History UsefulNotes / GeorgiaUSA

Conversely, Athens is host to many break-out AlternativeRock groups like Music/{{REM}}. Another prominent genre of music in Georgia is {{country|music}} and {{bluegrass}}, and more recently an ArenaRock style of country music from young artists coming from the old Heartland of Central Georgia. This includes acts like Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. The Music/TaylorSwift song "Tim [=McGraw=]" is also set in Georgia, as she makes mention that the boy said she "put those Georgia stars to shame that night". However, Swift grew up in Pennsylvania and Nashville. Luke Bryan's OdeToYouth "We Rode In Trucks" makes mention of the Flint River, near where he grew up, and "that red Georgia dirt", with Jason Aldean's "Country Boy's World" soliloquizing the differences between the urban North East and Rome, Georgia, and how his girlfriend had "never seen a one-light town 'till she moved down here".

Georgia, particularly Atlanta, has a large and extremely influential African-American culture. This includes features on ''Series/TheRealHousewivesOfAtlanta'' like [=NeNe=] Leakes and Kenya Moore. There is also a big HipHop scene, with artists including Music/YoungJeezy, Music/KanyeWest[[note]]born in Georgia but mostly raised in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}[[/note]], and Music/{{Usher}}. Rap songs like "Yeah!" by Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris mentions the "A-Town", as does Ludacris' own "Welcome to Atlanta". Rapper B.o.B. is from Decatur, a suburb of the city, and references this in songs like "Airplanes" (ft. [[Music/{{Paramore}} Hayley Williams]]). The Outkast album "[=ATLiens=]" is also named after Atlanta.

Conversely, Athens is host to many break-out alternative rock groups like Music/{{REM}}. Another prominent genre of music in Georgia is {{country|music}} and {{bluegrass}}, and more recently an ArenaRock style of country music from young artists coming from the old Heartland of Central Georgia. This includes acts like Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. The Music/TaylorSwift song "Tim [=McGraw=]" is also set in Georgia, as she makes mention that the boy said she "put those Georgia stars to shame that night". However, Swift grew up in Pennsylvania and Nashville. Luke Bryan's OdeToYouth "We Rode In Trucks" makes mention of the Flint River, near where he grew up, and "that red Georgia dirt", with Jason Aldean's "Country Boy's World" soliloquizing the differences between the urban North East and Rome, Georgia, and how his girlfriend had "never seen a one-light town 'till she moved down here".

Georgia, particularly Atlanta, has a large and extremely influential African-American culture. This includes features on ''Series/TheRealHousewivesOfAtlanta'' like [=NeNe=] Leakes and Kenya Moore. There is also a big HipHop scene, with artists including Young Jeezy, Kanye West[[note]]born in Georgia but mostly raised in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}[[/note]], and Usher. Rap songs like "Yeah!" by Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris mentions the "A-Town", as does Ludacris' own "Welcome to Atlanta". Rapper B.o.B. is from Decatur, a suburb of the city, and references this in songs like "Airplanes" (ft. [[Music/{{Paramore}} Hayley Williams]]). The Outkast album "[=ATLiens=]" is also named after Atlanta.

Georgia, particularly Atlanta, has a large and extremely influential African-American culture. This includes features on ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' like [=NeNe=] Leakes and Kenya Moore. There is also a big hip-hop scene, with artists including Young Jeezy, Kanye West[[note]]born in Georgia but mostly raised in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}[[/note]], and Usher. Rap songs like "Yeah!" by Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris mentions the "A-Town", as does Ludacris' own "Welcome to Atlanta". Rapper B.o.B. is from Decatur, a suburb of the city, and references this in songs like "Airplanes" (ft. [[Music/{{Paramore}} Hayley Williams]]). The Outkast album "[=ATLiens=]" is also named after Atlanta.

In the late 1960s, Georgia surprisingly became a large hub for the social reform movement within the conservative South, helping to coin the term "the New South". It passed bills to promote emerging industry and development, based around Atlanta, as well as civil rights reform. There were no native Cherokee remaining in Georgia after the gold rush, but there has been discussions of ceremonially returning land and welcoming descendants of the displaced peoples into the North of Georgia. The state did pass an amendment to its constitution explicitly barring same-sex marriage in 2004, but all counties annulled this upon the Supreme Court ruling to recognize equal marriage rights in 2015.

The population of Georgia at this time was around fifty-fifty White and Black[[note]]Before the gold rush, there was a significantly higher percentage of African-American people[[/note]], but the state remained under a racist white power structure throughout its history, like many of its Southern neighbors. Following the Civil War, many communities of emancipated African-Americans who had once been enslaved on Georgia plantations established thriving middle-class communities, particularly in neighborhoods of Atlanta. However, by the early 20th century, White Georgians had reestablished political hegemony using [[UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem white primaries]], literacy tests, and Jim Crow laws to block Black Georgians from social and political participation, which contributed to the Great Migration to the North and the Black population dropping significantly. Many Black Georgians did stay in the South, however, and the state became the center of the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement. Atlanta was the birthplace of UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr, and he started his ministry and activism in Georgia. Today, the state has the third-largest African-American population of any state (behind only Texas and Florida) and the second-largest in terms of percentage (just over a third of the population, behind only Mississippi).

Come 1861 and UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, Georgia was one of the original states within the Confederacy, with major battles taking place across the state as Union soldiers sought to reach and claim the coast. At the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, the Union suffered its greatest defeat in the South, being second in number of casualties only to Gettysburg. Though a major success for the Confederacy, following the Chattanooga Campaign the Union sent in additional men (led by UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant)--the Confederate army retreated and Major General Sherman led his campaign to Atlanta and then to the Savannah coast, greatly aiding the overall Union campaign in the War. Many settlements from Atlanta to Savannah were utterly destroyed in Sherman's March To The Sea, which remains a sore spot for many Georgians. Georgia was the last state to return the Union following defeat, in 1870.

In 1829, a new development transformed the state: a gold rush. Gold was discovered in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the North of Georgia in 1828, and though it extended across the state the biggest hauls were in Lumpkin county; the gold here was also close to 100% carat clarity. A national mint was set up in Dahlonega, and an influx of miners arrived. This caused a couple of problems, most importantly: who did the gold belong to? The government and the individual miners obviously wanted a claim, but so did the Cherokee who had lived in that land since the first Spanish expeditions. The government didn't care; in what is known as "the Great Intrusion", the government began to seize Cherokee land. In the same year, UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson authorized the Indian Removal Act to forcibly remove thousands of native people. The Cherokee legally protested this injustice, but even when the Supreme Court recognized them as a sovereign nation and let them retain ownership of ancestral ground, Jackson simply ignored their ruling and forcibly relocated them and other native people to modern-day [[UsefulNotes/OklahomaUSA Oklahoma]] along the infamous "Trail of Tears". A Gold Lottery awarded former Cherokee land to miners. It took only a few years for the immediate sources to dry up and mining to diminish. Dahlonega had grown massively, though, and was fully established enough to retain the gold rush migrants. When the UsefulNotes/{{California}} Gold Rush started in the late 1840s, a lot of placer miners moved out to the Sierra Nevada. Mining continued in Northern Georgia until the end of the century.

The Spanish commander de Montiano landed at St Simons Island in 1742. It took six days, two battles around farmland (Battle of Gully Hole Creek and Battle of Bloody Marsh), and some very weak Spanish soldiers--very kind of them to reveal the entire plan to a very small opposing force upon asking--for an unconditional Spanish surrender. Though the Spanish and British remained on unfriendly terms for a long time, the Spanish would never invade British Georgia again. There ''were'' British plans to raid Florida again, but the war soon shifted focus to home playing ground in Europe -- upon its end in 1748, the Spanish formally recognized Georgia as a British colony. There were still troubles, though, as the colony was not highly profitable and spent a lot during the war, meaning that the Trustees couldn't afford to run it and so, in 1752, they turned governance of the colony over to the British crown.

The movement of new colonists inland didn't really settle well with the Spanish settlers that were very comfortably surrounding them. They were somewhat amenable until, in 1742, they launched an invasion over the disputed land. The Floridians seemed to realize that a charter from the King of England didn't mean all that much to them. Three years earlier, the British had sent compromisers with a Convention to be signed by both European military parties: the "compromise", however, was more along the lines of Spain signing away any claim on what the British asserted was theirs, and Britain agreeing to not fight them for it in return. Lest to say, Spain did not agree. When the resultant War of Jenkins' Ear broke out in 1739, the Spanish back on the mainland planned an invasion. In 1740, the British raided St Augustine but were kicked out, making the Spanish confident of a successful attack.

Prior to European exploration, the state was populated by tribes of the Southeastern Cultural Complex. These people held close links to those in what is now Florida, suggesting that large parts of the two states were seen as the same area. Before colonization, there were many explorations of Georgia by both the Iberian explorers coming from Central America and British colonists coming from the Atlantic. The state (with a much greater land area than today) was founded by [[UsefulNotes/HomeCounties Guildfordian]] general James Oglethorpe in 1733.

Known as both "The Peach State"[[note]]which is used on one variant of the current license plate[[/note]] and the much cooler "Empire State of The South", because one of the state's primary agricultural products is the peach and because much like [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState the Empire State]] it is very large and varied. Indeed, Georgia is today the largest state by land area east of the Mississippi River (UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}} has a far larger total area, but so much of that is lake that Georgia edges Michigan out slightly on pure land).[[note]]We say "today" because UsefulNotes/{{Virginia}} was historically the largest east of the Mississippi until West Virginia broke off and reduced the Old Dominion to its current size.[[/note]] Georgia was also a common landing ground during British colonization and today still has several large ports, with the Port of Savannah being the fourth largest in the US and a main HQ for distribution centers.

Atlanta has sports teams competing in four of the five major North American sports leagues: the Atlanta Falcons ([[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]]), Atlanta Braves ([[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams MLB]]), Atlanta Hawks ([[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]), and Atlanta United FC ([[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer MLS]]). The [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]] used to have two different teams in Atlanta, the Flames in the 1970s and the Thrashers in the 2000s, but both of these teams moved to UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} (the Flames to Calgary and the Thrashers-now-Jets to Winnipeg). College sport is also popular, with the state having six UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball Division I football]] teams: the Georgia State Panthers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Georgia Southern Eagles, and Georgia Bulldogs in the top-level FBS; the Kennesaw State Owls, currently in the second-tier FCS but set to make the jump to FBS in 2024; and the Mercer Bears, also in FCS but with no plans to upgrade. Atlanta is considered the de facto capital of college football; the city is home to the College Football Hall of Fame since 2014, and annually hosts the SEC Football Championship and the Peach Bowl, one of the member bowls of the College Football Playoff. Sports stars from the state include Cam Newton and Ty Cobb.

* Creator/AlanJackson

* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' is set and filmed in Covington.

* ''Film/CocaineBear'': A true story-based film about a bear in a Georgia state park that consumes jettisoned cocaine from a plane crash and goes on a rampage.

'''Georgia''' is a Southern US state (not a [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaCaucasus Caucasian nation]]) that borders [[UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina the]] [[UsefulNotes/SouthCarolina Carolinas]], UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}, [[SweetHomeAlabama Alabama]], and UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}}. The eighth-largest state in terms of population, its capital and largest city is UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}. It is the youngest of the original [[UsefulNotes/TheThirteenAmericanColonies Thirteen Colonies]], being founded in 1733 (some of the original colonists were still alive for independence, which couldn't be said of any of the other colonies). Colonial custom also listed it last for geographical reasons (the colonies were usually listed north to south, and Georgia was the southernmost colony). Georgia was also one of the original seven [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate States]]. The northern parts of the state are within the [[UsefulNotes/{{Appalachia}} Appalachian Mountains]], and the whole thing, apart from Metro Atlanta, is firmly part of the DeepSouth--many country singers are from middle Georgia.

'''Georgia''' is a Southern US state ([[NamesTheSame not a]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaCaucasus Caucasian nation]]) that borders [[UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina the]] [[UsefulNotes/SouthCarolina Carolinas]], UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}, [[SweetHomeAlabama Alabama]], and UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}}. The eighth-largest state in terms of population, its capital and largest city is UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}. It is the youngest of the original [[UsefulNotes/TheThirteenAmericanColonies Thirteen Colonies]], being founded in 1733 (some of the original colonists were still alive for independence, which couldn't be said of any of the other colonies). Colonial custom also listed it last for geographical reasons (the colonies were usually listed north to south, and Georgia was the southernmost colony). Georgia was also one of the original seven [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate States]]. The northern parts of the state are within the [[UsefulNotes/{{Appalachia}} Appalachian Mountains]], and the whole thing, apart from Metro Atlanta, is firmly part of the DeepSouth--many country singers are from middle Georgia.

* Music/AmyGrant (born in Augusta, but grew up in Nashville)

* Wrestling/AJStyles (born in North Carolina, but resides in Gainesville)

Atlanta has sports teams competing in four of the five major North American sports leagues: the Atlanta Falcons ([[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]]), Atlanta Braves ([[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams MLB]]), Atlanta Hawks ([[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]), and Atlanta United FC ([[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer MLS]]). The [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]] used to have two different teams in Atlanta, the Flames in the 1970s and the Thrashers in the 2000s, but both of these teams moved to UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} (the Flames to Calgary and the Thrashers-now-Jets to Winnipeg). College sport is also popular, with the state having six UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball Division I football]] teams: the Georgia State Panthers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Georgia Southern Eagles, and Georgia Bulldogs in the top-level FBS; and the Kennesaw State Owls and Mercer Bears in the second-tier FCS. Atlanta is considered the de facto capital of college football; the city is home to the College Football Hall of Fame since 2014, and annually hosts the SEC Football Championship and the Peach Bowl, one of the member bowls of the College Football Playoff. Sports stars from the state include Cam Newton and Ty Cobb.

The northern portions of the state, specifically the "Historic High Country" and "Northeast Georgia Mountains" regions, prides itself in its "Old Georgia" heritage, often claiming to be one of the last areas in Georgia practically untouched by major urbanization. Most communities are small and tightly-knit, and, while there will always be the occasional CorruptHick, [[TheFundamentalist Preachy Preacher]] or RightWingMilitiaFanatic (which is not at all exclusive to Georgia itself, mind you), most residents are surprisingly hospitable and willing to help out someone in need, provided that you don't cause trouble, and has a healthy tourism market, based mainly around camping, hiking, and state parks. One of the most popular destinations is Helen, a small city that has modeled itself after a Bavarian Alpine town, which, along with being a popular weekend destination for locals looking to get away from Atlanta for a bit, also hosts numerous Alpine-themed events year round, such as Volkswagen Tours, hot air balloon races, and, of course, Oktoberfest.

'''Georgia''' is a Southern US state ([[NamesTheSame not a]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaCaucasus Caucasian nation]]) that borders [[UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina the]] [[UsefulNotes/SouthCarolina Carolinas]], UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}, [[SweetHomeAlabama Alabama]], and UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}}. The eighth-largest state in terms of population, its capital and largest city is UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}. It is the youngest of the original Thirteen Colonies, being founded in 1733 (some of the original colonists were still alive for independence, which couldn't be said of any of the other colonies). Colonial custom also listed it last for geographical reasons (the colonies were usually listed north to south, and Georgia was the southernmost colony). Georgia was also one of the original seven [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate States]]. The northern parts of the state are within the [[UsefulNotes/{{Appalachia}} Appalachian Mountains]], and the whole thing, apart from Metro Atlanta, is firmly part of the DeepSouth--many country singers are from middle Georgia.

Known as both "The Peach State"[[note]]which is used on one variant of the current license plate[[/note]] and the much cooler "Empire State of The South", because one of the state's primary agricultural products is the peach and because much like [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState the Empire State]] it is very large and varied. Indeed, Georgia is today the largest state by land area east of the Mississippi River (UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}} has a far larger total area, but so much of that is lake that Georgia edges Michigan out slightly on pure land).[[note]]We say "today" because Virginia was historically the largest east of the Mississippi until West Virginia broke off and reduced the Old Dominion to its current size.[[/note]] Georgia was also a common landing ground during British colonization and today still has several large ports, with the Port of Savannah being the fourth largest in the US and a main HQ for distribution centers.

Georgian colonists spent the next few decades colonizing modern-day Florida and Alabama, constantly pissing off the native and Spanish occupants, and embracing the chattel slavery system. These colonists, early converts to UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream, chose to join in [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution that little rebellion thing that happened on July 4th, 1776]]. They signed the Declaration of Independence and ratified their first constitution a year later. It's worth noting that at this point in time, Georgia looked a little different. In fact, it was basically Georgia + Alabama + Mississippi, minus what of the latter two lays below the Florida-Georgia line. This is a result of how the British claimed land, but that's another story.[[note]]They basically named the coastal area that they settled in and then claimed all land within those latitudes as far West as they could before the Spanish and French got all pissy about it. Massachusetts extended into present-day ''Iowa'' for a long time.[[/note]]

In 1829, a new development transformed the state: a gold rush. Gold was discovered in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the North of Georgia in 1828, and though it extended across the state the biggest hauls were in Lumpkin county; the gold here was also close to 100% carat clarity. A national mint was set up in Dahlonega, and an influx of miners arrived. This caused a couple of problems, most importantly: who did the gold belong to? The government and the individual miners obviously wanted a claim, but so did the Cherokee who had lived in that land since the first Spanish expeditions. The government didn't care; in what is known as "the Great Intrusion", the government began to seize Cherokee land. In the same year, UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson authorized the Indian Removal Act to forcibly remove thousands of native people. The Cherokee legally protested this injustice, but even when the Supreme Court recognized them as a sovereign nation and let them retain ownership of ancestral ground, Jackson simply ignored their ruling and forcibly relocated them and other native people to modern-day Oklahoma along the infamous "Trail of Tears". A Gold Lottery awarded former Cherokee land to miners. It took only a few years for the immediate sources to dry up and mining to diminish. Dahlonega had grown massively, though, and was fully established enough to retain the gold rush migrants. When the UsefulNotes/{{California}} Gold Rush started in the late 1840s, a lot of placer miners moved out to the Sierra Nevada. Mining continued in Northern Georgia until the end of the century.

'''Georgia''' is a Southern US state ([[NamesTheSame not a]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaCaucasus Caucasian nation]]) that borders the Carolinas, UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}, [[SweetHomeAlabama Alabama]], and UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}}. The eighth-largest state in terms of population, its capital and largest city is UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}. It is the youngest of the original Thirteen Colonies, being founded in 1733 (some of the original colonists were still alive for independence, which couldn't be said of any of the other colonies). Colonial custom also listed it last for geographical reasons (the colonies were usually listed north to south, and Georgia was the southernmost colony). Georgia was also one of the original seven [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate States]]. The northern parts of the state are within the [[UsefulNotes/{{Appalachia}} Appalachian Mountains]], and the whole thing, apart from Metro Atlanta, is firmly part of the DeepSouth--many country singers are from middle Georgia.

'''Georgia''' is a Southern US state ([[NamesTheSame not a]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaEurope European nation]]) that borders the Carolinas, UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}, [[SweetHomeAlabama Alabama]], and UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}}. The eighth-largest state in terms of population, its capital and largest city is UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}. It is the youngest of the original Thirteen Colonies, being founded in 1733 (some of the original colonists were still alive for independence, which couldn't be said of any of the other colonies). Colonial custom also listed it last for geographical reasons (the colonies were usually listed north to south, and Georgia was the southernmost colony). Georgia was also one of the original seven [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate States]]. The northern parts of the state are within the [[UsefulNotes/{{Appalachia}} Appalachian Mountains]], and the whole thing, apart from Metro Atlanta, is firmly part of the DeepSouth--many country singers are from middle Georgia.

* Two UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winners were filmed and set in Georgia: ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', based on Margaret Mitchell's novel, and ''Film/DrivingMissDaisy''. Academy Award nominee ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'', based on James Dickey's novel, is set in Atlanta.

* '''Augusta and the South Carolina area'''. Still quite traditionally Southern, probably helped by the close border with fellow Heartland SC. Includes the Savannah River and all of its randomly growing islands. Along with Savannah, Augusta served as the state capital at various points early in the state's history, although the capital would move southward to the nearby town of Louisville from 1796 to 1806. In golf, Augusta is best known as the home of the Masters Tournament, one of the four major men's golf championships (along with the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and the British Open) and the only one among them to be hosted at the same course annually; it is traditionally first major tournament of the year, held on the first full week of April at the Augusta National Golf Club[[note]]The 1943 to 1945 editions were cancelled due to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the 2020 edition was held in November without spectators present due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic[[/note]]. invitational

-->-- '''The Charlie Daniels Band''', ''The Devil Went Down To Georgia''