mark; and his ability to
point out the latest research on a particular topic. Finally, without Dr. Barr’s
assistance the completion of this dissertation would have been difficult. Despite
our brief relationship, her dedication to this project is truly touching. Dr. Wyatt-
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Brown’s commitment to the development of my scholarly endeavors outside of
the classroom helped immensely. Without his support I never could have
participated in as many conferences as I did, during my time at the University of
Florida.
The dozens of colleagues I met along the way have inspired major ideas.
Although I cannot name them here, inspiration and assistance have come from
all corners of academia and beyond. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Samuel
Proctor. Conversations with Dr. and Mrs. Proctor (and many nights next to them
at the theater) helped remind me why I wanted this degree in the first place.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.........................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................vii
CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................1
2 PROLOGUE TO GEORGIA: THE DECLINE OF THE GUALE......................24
3 THE FIGHT BEFORE COLONIZATION, 1702-1733......................................48
4 FOUNDING AND FIGHTING FOR GEORGIA, 1732-1737............................89
5 PIRACY AND POLITICS: GEORGIA IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD...........130
6 THE WARS OF RUMOR, 1737-1739..............................................................155
7 FADING OF THE FRONTIER, 1740-1742....................................................201
8 CONCLUSION: ACKNOWLEDGING A BORDER.......................................235
LIST OF REFERENCES.......................................................................................245
Manuscript Sources.......................................................................................245
Published Primary Sources...........................................................................245
Secondary Works...........................................................................................247

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH..................................................................................261

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Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
BORDERS AND RUMORS:
THE GEORGIA FRONTIER IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD
By
Shane Alan Runyon
May, 2005
Chair: Jon Sensbach
Major Department: History
“Borders and Rumors” is a study of imperial rivalry, warfare, slavery, and
Native American resistance in the colonial Southeast. By reexamining the
international struggle over the Georgia territory in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, this dissertation situates the conflict over the southern
borderlands in the broader geopolitical disputes of the Atlantic World. My study
combined British, Spanish, and French sources, to argue that the struggle for
Georgia played an important role in determining power structures in North
America while it also tested limits of European diplomacy.
England created Georgia in 1732, to fill a vacant and unprotected frontier
between South Carolina and Spanish Florida. Although no other European
power had previously settled the territory, the English did not enter the area
unopposed. French, Spanish, and Native American claims to portions of the land
brought a modicum of challenge and danger to early Georgia. War and threats of
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force characterized the struggle for the territory; but rumors, uncertain
diplomacy, and a variety of unusual domestic policies provided the impetus for
the contest for Georgia.

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
“Borders and Rumors” is a study of imperial rivalry, warfare, slavery, and
Native American resistance in the colonial Southeast. By reexamining the
international struggle over the Georgia territory in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, this dissertation situates the conflict over the southern
borderlands in the broader geopolitical disputes of the Atlantic World. Using a
combination of British, Spanish, and French sources, my work argues that the
struggle for Georgia played an important role in determining power structures in
North America.
In 1565, Spain founded the town of St. Augustine, Florida on the northern
edge of its American empire. The Spaniards built the small outpost in reaction to
a colony founded 3 years earlier by French Huguenots in northern Florida.
Within a short time, they had destroyed the French settlement and seized control
of Florida through colonization. By removing the French, Spain asserted that,
while treaties could stipulate legal rights to land, territorial control required a
physical presence. Spain had hardly expanded beyond St. Augustine 100 years
later, when Britain founded Carolina. Spain considered the Carolina territory a
part of Florida and protested the establishment of the colony despite its lack of
any Spanish presence or possession within the debatable land. Like Spain,
England assumed that occupation of an area meant more than treaties.
1
2
Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, England tried to
eliminate any threat from Florida. Acts of piracy, campaigns of harassment, and
even invasion failed to destroy the Spanish outpost in St. Augustine. Whenever
England failed, Spain appeared an even greater threat. Florida’s ability to
menace British colonial interests also grew in proportion to the successes of
Charles Town: the more wealth Carolina’s capital provided, the more vulnerable
it appeared. The greatest dangers lurked on the open land between the two
colonies. To protect the interests of Carolina planters, the English had to move
onto the open frontier that separated English and Spanish territory. After
several attempts to fill the frontier, England’s plan for a colony called Georgia
offered the best opportunity to protect the British Southeast from Spanish
aggression.
From the outset, Spain complained of England’s expansion. Despite
diplomatic efforts to end the controversy, an all-out struggle ensued, and the fight
for Georgia took place on a battlefield that spanned the globe. Royal officials
issued proclamations and agreements, and proposed treaties in hopes of ending
the territorial dispute. However, in the colonies, militias, Indian allies, and
unconventional tactics marked the struggle for the frontier. Georgia’s legitimacy
came not from a line on a map or a signed treaty, but through the assertion of
authority and the appearance of strength. Despite previous agreements, a
nation’s right to colonize came through its ability to occupy the land. For
Georgia’s founders, asserting England’s authority on the frontier provided myriad
difficulties.