The provisions created by the Charter of 1732 eventually caused discontent among the colonists. Firstly, they were angry that a contradiction in the Charter granted the colonists legal rights as English citizens but not the right to local governance (the right of the people living in a town to make their own laws).

 

Eventually a group of Malcontents emerged. The Malcontents were a small group who disagreed with the limits in the Charter of 1732. Malcontents were different than other colonists because they were not financially obligated to Oglethorpe since the Trustees did not pay for their travel to the Georgia colony like other colonists. They complained that the limits placed on land ownership and the ban on slavery limited their economic opportunities. At the time, South Carolina’s economy was also based on agriculture but they used slaves which made the colony profitable. Therefore, Malcontents wanted more land and to have slaves in order to make money. They also complained about rum being illegal. The ban on rum was lifted in 1732. Through written pamphlets demanding change, the Malcontents eventually made their voices known in Georgia and Great Britain. In response to these vocal and written demands, by 1750, the Trustees had passed a law that allowed slavery and ended land-ownership restrictions. The Trustee period would end by 1751, one year before the end of the Charter of 1732 was designed to end.