page_title: History of Augusta, Georgia
section_title: American Revolution to the Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: History of Augusta, Georgia / American Revolution to the Civil War
caption_attribution_description: Springfield Baptist Church, Augusta, Georgia, United States. Oldest independent African American church in the United States. Founding site of Augusta Institute, which was located there from 1867-1879. In 1879 the school relocated to Atlanta and was renamed Atlanta Baptist Seminary, and in 1913 was renamed again to Morehouse College.
context_page_description: Augusta, Georgia was founded in 1736 as part of the British colony of Georgia, under the supervision of colony founder James Oglethorpe. It was the colony's second established town, after Savannah. Today, Augusta is the second-largest city in Georgia, and the largest city of the Central Savannah River Area.
context_section_description: During the American Revolution, Savannah fell to the British. This left Augusta as the new state capital and a new prime target of the British. By January 31, 1779, Augusta was captured by Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell. But Campbell soon withdrew, as American troops were gathering on the opposite shore of the Savannah River. Augusta again became the state capital, but not for long. Augusta fell into British hands once more before the end of the war.
  From then until the American Civil War, with the establishment of the Augusta Canal, Augusta became a leader in the production of textiles, gunpowder, and paper. The Georgia Railroad was built by local contractors Fannin, Grant & Co in 1845, giving Augusta a rail link to Atlanta.  The railroad connected to the Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tennessee, thus providing access from inland Georgia to the Mississippi River. The cost-savings of this link from the middle of the country to the Atlantic Ocean via the Savannah River increased trade considerably.
  In 1845, Augusta was the location of the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention, today one of the largest Protestant denominations in the country. Due to increasing tensions between northern and southern  Baptists on the subject of slavery in the 1840s, southern Baptists decided to withdraw formally from the national Baptist organizations. They met at the First Baptist Church of Augusta in May 1845 and formed the new convention, naming it the Southern Baptist Convention.
  By 1860 Augusta had a population of 12,493; it was then one of 102 U.S. cities to have a population of over 10,000, and was the second largest city in Georgia.
caption: Springfield Baptist Church, 1867-1879 site of the Augusta Institute. In 1879 the Institute moved to Atlanta, and in 1913 became known as Morehouse College.
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