Which of the original thirteen colonies is being described below? In 1732, James Oglethorpe started this colony with the intent of running it for twenty-one years, at which point it would become a royal colony. This was the last of the original thirteen colonies to form. The two main reasons for the founding of this colony were to create a "buffer" that would keep the Spanish from moving north and to provide a safe haven for cruelly treated English prisoners. Slavery and the importing of certain alcohols were prohibited here.