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202. Georgia 1815 State Senate, Chatham County
203. Georgia 1808 House of Representatives, Richmond County, Special
204. Georgia 1803 State Senate, Richmond County
205. Georgia 1813 U.S. Senate, Special
206. Georgia 1809 Surveyor, Oglethorpe County
207. Georgia 1823 House of Representatives, Chatham County
208. Georgia 1788 Constitutional Convention, Chatham County
209. Georgia 1811 Clerk of the Inferior Court, Baldwin County
210. Georgia 1816 Major General, 3rd Division, Ballot 2
211. Georgia 1793 Coroner, Liberty County
212. Georgia 1816 U.S. Senate
213. Georgia 1796 Governor
214. Georgia 1824 Coroner, Columbia County
215. Georgia 1820 U.S. House of Representatives
216. Georgia 1799 House of Representatives, Liberty County
217. Georgia 1804 House of Representatives, Camden County
218. Georgia 1822 State Senate, Richmond County
219. Georgia 1809 Surveyor General
220. Georgia 1810 State Senate, Oglethrope County
221. Georgia 1796 State Senate, Burke County
222. Georgia 1813 State Senate, Wilkes County
223. Georgia 1824 U.S. House of Representatives
224. Georgia 1801 Governor
225. Georgia 1797 House of Representatives, Chatham County
226. Georgia 1824 Sheriff, Chatham County
227. Georgia 1822 State Senate, Baldwin County
228. Georgia 1812 State Senate, Richmond County
229. Georgia 1824 State Senate, Scriven County
230. Georgia 1793 Surveyor, Liberty County
231. Georgia 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, Lower District
232. Georgia 1788 Constitutional Convention, Camden County
233. Georgia 1809 Surveyor General, Ballot 2
234. Georgia 1809 State Senate, Chatham County
235. Georgia 1824 State Senate, Jones County
236. Georgia 1799 State Senate, Montgomery County
237. Georgia 1810 State Senate, Liberty County
238. Georgia 1824 Tax Collector, Columbia County
239. Georgia 1816 U.S. House of Representatives
240. Georgia 1813 Clerk of the House of Representatives
241. Georgia 1799 House of Representatives, Richmond County
242. Georgia 1802 State Senate, Richmond County
243. Georgia 1797 State Senate, Chatham County
244. Georgia 1824 State Senate, Early County
245. Georgia 1804 Judge, Western District
246. Georgia 1803 Governor
247. Georgia 1814 U.S. House of Representatives
248. Georgia 1822 House of Representatives, Wilkes County
249. Georgia 1807 Alderman, Savannah, Special
250. Georgia 1799 House of Representatives, Montgomery County
251. Georgia 1800 State Senate, Columbia County
252. Georgia 1801 State Senate, Burke County
253. Georgia 1824 State Senate, Walton County
254. Georgia 1816 Judge, Western District, Ballot 2
255. Georgia 1810 U.S. House of Representatives
256. Georgia 1809 House of Representatives, Wilkes County
257. Georgia 1802 House of Representatives, Columbia County
258. Georgia 1809 House of Representatives, Richmond County
259. Georgia 1810 State Senate, Clark County
260. Georgia 1799 State Senate, Jefferson County
261. Georgia 1812 State Senate, Baldwin County
262. Georgia 1824 Clerk of the Superior Court, Columbia County
263. Georgia 1806 U.S. House of Representatives
264. Georgia 1802 U.S. House of Representatives
265. Georgia 1788 House of Representatives, Richmond County
266. Georgia 1787 House of Representatives, Richmond County
267. Georgia 1804 House of Representatives, Greene County
268. Georgia 1815 Governor, Ballot 2
269. Georgia 1806 U.S. House of Representatives, Special
270. Georgia 1791 U.S. House of Representatives, Middle District
271. Georgia 1818 U.S. Senate, Special
272. Georgia 1799 U.S. Senate
273. Georgia 1798 U.S. House of Representatives
274. Georgia 1824 House of Representatives, Twiggs County
275. Georgia 1818 U.S. Senate, Special, Ballot 3
276. Georgia 1808 Electoral College
277. Georgia 1798 House of Representatives, Chatham County
278. Georgia 1811 House of Representatives, Columbia County
279. Georgia 1822 House of Representatives, Jefferson County
280. Georgia 1811 Comptroller General
281. Georgia 1824 Clerk of the Court, Chatham County
282. Georgia 1824 State Senate, Wilkinson County
283. Georgia 1821 State Senate, Richmond County
284. Georgia 1803 House of Representatives, Richmond County
285. Georgia 1813 House of Representatives, Baldwin County
286. Georgia 1804 House of Representatives, Hancock County
287. Georgia 1809 House of Representatives, Lincoln County
288. Georgia 1805 House of Representatives, Richmond County
289. Georgia 1824 Speaker of the House
290. Georgia 1822 State Senate, Camden County
291. Georgia 1793 Register, Liberty County
292. Georgia 1812 House of Representatives, Richmond County
293. Georgia 1809 Secretary of State
294. Georgia 1823 State Senate, Richmond County
295. Georgia 1796 House of Representatives, Camden County
296. Georgia 1804 State Senate, Warren County
297. Georgia 1793 Sheriff, Liberty County
298. Georgia 1823 State Senate, Baldwin County
299. Georgia 1787 Clerk, Chatham County
300. Georgia 1821 House of Representatives, Richmond County
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Georgia entered the Union on January 2, 1788, the fourth of the original thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution. The Georgia constitution of 1789 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives; representatives were elected annually, senators every third year. Although Georgia's early constitutions specified neither the sex nor the race of voters, in practice eligible voters consisted of free men (predominantly whites) at least 21 years old who had paid taxes during the previous year and had resided in the county for at least six months. Each county elected one senator, and counties elected from two to five representatives, depending roughly on relative population. The legislature elected the governor to a two-year term, initially through a cumbersome process but, after a 1795 amendment, through a simple joint ballot of the legislature. Another 1795 amendment made Senate elections annual. All elections were by ballot.
The 1798 constitution (frequently amended but not entirely replaced until 1861) left the basic electoral structure intact. The most important change specified the use of the "three-fifths" or "federal" ratio, which counted three-fifths of the enslaved population in addition to the free white population in apportioning seats in the state House of Representatives. The 1798 document also required regular reapportionment among counties as the population changed. The legislature continued to elect the governor until an amendment in 1824 required direct popular election of the state's chief executive. The first popular election for governor occurred in 1825. In elections for the U.S. Congress, the legislature elected senators by joint ballot, and the state alternated between a district system and a general ticket system for the direct popular election of members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Early Georgia politics was highly personal and factional. The absence of statewide elections, except for Congress, tended to localize politics and deter the formation of broad, institutionalized parties. The Federalists had some strength through the turn of the century, especially in Savannah and Augusta, but Georgia was largely a Republican state. The major political contests featured clashes among those who claimed to be Jeffersonian Republicans. Outrage over the Yazoo land frauds helped James Jackson dominate state politics for many years until his death in 1806, and William Crawford and George M. Troup then assumed the leadership of the Jackson group. John Clark headed the major rival faction. In broad terms, Jackson-Crawford-Troup adherents tended to have Virginia ties and to be based in the wealthier sections of the eastern black belt and low country. The Clark faction contained more people of North Carolina extraction and found its strongest support in frontier areas. Clark defeated Troup for the governorship in both 1819 and 1821, before Troup bested his rival in 1825. William Crawford was a major presidential contender in 1824. Excitement over these races, indeed, helped push through the amendment calling for popular election of the governor and a law mandating popular election of presidential electors. The most persistent and pressing issue of this early period was the state's efforts to push back the Creek and Cherokee nations and open Native American lands to white settlement. The short-staple cotton boom and the Panic of 1819 fueled economic and land concerns. The election returns presented in this series end just before the Georgia factions began to organize themselves into bona fide political parties that would become the Democratic and Whig parties in the state.
Bibliography
- Carey, Anthony Gene.
Parties, Slavery, and the Union in Antebellum Georgia. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1997. - Coleman, Kenneth R., gen. ed.
A History of Georgia, 2nd ed. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991. - Cook, James F.
The Governors of Georgia, 1754—2004, 3rd ed. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2005. - Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia Georgia Constitution Web Page
- Lamplugh, George R.
Politics on the Periphery: Factions and Parties in Georgia, 1783—1806. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1986. - Phillips, Ulrich B.
Georgia and State Rights. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1902.