 
|
The Colony of Georgia was founded in 1732 by General James Oglethorpe as a haven where the poorer citizens of Britain could find refuge and start their lives over. Oglethorpe landed at Yamacraw Bluff, home to the Yamacraw Indians, and their chief, Tomochichi, one of the great revolutionary figures of the native Americans. Tomochichi himself had been exiled from his own Creek tribe, as a result of controversy on how to relate to those arriving from the New World, so he started his own tribe, the Yamacraws. In 1733, the ship William and Sarah arrived in the new colony, carrying Benjamin and Perla Sheftall, founding members of Congregation Mickve Israel. The Sheftalls’ son, Mordecai, later became the highest ranking Jewish officer in Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The Rebel of Savannah is the fictional retelling, based on historical facts, of the growth of the colonial American south from 1732 to 1791, the intricate relations between Christians, Jews, and Native Americans, the struggle for American independence, and the unifying power of freedom. |
