Question

Who were the Malcontents?

Answer 1

In Georgia (a colony in North America), starting in 1735 a group of people began to lobby the local authorities for changes in land ordinances and slavery limitations.

Explanation:

When the colony was originally established many colonists were financially assisted by the colonial authorities. The land use was limited to small holdings.

The Malcontents were a group of mainly Scottish immigrants who were financially independent enough to immigrate without additional financial assistance. They wish to amass large areas of land for plantations and allow slavery to work these plantations.

The Malcontents vigorously criticized local authorities and lobbied the English government to impose changes to allow larger holdings and slavery. The English government refuse to take action and the local authorities refused to budge.

The situation continued at length until 1750 when the changes were passed.

A prominent person in the local authorities (the Board of Trustees) was James Oglethorpe, son of an English landowner, was a social reformer from England. Oglethorpe established the Georgia Colony and assisted the "worthy poor" of Britain to participate in the Colony.
Colony was in Oglethorpe's mind a social experiment and he wished to avoid the class divisions of England. This idealism shaped the colony and the resistance to the Malcontents.

Among the Malcontents were Patrick Tailfer and Thomas Stephens who agitated for change.

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/malcontents