Customer Reviews

Georgia (America the Beautiful, Second)

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When you learn about the Original 13 Colonies the emphasis is always on Jamestown in Virginia, because it was first, Massachusetts Bay, because that is where the Pilgrims landed, and Pennsylvania, because that is where Ben Franklin ended up. Georgia, as the southern most colony, receives scant attention and all you really learn is that it was settled by criminals. But as Nancy Robinson Masters points out in this look as "Georgia" for the America the Beautiful, Second Series, it was not exactly criminals in the same sense that the English sent convicts to settle Australia, but more of a second chance for those who had ended up in debtor's prison. Consequently, when young readers finish this book they are going to remember the name of James Edward Oglethorpe.

Oglethorpe is introduced in Chapter One, "A New Settlement," which explains why Georgia was named for King George II (the good one, not the bad one of the American Revolution who is King George III). The next three chapters cover the history of Georgia, starting with Chapter Two, "People and Pathways of the Past," which goes back to the original nomads who settled the area and then looks at the Cherokee and Creek native tribes, as well as the Spanish explorers, French Huguenots, and English settlers who arrived. After laying out Oglethorpe's Grand Plan, the chapter ends with the American Revolution. Chapter Three, "Troubled Times," covers the Civil War and Sherman's March to the Sea along with Reconstruction. Chapter Four, "The Twentieth Century and Onward," starts with the Weevil War and ends with the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Chapter Five of these books always looks at the geography of the state, but "Natural Georgia" is different because it does not look at the topographical divisions of the state, which, I admit, is one of the things I have been finding interesting about these books. But Masters ends up doing that in Chapter Six, "Highways and Byways," just to be different. The politics of the state is covered in Chapter Seven, "The Power of the People," which includes a look at some of the political leaders the state has produced, such as Jimmy Carter and Newt Gingrich. This is also the chapter where you find out how "Georgia on My Mind" as sung by Ray Charles became the state song and the controversial history of Georgia's state flag.

The Georgia economy is covered in Chapter Eight, "Progress and Prosperity," which is more than peanuts, cotton, and peaches. In fact, Georgia is first in the nation in selling chickens. Chapter Nine, "The Many Faces of Georgia," looks at not just education and religion, but also integration. Then in Chapter Ten, "The Arts, Architecture, and Athletics," we find out about the writers (Margaret Mitchell, Flannery O'Connor, Alice Walker), musicians (Johnny Mercer, Jessye Norman), and athletes (Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Mel Blount) the state has produced.

As always, you will find a Timeline comparing U.S. and Georgia state history in the back of the book along with several pages of Fast Facts. Then there is a list of books, organizations and Internet sites where you can to To Find Out More. There are also lots of full-color photographs and original maps, along with the informative sidebars where young readers will find out some of the most interesting things about Georgia. This includes people like the Revolutionary Heroine Nancy Morgan Hart and Eli Whitney the Father of Mass Production, things like the Colossal Fossil of a 40-million-year-old whale skeleton and a recipe for Peach Pie, and places like the mounds built by the Mississippians in Georgia. Young readers will discover that for a place that was settled by "criminals," a lot of impressive people came from Georgia, from Sequoyah and Stonewall Jackson to George Washington Carver and Ted Turner.

This was a very informative book about the history of the state of Georgia. For those of you with children studying the states, usually 5th grade, this is an excellent source. There are 51 books in the series; one for each state and the District of Columbia.