23. The regulations which the councilors for Georgia had adopted were poorly suited to the wants of the colony. The settlers had no titles to their lands. Estates could descend only to the oldest sons of families. The colonists charged their poverty to the fact that slave-labor was forbidden in the province. The proprietary laws became unpopular. The statute excluding slavery was not enforced. Slaves began to be hired, first for short terms of service, then for longer periods, then _for one hundred years_. Finally, slaves were brought directly from Africa and sold to the planters below the Savannah. 24. The new order of things was acknowledged by the councilors; and in June of 1752 they surrendered their patent to the king. A royal government was established over the country, and the people were granted the freedom of Englishmen. For some time the progress of the colony was not equal to the expectations of its founder, but before the Revolution Georgia had become a growing province. CHAPTER XX. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. The time came when the American colonies began to act together. The final struggle between France and England for colonial supremacy in America was at hand. Necessity compelled the English colonies to join in a common cause against the foe. This is the conflict known as the FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. Causes of war had existed for many years. [Sidenote: =Causes of the War.=] 2. The first of these causes was _the conflicting territorial claims_ of the two nations. England had colonized the sea-coast; France had colonized the interior of the continent. The English kings claimed the country from one ocean to the other. The French, however, began to push their way westward and southward along the great lakes to the head-waters of the Wabash, the Illinois, and the St. Croix, then down these streams to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of the French was to divide the American continent and take the larger portion. 3. The French soon established military posts at Frontenac, at Niagara, at the Straits of Mackinaw, and on the Illinois. Before 1750, settlements had been made on the Maumee, at Detroit, at Green Bay, at Vincennes, at Kaskaskia, at Natchez, at New Orleans, and on the Bay of Biloxi. At this time the only outposts of the English were a fort at Oswego and a few cabins in West Virginia. [Sidenote: =The Ohio Company.=]