In Pursuit of Dead Georgians
One Historian’s Excursions into the History of His Adopted State
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Since I was first introduced to it, I’ve loved the term “contingent” to describe events in history that suggest there is no big, unstoppable ideological wave out there moving humanity in a preordained direction (e.g., Democracy, Christianity, Marxism, Progress, the Enlightenment). Rather, there are times when things could have happened “otherwise”— or not—and were determined by human action, coincidence, or luck. And, now that I’m retired, when I’m in a retrospective mood—which is much of the time—I find myself focusing on the contingent events, coincidences, and (mostly good) luck that have brought me to this point. So, before you begin reading the essays—and their autobiographical introductions—in this volume, you might want to peruse this modest effort to put what I sometimes refer to as my “career” into a broader context.
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I grew up between Baltimore, Maryland, and Newark, Delaware, the oldest of three children in a struggling lower-middle (or even upper-lower)-class family. Only two members of my extended family had attended college—one, an uncle, studied engineering at the University of Delaware after World War II, thanks to the G.I. Bill; the other, an aunt, also attended Delaware in the postwar period. Whether my two siblings or I would be able to emulate those few of our elders who had gone to college was an open question when we were growing up.
I loved going to school and, early on, began to dream of attending college—the University of Delaware, of course, to study engineering, as my Uncle George had. Yet, my family really didn’t have the financial wherewithal to make that possible. Meanwhile, even before I graduated from Newark High School, I had decided that engineering was not for me, despite my uncle’s sterling example. I struggled with math and science (not that I failed either of them, but I had to work very hard to earn a grade in the “B” range)—and, more importantly, I did not enjoy either subject; I was more interested in History and English.
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About the Book
George R. Lamplugh, a historian of Georgia and the South, explores some of his home state’s most fascinating historical events, beginning with the American Revolution and continuing through the 1850s, in this well-researched collection of essays.
He covers political factionalism during the American Revolution; the development of political parties in Georgia (which was different from the process in other states); and the impact of the Yazoo Land Fraud on Georgia’s political development.
Some of the most fascinating essays focus on the maneuverings of individual politicians, such as William Few, who was determined to exert local influence after the American Revolution by having the Richmond County courthouse and jail, and hence the county polling place, constructed in the settlement of Brownsborough rather than in Augusta.
More complex issues get equal treatment, such as how after the War of 1812, political parties in Georgia began to slowly adopt policies that were popular in other states—even though that meant hurting Creeks, Cherokees, and slaves.
While Georgia didn’t always live up to democratic ideals, its political history teaches us a lot about our past and possible future.
About the Author
George R. Lamplugh earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware and a master’s and doctorate from Emory University. He served on the faculty of The Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Georgia, from 1973 to 2010. Read his blog, “Retired But Not Shy,” at http://georgelamplugh.wordpress.com.