Banking.—In 1919 there were 93 Na tional banks in operation, having $12, 258,000 in capital, $10,422,000 in out standing circulation and $50,875,000 in U. S. banks. There were also 653 State banks, with $29,264,000 capital and $21,485,000 surplus. In the year end ing Sept. 30, 1920, the exchanges at the United States clearing-houses at Atlanta aggregated $3,204,770,000, an increase over the previous year of $1,855,484,000.
Education.—The school population in 1918 numbered 841,861. There were en rolled in the public schools 679,747 pu pils, with an average daily attendance of 452,064. There were 15,172 teachers. The total fund paid for public schools was $7,619,267, and the total for educa tional purposes, including colleges and secondary schools, amounted to nearly $10,000,000. The institutions for higher education include the University of Georgia, at Athens; the Georgia School of Technology; and the North Georgia Agricultural College.
Churches.—The strongest denomina tions in the State are the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Ro man Catholic, and Protestant Episcopal.
Railways.—The railway mileage of the State in 1920 was about 7,400. There are about 500 miles of electric railway in the State.
Finances.—The receipts for the fiscal year 1918 were $7,686,445, and the dis bursements $8,332,569. There was a balance on January 1, 1918, of $1,459,264, and on January 1, 1919, $813,139. The bonded debt of the State, in 1919, amounted to $5,918,202. The assessed valuation of real and personal property is about $1,000,000,000.
State governor is elected for a term of two years. Legis lative sessions are held annually begin ning on June 25, and are limited to 50 days each. The Legislature has 51 mem bers in the Senate and 193 in the House. There are 12 Representatives in Con gress. The State government in 1921 was Democratic.
History.—Georgia was settled by a colony of 120 persons in 1733, under a patent granted to Oglethorpe, Whitefield, and the Wesleys, June 9, 1732. It was established as a barrier between the Spanish and Indians on the S. and the Carolinas on the N., and to provide a refuge for debtors, orphans, and other needy and destitute persons. In the war between England and Spain in 1739 1743, Oglethorpe made an alliance with the Creek Indians and led the combined troops of Carolina and Georgia in an invasion of Florida, and in 1742 he drove off the Spanish fleet that had attacked the forts on the Altamaha. After the peace, the Georgians demanded slaves, which had previously been prohibited. In 1752 the trustees surrendered the colony to the crown and negro slavery was in troduced. At the outbreak of the Revo lutionary War Georgia, having few claims for redress and no charter on which to base them, hesitated to join the other colonies, and was not repre sented in the Constitutional Congress in 1774. In March, 1775, St. John's parish
sent a delegate to the Continental Con gress, and in July all the parishes sent representatives. On July 10, 1775, a schooner commissioned by Congress cap tured a British ship laden with powder off Savannah. In 1778 Georgia ratified the Articles of Confederation, and in the same year the British captured Sa vannah, and held it till the close of the war, despite attempts by the Americans and French to retake it. In 1779 Au gusta and Sunbury were taken by the British.
The first State constitution was framed in February, 1777, and on Jan. 2, 1788, Georgia unanimously ratified the Constitution of the United States. The second State constitution was adopted in 1789, and a third, by which the importa tion of slaves was prohibited, in 1798. There was some difficulty with the Creeks and Cherokees in 1783-1790, but treaties of peace were concluded with them in 1790 and 1791. In 1802 the Creeks ceded what is now southwestern Georgia to the United States, which in turn ceded it to the State, receiving in exchange all the State's claims W. of the Chattahoochee, or what is now Alabama and Mississippi. The first steamship that ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean left Savannah in 1819.
In November, 1860, a State conven tion was called to consider the subject of secession. On Jan. 21, 1861, an ordi nance of secession was unanimously passed, and Georgia ratified the Consti tution of the Confederate States and adopted a new State constitution. In January, 1861, Forts Pulaski and Jack son, below Savannah, were seized by State troops, and from the battle of Chickamauga, in September, 1863, to the winter of 1864-1865 the State was con stantly the scene of conflict. Atlanta was captured by General Sherman, Sept. 2, 1864, and he began his famous march thence to the sea, Nov. 15, occupying Savannah Dec. 21. Columbus, West Point, and Macon were taken in April, 1865, by General Wilson, and on May 10, 1865, Jefferson Davis was captured at Irwinville. One of the most noted Confederate prisons was located at An dersonville in this State.
Georgia repealed the act of secession Oct. 30, 1865; adopted a new constitu tion; and ratified the Thirteenth Amend ment to the Constitution of the United States. Congress, dissatisfied with the new constitution, put the State under military rule till another constitution was ratified in 1868; and the State was restored to the Union on its ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1869. On the refusal to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment the State was again placed under military rule, but reinstated on its compliance with this demand. The recent prosperity and development of Georgia's resources has been due in large measure to the Cotton Exposition, in 1881, the Piedmont Exposition, in 1887, and the Cotton States and International Exposition, in 1895, all at Atlanta.