Important People in Georgia History Flashcards

Flashcards of Important People in Georgia History

Hernando DeSoto

First Spanish explorer to set foot in Georgia

Tomochichi

Chief of the Yamacraw Indians who allowed the Georgia colonists to build Savannah.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of the Georgia Colony

Mary Musgrove

Interpreter between James Oglethorpe and Chief Tomochichi

King George II

King of Great Britain who granted the Charter of 1732

John Reynolds

Georgia’s first colonial royal governor

Henry Ellis

Georgia’s second colonial royal governor; popular with colonists

James Wright

Georgia’s third colonial royal governor who strengthened the colony's defense

Elijah Clarke

Commander of the Georgia militia at the Battle of Kettle Creek

Austin Dabney

Black soldier wounded at the Battle of Kettle Creek; awarded land for his service

Nancy Hart

Revolutionary War Heroine; Hart County is named after her

George Washington

Leader of the Continental Army during the American Revolution

Casimir Pulaski

Polish nobleman who helped the Patriots; died at the Siege of Savannah

Thomas Jefferson

Main author of the Declaration of Independence

Button Gwinnett

Georgia’s signer of the Declaration of Independence

Lyman Hall

Georgia’s signer of the Declaration of Independence

George Walton

Georgia’s signer of the Declaration of Independence

Abraham Baldwin

A Georgia signer of the United States Constitution

William Few

A Georgia signer of the United States Constitution

William McIntosh

Creek Chief who signed the Treaty of Indian Springs

Sequoyah

Created the written language for the Cherokee

John Ross

Cherokee Chief who asked for past treaties to be honored

Andrew Jackson

President who signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who ruled in favor of the Cherokee

Eli Whitney

Invented the cotton gin

Alexander Stephens

Georgia Congressman who supported the Georgia Platform

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America

William T. Sherman

Union General famous for his March to the Sea

Robert E. Lee

Confederate General during the Civil War

Ulysses S. Grant

Union General, created total war campaign with Sherman

Henry Wirz

Commander of the Andersonville Prison Camp

Andrew Johnson

United States President during Reconstruction; was impeached

Henry McNeal Turner

One of the first African Americans elected to the Georgia General Assembly

John Gordon

Member of the Bourbon Triumvirate; held positions of State and US Senator, and Governor. Resigned from the Senate to accept a position at Northeastern railroad.

Alfred Colquitt

Member of the Bourbon Triumvirate; held positions of State and US Senator, and Governor. Attended GA’s secession convention.

Joseph Brown

Oldest member of the Bourbon Triumvirate

Henry Grady

Journalist who coined the phrase “New South”

Tom Watson

Georgia’s Best-Known Populist

Rebecca Latimer Felton

Leader in suffrage and temperance movements, and helped get rid of the Convict Lease System

Leo Frank

Jewish man lynched after being accused of murder

Homer Plessy

Challenged segregation laws on trains; Plessy v. Ferguson case

Booker T. Washington

President of the Tuskegee Institute; gave the “Atlanta Compromise Speech”

W.E.B. DuBois

Opposed Booker T. Washington; wanted social/political integration and higher education for African Americans

Alonzo Herndon

Wealthiest African American in Atlanta

Eugene Talmadge

Elected governor 4 times; did not support the New Deal

Richard Russell

GA Governor and U.S. Senator; "father of the school lunch program”

Carl Vinson

Served in the US House of Representatives for 50 years. “Father of the two ocean navy”.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President who started the New Deal programs

William B. Hartsfield

Longest serving of the progressive mayors of Atlanta. He purchased a racetrack that became Atlanta’s first airport, “Father of Atlanta Aviation”.

Ivan Allen Jr.

Allowed African Americans police to arrest whites and allowed African Americans to serve as firefighters. By 1964 he desegregated all public facilities in ATL. Brought the Braves (baseball), Falcons (football), and the Hawks (basketball). to Atlanta.

Ellis Arnall

Ga Governor. First governor to serve 4 year term. Reformed GA’s government. Involved in the Three Governors’ Episode.

Melvin Thompson

Lieutenant Governor during the Three Governors Episode

Herman Talmadge

Eugene Talmadge’s Son. Involved in the Three Governors’ Episode. Governor for 2 terms and later went to be a U.S. Senator.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil Rights Leader. Born in Atlanta. Developed a non-violent approach to social change after studying others like Gandhi. Founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Gave the “I have a Dream Speech” at the March of Washington

John Lewis

Civil Rights leader, chairman of SNCC, Atlanta City Council, US House of Representatives

Maynard Jackson

First African American Mayor of Atlanta. Started MARTA, expanded Hartsfield Airport and helped bring Olympics to ATL.

Lester Maddox

Owned the “Pickrick”, known as the “axe handle governor.” Appointed more African Americans to state offices than any other governor before him! Started “Peoples Day”.

Andrew Young

Aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., US Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta

Jimmy Carter

From Plains GA, GA Senator, Governor, and U.S. President

Abraham Lincoln

Causes secession of Southern states. Passes Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves. Assassinated in 1865