The Salzburgers came to Georgia primarily to escape religious persecution. They were German-speaking Protestant refugees expelled from the Catholic Archbishopric of Salzburg (now in Austria) by an edict in 1731 demanding they recant their faith. Pastor Samuel Urlsperger and the Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge sought aid from King George II of Great Britain, who offered them refuge in his Georgia colony. Around 300 Salzburgers immigrated to Georgia in 1734, founding the town of Ebenezer after facing hardships upon arrival. Their migration was driven by the need for religious freedom and the opportunity to establish a community where they could practice their Protestant faith safely. The Georgia Trustees and European philanthropists supported the Salzburgers as part of a vision to create a settlement of hardworking, landholding peasant farmers in a new colony free from religious oppression.
