Maybe some of you have been to Atlanta, Georgia. It is a large capital city with the busiest airport in the world. Two interstates, 75 and 85, cut through the heart of the city, revealing an impressive skyline of buildings. Atlanta is home to Coca-Cola and the 1996 Summer Olympics. The city has a rich historical and cultural legacy. Did you know Atlanta was burned down toward the end of the Civil War? Georgia as a whole was devastated by the ''War Between the States.''
During the war, Union General William T. Sherman boasted that he would ''make Georgia howl,'' and he did. He ordered the business district of Atlanta be burned to the ground. It is believed 40% of the city was destroyed. Toward the end of 1864, Sherman became famous for his ''March to the Sea,'' in which he and his men cut a 50-mile-wide path of destruction throughout the state of Georgia. The path stretched from Atlanta to the port city of Savannah. Railroad lines were torn up, and farms and businesses set on fire, as Union troops adopted a scorched earth policy.
Before the Civil War, the capital of Georgia was Milledgeville. Upon readmittance to the Union, the capital was changed to Atlanta. Atlanta was founded in the 1830s as a railroad hub. Despite being burned down by Union forces in 1864, Atlanta was rebuilt and grew during Reconstruction. By 1880 it was Georgia's largest city. With freed people leaving agricultural jobs and moving to the city, Atlanta quickly became a modern industrial city. In the 1880s electric street cars began operating in the city. In 1886 a former Confederate soldier named John Pemberton developed a soft drink called Coca-Cola. The company thrived, bringing jobs and money to Atlanta.
Georgia was among the first Southern states to make use of a convict leasing system. Under this system, convicts were ''leased'' out to private companies in order to provide free labor. Under this system, African-Americans were disproportionately represented. Convicts were often treated poorly and forced to work under horrible conditions. Progressive reformers regarded the convict leasing system as little better than slavery. Through convict leasing, Georgia was able to industrialize quickly. Railroads, iron work plants, mines, and other industrial projects throughout the state often made use of unpaid convict labor. Through the system, businessmen like Joseph E. Brown acquired tremendous wealth.
