James oglethorpe initially banned slavery in georgia. what ultimately happened to this ban?
a. the ban on slavery was blamed for slow economic growth, and slavery became legal in 1750.
b. georgia served as a model for abolitionists.
c. spain colonized georgia and legalized slavery.
d. the ban on slavery was repealed, only to be renewed again one year later.

The correct answer is A. The ban on slavery was blamed for slow economic growth, and slavery became legal in 1750.

Explanation:

On 1732, James Oglethorpe was granted the government of Georgia, and one of his first steps as governor was the prohibition of slavery in the new colony. The main reason for this decision was due to the fear that African slaves would flee to the neighboring Spanish colony of Florida and ally with the Spanish to destabilize the British settlements in Georgia. The trickle of fugitive slaves from South Carolina to Florida had been more or less continuous since the 1690s, thanks to a Royal Charter of Charles II that guaranteed freedom for all former British slaves who managed to reach Spanish territory fleeing from their owners.

Against Oglethorpe's first plan, the debtors decreased after the arrival of the first ship, the Anne, and instead the colony was populated mostly by ruined English merchants and craftsmen and refugees fleeing Switzerland and Germany for religious reasons. The lack of slaves caused a deficit in the economy of the colony, based on the cultivation of cotton as in neighboring Carolina, and soon settlers began to raise their protests against Oglethorpe. The discontent of the population was followed by an exodus of settlers to South Carolina, to which was added soon a new danger: the breakdown of peace with the Spanish due to the War of Jenkins' Ear, which broke out in 1739.

The colony was in crisis and a Spanish invasion would surely end destroying it. In order to avoid this, Oglethorpe reunited the forces to its position and, after allying itself with the Ahaya head of the Seminola, sent a series of incursions in Spanish territory. The much feared Spanish invasion came in 1742, although after a series of skirmishes on the island of St. Simmons known as the Battle of Bloody Marsh, Oglethorpe got the Spaniards to retreat making them believe that he was about to receive a large number of reinforcements from Carolina. However, this success was marred by the accusation of being a supporter of the Jacobite rebels, which cost him a military trial of which he was acquitted, and the continual criticism of the settlers, which forced him to restitute slavery finally in 1750.