USA Guide
The South
Georgia
Away from the bright lights of its capital Atlanta, Georgia, the largest of the Southern states, is primarily rural. Its highly indented coastline holds some beaches and towns, but mostly the state is composed of slow, easygoing communities, where the best 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 Georgia soil until Sherman's troops marched in from Tennessee, burned Atlanta to the ground, and, in the infamous "March to the Sea," laid waste to all property on the way to the coast.
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-thinking energy is upheld as a role model. Atlanta's main tourist destination rival is the Georgia coast, stretching south from 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 the college town of Athens has a reputation for producing rock groups such as R.E.M. and the B-52s.
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