George Michael Troup, politician and plantation owner, was born on 8 September 1780 in McIntosh Bluff, present-day Alabama. After graduation from the College of New Jersey (Princeton University), he was admitted to the bar and opened a law practice in Savannah, Georgia. A strong states' rights advocate, Troup served in the Georgia state legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives (1807–15) and the U.S. Senate (1816–18, 1829–33). His tenure as governor of Georgia (1823–27) featured removal of Creek Indians to the Indian Territory and a redistribution of their lands.