The Spanish established Catholic missions on the island in 1568 to convert the Native Americans living there. Pirate raids forced the missionaries out a century later. In 1736, the British brought Anglican missionaries, who later established the present-day Christ Church.
British Gen. James Oglethorpe founded Fort Frederica on St. Simons as a military outpost in 1736. England and Spain contested the area that makes up modern Georgia; the British ousted the Spanish after the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1742.
The British abandoned St. Simons after defeating the Spanish. The island gained importance again after the Revolutionary War when 14 cotton plantations were established there.
In 1803, Ebo slaves who had recently arrived from Africa and were working on the cotton plantations rebelled by drowning themselves at Ebos Landing.
A different version of the rebellion has survived in oral tradition. Rather than killing themselves, the Ebos grew wings and flew back to Africa. This motif became popular in many literary works, including Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon."
