After the report was published, to widespread attention, Oglethorpe and others began publicising the idea of a new British colony to serve as a buffer between the Carolinas and Spanish Florida.

Oglethorpe was a major figure in Georgia's early history, holding much civil and military power and instituting a ban on slavery and alcohol.

His family supported Charles I of England during the English Civil War and suffered under Oliver Cromwell, but regained favour after the Stuart Restoration in 1660.

[9] King George I renewed his army commission in 1715, but Oglethorpe resigned on 23 November 1715, in part because the Foot Guards were not expected to see action.

With a letter of recommendation from the Duke of Argyle and several other prominent Britons, Oglethorpe and Louis François Crozat arrived and with Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém entered the Prince's service on 3 August as aides-de-camp.

After the death of his superior in combat, on 16 August, Oglethorpe, as the most senior aide-de-camp, acted as adjutant general, took possession of the Turkish camp, and reported the casualties to the Prince.

[18] In contrast, Sweet writes that Oglethorpe was an "eloquent yet honest" speaker who had strong Tory principles and genuinely cared about his constituents' conditions, noting his service on 40 committees that investigated widely varied topics.

As chair of the Gaols Committee, he began touring debtors' prisons in late February and in March finished the first of three detailed reports presented to Parliament.

[28] In the aftermath (the final report was presented on 8 May 1730), prominent Britons such as Alexander Pope, James Thomson, Samuel Wesley, and William Hogarth praised Oglethorpe and the committee.

It soon became clear that a colony south of the Savannah River would be supported by the House of Commons, as it could serve as a 'buffer' between the prosperous Carolinas and Spanish Florida, and Oglethorpe picked the region on 26 June.

[38] The Bray Associates determined to put 'all available funds' towards the colony on 1 July, and presented a charter to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 17 September.

Though it was finished in spring 1731 and never published, Benjamin Martyn drew on it in writing his 1732 book Some Account of the Designs of the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America.

The plan envisioned a system of "agrarian equality", designed to support and perpetuate an economy based on family farming, and prevent social disintegration associated with unregulated urbanisation.

While there he discussed Indian affairs and, after conferencing with the leadership of the Carolinas, decided to raise a company to build "a fort among the Upper Creek" that would counter French influence in the area and serve as a safe house for traders should a war break out between native tribes.

[75] For the nine months that he remained in the colony, Oglethorpe was mainly at Frederica,[75] a town he laid out to function as a bulwark against Spanish interference, where he again held the most authority.

He also requested unsuccessfully to be allowed to raise a militia, but was granted 20,000 pounds and made General of the Forces of South Carolina and Georgia.

They also accused him of being an opportunist by starting to vote with Robert Walpole and felt Oglethorpe did not adequately keep the trustees informed of affairs in the colonies.

[86][87] Oglethorpe began to prepare for a war after as early as 1738, raising additional troops and rented or purchased several boats after the Royal Navy refused to station a ship there.

[90] After receiving a letter from King George II on 7 September 1739, Oglethorpe began encouraging the Creek Indians to attack Spanish Florida.

[91] After South Carolina was slow in providing aid, Oglethorpe traveled to Charleston, and arrived on 23 March, where he spoke with the Commons House of Assembly.

Next, Oglethorpe instituted a blockade that was designed to starve the inhabitants of the city into surrender; this was accomplished with the Royal Navy and soldiers on the land.

As the navy was going to leave upon the start of the hurricane season on 5 July, Oglethorpe then planned to launch a combined assault, from the land and water.

As early as 1739 Oglethorpe asserted that the introduction of slavery into Georgia would “occasion the misery of thousands in Africa.” He assisted two former slaves who traveled to England to raise awareness about the evils of the institution.

He continued to be somewhat involved in the colony's affairs, attempting to stop a distinction being established between holding civil and military power,[107] but he never returned to Georgia and generally was uninterested in the activities of the trustees.

Oglethorpe's loss has been attributed to his moving to Essex and supporting the Jewish Naturalisation Act, but Baine considers that the election was "rigged against him".

[112] After retirement, he became friends with various literary figures in London, including Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Hannah More, and Oliver Goldsmith.

On 22 September, he had unsuccessfully petitioned George III to reactivate his Georgia regiment, and by 9 December Oglethorpe had left England and arrived in Rotterdam.

From June 1777 to April 1778, Oglethorpe and Granville Sharp unsuccessfully attempted to convince the British leadership to end the war and give the colonists rights as full Englishmen.

[citation needed] The James Oglethorpe Monument in Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia, created by sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon, was unveiled in 1910.

In 1996, then Georgia Governor Zell Miller attended Oglethorpe tercentenary festivities in Godalming and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.