Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

claim, but it went on to expel two other followers of Gray. This arbitrary act
precipitated a boycott of the lower house by Gray, Watson, and six other representatives,
constituting almost half of the total membership of the Assembly.
The Assembly replied by expelling two more of the absentees, who now
issued a circular letter on January 15 to the freeholders of Georgia, calling
upon all "who regard the liberties of your country" to flock to Savannah.
John Reynolds, the first royal governor, reacted to this crisis with an hysterical
and coercive crackdown on his opposition. He denounced the "sedition,"
decreed the prohibition of "all tumultuous assemblies and nightly meetings,"
urged his subjects to defend the imperiled government, and formed a counterrevolutionary
armed association, headed by the Council and the rump Assembly.
Upon this demonstration of force majeure, Gray and Watson fled Savannah,
and the Assembly peremptorily expelled all of its "seditious" members.
Disgusted with Georgia's arbitrary actions, Gray and several hundred followers
left Georgia to settle south of the Altamaha, where no long arm of government
could reach them.
This settlement of Gray and his followers centered on Cumberland Island
and the new settlement of New Hanover, some miles up the Satilla River.
There Gray and his followers lived free lives, unburdened by the domination
of government. As such, their very existence was a standing reproach to the
people of Georgia, and especially to its government, who concluded that these
"dangerous" people must be stamped out lest their example be followed by
others. Furthermore, governments always abhor a "vacuum," and Spain was
trying to force Gray and his followers to come under its jurisdiction. Consequently,
the Crown itself, in 1758, ordered these free settlements crushed.
Officials from South Carolina and Georgia traveled there and successfully
ordered them to disburse and leave the territory of no-government. The haven
from government was at an end. Gray, however, proved indomitable and reestablished
New Hanover, with over seventy families, on Cumberland Island
in 1761.
During the Seven Years' War, from 1756 to 1763, Spain entered the war
just long enough to be the loser on France's side. Consequently, at the peace
treaty of 1763, the Spanish were forced to cede all of Florida to England.
Florida was made a royal colony, and the Florida-Georgia border fixed at the
St. Mary's River—to the chagrin of Georgia, which demanded the line of the
St. John's. But, in any case, Georgia had now seized jurisdiction over the
trans-Altamaha region and the land of no-government was finally no more.
In the meanwhile, the ruling South Carolina oligarchy had executed a
brazen maneuver; claiming sovereignty over the trans-Altamaha, Governor
Thomas Boone airily granted almost 350,000 acres of its land to the two
hundred leading planters of his colony, including Henry Laurens and Henry
Middleton. Governor James Wright of Georgia promptly protested to the
Crown over this arbitrary land grab; the engrossment by land speculators
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