The approximately two-decade period before the establishment of the colony of Georgia in 1733 represents the closing chapter of roughly fifty years in which the rivalry between Spanish Florida and English Carolina was a crucial factor in the political, economic and cultural transformation of the colonial southeast. Oftentimes, it was largely played out as a contest for Indian allies who had their own agendas and ideas of power and influence which varied between the numerous tribes involved. The rivalry spurred shifting alliances between Indians and Europeans which, in turn, led to lucrative trade, Indian slavery and almost unremitting warfare that had profound consequences on all participants. The devastation wrought by Anglo-Indian raids into Florida during this time led to the final decline of Spanish power in the region and paved the way for a brief period of English dominance by the mid-1710s. That dominance was short-lived because, by the 1720s, Spanish Florida was replaced in the competition with the English for the south-east by French Louisiana.

In the overall story of which European power, Spanish or English, would serve as the key European settlement in the south-east, the Yamassee War was the catalyst for its final chapter. For Carolina, it ultimately removed the last real Indian threat to the growth of the colony. But it was also a setback to its influence as the causes of the conflict led many Indian tribes to pull back from a full alliance with the English.