Georgia. General Assembly

During the Revolutionary War, those who remained loyal to England were labeled as "Tories" or "Loyalists." While some Loyalists were pardoned after pledging allegiance to the new country and joining Georgia militias and legions, all others were found guilty of treason. The Confiscation and Banishment Act of 1782 allowed the legislature to seize the property of all Loyalists, including the property of those who had fled the state.

From the description of Loyalists papers, ca. 1782 (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 76945094

The General Assembly was established as Georgia's governing legislature in 1777. It divides into the House of Representatives and Senate.

From the description of Georgia General Assembly legislative act, 1798. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 78245649

Charles Jones Jenkins (1805-1883), most noted for his defiance of military authority while governor of Reconstruction Georgia from 1865 to 1868, was also a prominent political figure in the Whig Party during the antebellum period and a state supreme court justice during the Civil War. After the Civil War, Jenkins was a leader in the convention that drafted a new state constitution, and he was elected governor in November 1865. The state was bankrupt and deeply in debt. Jenkins restored Georgia's credit and financial condition within two years. He advised the legislature not to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed rights to former slaves, and tried unsuccessfully to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an injunction against the federal Reconstruction Act of 1867. When General George G. Meade, the military commander in Georgia, directed that the state pay $40,000 for another constitutional convention that recognized the federal requirements, Jenkins and state treasurer John Jones refused. Meade removed them from office in January 1868 and replaced Jenkins with General Thomas Ruger. Jenkins left Georgia, taking with him his official documents and the seal of the governor's office, while Jones took $400,000 in state money to deposit in a bank in New York. The ex-governor appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court refused to take jurisdiction. Jenkins lived abroad for two years and in 1870 returned to Augusta. When a Democratic governor and assembly were elected in 1872, Jenkins returned the sequestered items to his "first legitimate successor." In response he was presented a facsimile of the governor's seal with the motto In Arduis Fidelis (Steadfast in Adversity).

From the description of Charles Jones Jenkins certificate, 1872 (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 175293204