Here’s The Most Important Historical Event In Georgia

America is relatively young compared to other nations at 242 years old, but that doesn’t mean it’s short on historical contributions. And just as the U.S. has played a key role in shaping the world, Georgia has helped shape America into what it is today.

While Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia receive much — or most — of the recognition for their contributions to America’s founding, that doesn’t mean Georgia has been sitting idle. Yes, former President Jimmy Carter was born here, as well as civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., golf legend Bobby Jones and "Gone With the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell. And Waffle House and Home Depot were founded here. But according to a new report, none of them were the most significant thing to happen in Georgia's history.

The website 24/7 Wall St., a Delaware-based company that covers financial news and offers opinions, looked over state historical information, research sources and media reports of major events throughout U.S. history to come up with what it calls the “most important” event for each state, including disasters — due to Mother Nature or people —important legislation and scientific breakthroughs. See if you agree.

In Georgia, the site says the shameful eviction of Native Americans known as the Trail of Tears in 1831 was the single most significant event in the history of the Peach State.

Per 24/7 Wall St., “The forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands, known as the Trail of Tears, took place across several Southern states. However, it is particularly connected to Georgia as the state was involved in two influential court cases that set the stage for the removal.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia affirmed that the indigenous tribes could operate as sovereign nations. However, President Andrew Jackson ignored the rulings. From 1831 to 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans were relocated west. Thousands did not survive the trip.

Tell Us: What local and state events were significant in the history of Georgia. Tell us what you think in the comments.

Other major events you may recognize from around the country include the opening of Grand Canyon National Park in 1919 in Arizona, the desegregation of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

“Many of the events on our list are tragic, including the forced removal of Native Americans from their lands — the Trail of Tears in the South — as well as attacks from domestic and foreign terrorists,” the site says.

“In the case of several states, fighting between white settlers and Native Americans ranked as the most important historical event. The treatment of indigenous people shaped America in many ways, and often occurred in frontier states.”

Some events technically happened before the area was formally established as a state, but those events were still considered due to the prominence of that event, such as the founding of the Jamestown settlement in present-day Virginia. Also of note, the site ignored events that simply happened in a state that could’ve happened anywhere else and had the same impact, such as an international treaty signing.

To see the full list of events that shaped the nation, with pictures, to boot, click here.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter receives delivers a lecture at the House of Lords on February 3, 2016 in London. (Photo by Eddie Mullholland-WPA Pool/Getty Images)