Compared to the rest of
GEORGIA , the largest of the Southern states, the bright
lights of its capital Atlanta are a wild aberration. Apart from
some beaches and towns on the highly indented coastline, this
overwhelmingly rural state is composed of slow, easygoing settlements
where the best, and sometimes the only, way to enjoy your time
is to sip iced tea and have a chat on the porch.
Settlement in Georgia,
the thirteenth British colony (named after King George II), started
in 1733 at Savannah, intended as a haven of Christian
principles for poor Britons, with both alcohol and slavery banned.
However, under pressure from planters, slavery was introduced
in 1752, and by the time of the Civil War almost half the population
were black slaves. Little fighting took place on Georgian soil
until Sherman's troops marched in from Tennessee, burned Atlanta to the ground and laid waste to
all property on the way to the coast. The economy successfully
re-established itself after the war, attracting substantial investment
in the latter years of the nineteenth century.
Today, bustling Atlanta
stands as the unofficial capital of the South. The city where
Dr Martin Luther King Jr was born, preached and is buried bears
little relation to Gone with the Wind stereotypes, and its forward-looking
energy is upheld as a role model for other cities with large
black populations - though it does still suffer high levels of
urban poverty and violent crime.
Atlanta's main rival as
a tourist destination is the Georgia coast , stretching south
from beautiful old Savannah via the sea islands to the semitropical
Okefenokee Swamp , inland near Florida. In the northeast , the Appalachian
foothills are particularly fetching in fall, while Athens has a reputation for producing
offbeat rock groups such as REM and the B-52's. Further south
, the agricultural heartlands are rich in musical history, but
only Macon and ancient Ocmulgee provide reasons
to stop.
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA