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- iv 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. v 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 vi 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 vii 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. viii 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. 3 When the Georgia Trustees received a charter to colonize the land between the Altamaha and Savannah Rivers in 1732, borders were described, but this did not prevent the territorial dispute. Indeed, border placement became the primary controversy regarding the new venture. Land control and colonial boundaries were unclear. These ambiguities caused trouble from the outset. Georgia was created to fill the open frontier between Spanish and English colonies; but instead of providing the buffer zone Carolina desired, it stoked the ire of the Spaniards who considered Georgia a part of northern Florida.1 With Spain, England, and later France debating the legitimacy of Georgia’s borders, the young colony had to fight for its survival. To secure Georgia, its founders had to transform a frontier outpost into a borderland colony. Thus, the fight for Georgia centered on the need for borders. My study examines Georgia’s fight to transform itself from a frontier outpost to a borderland colony. Although the terms frontier and borderland can have similar if not identical