Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-10-27
PROF. PHILLIPS WRITES
ON GEORGIA HISTORY

To the Editor OF The Journal:
Ny attention has been called to questions
raised by DIR. G. G. Smith. in a recent is
sue of The Journal. as to the origin of the
Troup and Clarke parties In Georgia his
tory, and as TO the descendants Of Gov
ernor John Clarke. am glad to contrib
ute what can to the solution of the ques-
lions.
1t was not until about 1919 that the
Troup and Clarke organizations came to
embrace between them the whole pOpula-
ton of Georgia and to acquire the char
acter of true political parties. But as per
sonal factions and cliques opposed to each
other in political matters, their existence
may be traced back through the quarrel
of 1906 and through the Yazoo dispute and
the Federalist and Republican period, as
far as the close of the American Revo-
luton. I have found in the library Of the
New York Historical society copy Of an
anonymous pamphlet printed in 1854, en-
titled, "Cursory remarks on men and
measures in Georgia" which states that
in 1Ts4 there were two factions in the state.
One Of these factions was made up OF men
eager for the confiscation Of loyalist prop
erty which they themselves might buy at
a fraction of its value. The other was
composed of honest. conservative men
who were however. too passive TO hold the
radicals in check.
1t is easy to see that these two parties
continued to exist, and that they pursued
their same policies respectively at the
time of the Yazoo sale. James Jackson,
Of Savannah, came to be the great leader
Of the conservatives. He found strong
ally in William H. Crawford. who was the
most prominent politician among the Vtr-
ginians in upper Georgia. Upon the death
of Jackson, George NJ. Troup assumed the
leadership in com bination with Crawford.
On the other side there was personal
clique rallying around General Elijah
Clarke and engaging with him in the ques-
tionable projects which he undertook, and
siding with him In the disputes which
arose After the death of General Elijah
Clarke, his sons, John and Elijah, stepped
into his shoes. Their leading associates
were w. J. Hobby, who had married their
sister, and Judge hurry Dolly.
The leading characteristics of public af-
fairs in Georgia at that period was the
prominence of the personal and social fea-
lures and the strong inclination to never
ending disputes. Clarke and Crawford and
Troup were products of their time, and so
were the parties which they led. A very
slender thread Of connection was sufficient
to account for the continuance of political
opposition. II farmer A had a. quarrel
with planter B, the natural result in that
period was that they should show their
hostility toward each other by joining OPP
posite political cliques. Their sons would
keep up the alignment, largely as they
would have kept up family feud If they
had been Tennessee mountaineers.
In my book on Georgia and State
Rights" which is now about to issue from
the. press, have demonstrated by maps
and otherwise that the Troup and Clarke
parties were based upon important social
and economic differences among the citi-
zens of the state. Troup and Clarke did
not create their parties by foresight and
planning; but the factions arose and de-
veloped into political parties through nat
ural stages; and suitable leaders came