South Carolina
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State flag
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SOUTH CAROLINA,
one of the South Atlantic states of the U.S., bordered on
the N by North Carolina, on the E and SE by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the SW and W by Georgia. The Savannah R. forms almost all
of the boundary with Georgia, and the Chattooga R. forms most of
the rest.
South Carolina entered the Union on May 23, 1788, as the eighth
of the original 13 states. Its economy was agriculturally based
until the 20th century, when manufacturing became the chief industry.
In the early 1990s the state was a major producer of textiles. President
Andrew Jackson was born in the border area between North Carolina and South Carolina, and Vice-President John C. Calhoun was born
in South Carolina. The state is named for Charles I and Charles
II of England; its nickname is the Palmetto State.
| SOUTH CAROLINA STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
May 23, 1788; 8th state |
| CAPITAL: |
Columbia |
| MOTTOES: |
Animis opibusque parati (Prepared in mind and resources); Dum spiro spero (While I breathe, I hope) |
| NICKNAME: |
Palmetto State |
| STATE SONGS: |
“Carolina” (words by Henri Timrod; music by Anne C. Burgess); “South Carolina on My Mind” (music and words by Hank Martin) |
| STATE TREE: |
Palmetto |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Yellow jessamine |
| STATE BIRD: |
Carolina wren |
| POPULATION (2000 census): |
4,012,012; 26th among the states |
| AREA: |
82,898 sq km (32,007 sq mi); 40th largest state; includes 4911 sq km (1896 sq mi) of inland water |
| COASTLINE: |
301 km (187 mi) |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Sassafras Mt., 1085 m (3560 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
Sea level, at the Atlantic coast |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
8 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 6 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Mark Sanford (Rep.) Took office January 2003 |
South Carolina extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the E, to
the Appalachian Mts. in the NW corner. With an area of 82,898 sq
km (32,007 sq mi), it is the 40th largest state; 6.1% of
its land area is owned by the federal government. South Carolina
is roughly triangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about
445 km (about 275 mi) from E to W and about 340 km (about 210 mi)
from N to S. Elevations range from sea level, along the Atlantic
coast, to 1085 m (3560 ft), atop Sassafras Mt. in the NW; the approximate
mean elevation is 107 m (350 ft). The coastline, about 301 km (about
187 mi), is indented by numerous inlets; many islands of the Sea
Islands chain are off the coast.
South Carolina can be divided into three major regions—the Atlantic
Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau, and the Blue Ridge. About half
the state is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. In colonial days
people called this area the low country. The S part of the Coastal
Plain is fringed by the Sea Islands, separated from the mainland
by salt marshes, lagoons, and sounds. The Coastal Plain surface
is almost level but rises gradually inland. Swamps and marshes are
widespread. The surface is underlaid by unconsolidated sedimentary
beds such as sand and clay. Soils are generally sandy and light,
but dark peat and muck occur in wet areas. In the central part of
the region is an area of woodland called the Pine Barrens, and farther
inland the Coastal Plain becomes hillier in a belt of country called
the Sand Hills.
The inner edge of the Coastal Plain, which passes through
the city of Columbia, is called the fall line. Here, rivers descend
in falls and rapids as they leave the Piedmont Plateau region and
enter the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont is underlaid by hard rocks
such as granite, slate, and gneiss. Its surface is gently rolling.
Soils tend to be reddish. Elevations increase from about 150 m (about
490 ft) at the fall line to about 300 m (about 985 ft) at the NW
edge of the Plateau. Colonists called the Piedmont the upper country.
Inland from the Piedmont Plateau the land rises steeply into the
Blue Ridge mountains, which are composed of hard rocks such as gneiss.
Three important rivers flow SE across South Carolina. The
Pee Dee is the main river in the NE part of the state. In the middle
of the state a group of rivers flow together to form the Santee.
The state’s third major river, the Savannah, forms almost
all of the border with Georgia. Other rivers include the Lynches,
Edisto, and Saluda. South Carolina does not have large natural lakes,
but several sizable bodies of water have been formed by dams on
rivers. These include Lake Marion, on the Santee R.; Lake Moultrie,
on the Cooper R.; and Clark Hill and Hartwell lakes (both partly
in Georgia), on the Savannah R.
The climate of South Carolina is humid subtropical except
in the Blue Ridge, where it is humid continental. The subtropical
climate arises from the combination of the state’s relatively
low latitude, its generally low elevation, the proximity of the
warm Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, and the Appalachian Mts., which
in winter help to screen out the bitter cold air of the interior
of the continent. Charleston, on the Atlantic coast, has an average
January temperature of about 9.2° C (about 48.5° F) and an average July temperature of about 26.7° C (about
80° F); Greer, in the Piedmont Plateau region, has a mean January
temperature of about 5.8° C (about 42.5° F) and
a mean July temperature of about 25.8° C (about 78.5° F).
The recorded temperature in South Carolina has ranged from –28.9° C
(–20° F), in 1977 at Caesars Head in the NW, to
43.9° C (111° F), in 1925 at Blackville and Calhoun
Falls in the W and in 1954 at Camden in the central part of the
state. All months are humid in South Carolina, but somewhat heavier precipitation
generally occurs in late winter and again in summer. Annual precipitation
is approximately 1145 mm (approximately 45 in) in most parts of
the state; the mountainous NW area receives up to about 1905 mm
(about 75 in), however. Snowfall is rare except in the Blue Ridge.
South Carolina occasionally is struck by damaging tornadoes and
hurricanes.
| SOUTH CAROLINA AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
Charleston |
Columbia |
| Average January temperature range |
2.8° to 15.6° C |
37° to 60° F |
1.1° to 13.9° C |
34° to 57° F |
| Average July temperature range |
21.7° to 31.7° C |
71° to 89° F |
21.1° to 33.3° C |
70° to 92° F |
| Average
annual temperature |
18.3° C |
65° F |
17.8° C |
64° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
1321 mm |
52 in |
1168 mm |
46 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
15 mm |
0.6 in |
43 mm |
1.7 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
114 |
111 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
71% |
71% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
101 |
120 |
South Carolina once was covered almost entirely by forests, and even today more than 60% of the state is forest and
woodland. Forests on the Coastal Plain are especially rich in several
types of pine, chiefly longleaf, shortleaf, slash, loblolly, and
Virginia. They are part of the large Southeastern Pine Forest of
the U.S. The pines grow on the better drained lands back from the
rivers, as do oak, sweet gum, hickory, magnolia, and other broadleaf
trees. Forests of cypress, tupelo, tulip tree, sweet gum, and other
species grow in wet areas. Other trees include a palm, the palmetto,
which grows mainly along the coast. Oak trees are especially common
in the Piedmont Plateau region, along with beech, maple, and loblolly,
shortleaf, Virginia, and pitch pine. In the Blue Ridge the forests
are composed mainly of oak. Common wildflowers of South Carolina
include azalea, gentian, mountain laurel, and violet.
Large numbers of white-tailed deer, opossum, rabbit, and raccoon
live in South Carolina. The Atlantic flyway along the coast is followed
by migrating water fowl, especially ducks and geese, and many kinds
of birds, such as the catbird, mockingbird, oriole, and wren, live
in the interior regions of the state. Common fish inhabiting South
Carolina’s rivers and lakes include bass, carp, crappie, and trout. Coastal marine waters contain clams, oysters, shrimp,
crab, menhaden, and shad.
South Carolina is the only gold-producing state east of the Mississippi
R. The state’s mineral resources also include vermiculite,
which is used for insulation and as a medium for planting; beds
of sand, particularly in the Sand Hills; and kaolin, a type of white
clay found in the inner Coastal Plain. In addition, the state has
deposits of gravel, stone, peat, mica, and gemstones.
According to the 2000 census, South Carolina had 4.012,012
inhabitants, an increase of 15.1% over 1990. The average
population density in 2000 was 133.2 people per sq km mi of land
area. Whites made up 67.2% of the population and blacks
29.5%. Other population groups include 13,718 American
Indians, many of whom were members of the Catawba group, 36,014
Asians, and 1628 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders. (These
figures do not include the 1.0% of the population who reported
more than one race.) A total of 95,076 persons, or 2.4%,
reported being of Hispanic background. The state’s largest
cities were Columbia, the capital; Charleston; North Charleston;
Greenville; Rock Hill; and Mount Pleasant.
According to the 1990 census, Baptists formed by far the
largest single religious group in South Carolina (46.5%),
followed by Methodists (15.6%), Roman Catholics (5.7%),
Presbyterians (3.5%), Episcopalians (2%), and
Pentecostals (2%). In 1990 about 55% of all people
in South Carolina lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest
resided in rural areas.
| POPULATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE 1790 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1790 |
249,000 |
7% |
| 1820 |
503,000 |
5% |
| 1850 |
669,000 |
7% |
| 1880 |
996,000 |
8% |
| 1900 |
1,340,000 |
13% |
| 1920 |
1,684,000 |
18% |
| 1940 |
1,900,000 |
25% |
| 1960 |
2,383,000 |
41% |
| 1980 |
3,122,000 |
54% |
| 1990 |
3,486,703 |
55% |
| 2000 |
4,012,012 |
-- |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA |
| |
1990 Census |
1980 Census |
| Columbia |
116,278 |
98,052 |
| Charleston |
96,650 |
80,414 |
| North Charleston |
79,641 |
70,218 |
| Greenville |
56,002 |
58,282 |
| Rock Hill |
49,765 |
41,643 |
| Mount Pleasant |
47,609 |
30,108 |
| Spartanburg |
39,673 |
43,467 |
| Sumter |
39,643 |
41,943 |
| Hilton Head Island |
33,862 |
23,694 |
| Florence |
30,248 |
29,813 |
South Carolina has a comprehensive statewide
educational system and is the location of a number of notable cultural
institutions and historical sites.
A law enacted in 1710 provided for the establishment of some
free schools in South Carolina, but it was not until the end of
the 19th century that a statewide public school system was founded.
The state’s public schools were segregated according to
race until the 1960s, when South Carolina began to integrate its
schools in accordance with a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling separate
schools unconstitutional. In the late 1980s South Carolina had 1103
public elementary and secondary schools with a combined yearly enrollment
of about 443,700 elementary pupils and 172,500 secondary students.
About 43,100 students attended private schools. In the same period
the state had 64 institutions of higher education with a combined
annual enrollment of about 145,700 students. The College of Charleston,
founded in 1770 at Charleston, is the oldest institution of higher
education in the state. Among other schools are Columbia College
(1854), Allen University (1870), the University of South Carolina
at Columbia (1801), and Benedict College (1870), all in Columbia;
Converse College (1889) and Wofford College (1854), in Spartanburg;
The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina (1842), and
the Medical University of South Carolina (1824), in Charleston;
Furman University (1826) and Bob Jones University (1927), in Greenville;
Clemson University (1889), in Clemson; Limestone College (1845),
in Gaffney; South Carolina State College (1896), in Orangeburg; and Winthrop College (1886), in Rock Hill.
Many of South Carolina’s important museums are located
in the state’s major cities. The Charleston Museum, the
Gibbes Art Gallery, and the WCSC Broadcast Museum are in Charleston;
the Columbia Museum of Art and Science, housing Italian Renaissance
paintings from the Samuel H. Kress collection, is in Columbia; and
the Bob Jones University Collection of Sacred Art and the Greenville
County Museum of Art are in Greenville. Also of interest are the
Florence Air and Missile Museum, near Florence; the Rice Museum,
in Georgetown, with exhibits on the cultivation of rice; and The
Museum, in Greenwood, with a wide variety of collections. The state
is also noted for its fine flower gardens, including several in and around Charleston and Edisto Gardens, in Orangeburg. One of
the first public libraries in America was established at Charleston
in 1698. Major libraries now include the State Library, in Columbia, and
the libraries of the University of South Carolina and Clemson University.
The annual Spoleto Festival U.S.A., in Charleston, presents a number
of cultural events. Among the state’s leading theaters
is the Dock Street Theatre, in Charleston.
South Carolina contains a number of sites commemorating
events of
the American Revolution and the Civil War. American victories over
the British occurred in the areas now encompassed by Cowpens National
Battlefield and Kings Mountain National Military Park, both near
Gaffney, and Nathanael Greene led a siege against the English in
present-day
Ninety Six National Historic Site, near Greenwood. Fort Sumter National
Monument, in Charleston Harbor, was the site of the opening engagement
of the Civil War, on April 12, 1861. Also of historical interest
are the fine old houses of Charleston, Beaufort, and other communities;
Historic Camden, near Camden, a restored town of the late 18th to
early 19th century; and the childhood home, located in Columbia,
of President Woodrow Wilson.
South Carolina’s mild climate, its Atlantic coast, and its mountains offer fine conditions for swimming, fishing, boating,
hunting, golfing, tennis, and other sports. The Grand Strand, a
long sand beach with Myrtle Beach as its hub, is one of the main
summer recreational centers of the state. Hilton Head Island is
known for its many tennis courts and other sports facilities. Automobile racing
is a popular spectator sport in South Carolina, and the National
Motorsports Press Association Stock Car Hall of Fame/Joe
Weatherly Museum is adjacent to Darlington Raceway.
South Carolina has 113 AM and 102 FM radiobroadcasting stations and 30 television stations. The state’s first radio station,
WSPA broadcast from Spartanburg, went on the air in 1930. WCOS-TV
in Columbia, South Carolina’s first television station,
began broadcasting in 1953. The South Carolina Weekly Journal,
the state’s first newspaper, was initially published in
Charleston in the early 1730s. In the early 1990s South Carolina
had 17 daily newspapers which had a total daily circulation of about
675,500. Influential dailies included the Anderson Independent-Mail;
the Post and Courier, published in Charleston;
the State, published in Columbia; the Greenville
News; and the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
South Carolina is governed under a constitution adopted in
1895 and put into effect in 1896, as amended. Earlier constitutions
had been adopted in 1776, 1778, 1790, 1861, 1865, and 1868. An amendment
to the constitution may be proposed by the state legislature or
by a constitutional convention. To become effective, an amendment
must be approved by a majority of persons voting on the issue in
a general election and then by the legislature.
The chief executive of South Carolina is a governor, who is
popularly elected to a 4-year term and who may not serve more than
two consecutive terms. The lieutenant governor, who may be reelected
to any number of 4-year terms, succeeds the governor should the
latter resign, die, or be removed from office. Other statewide elected
officials include the secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer,
comptroller general, superintendent of education, commissioner of
agriculture, and adjutant general.
The bicameral South Carolina legislature, called the General
Assembly, is made up of a senate and a house of representatives.
The 46 members of the senate are elected to 4-year terms, and the
124 members of the house are elected to 2-year terms.
South Carolina’s highest tribunal, the supreme court,
is composed of five justices elected by the legislature to 10-year
terms. The 31 judges of the circuit court, the main trial court,
are elected by the legislature to 6-year terms. Magistrates are
appointed by the governor, subject to senate confirmation.
South Carolina has 46 counties, most of which are governed
by a council or board of commissioners. Many counties also have
a county administrator or manager. Larger cities generally utilize
the council-manager form of government, and smaller cities typically
have the mayor-council form.
South Carolina elects two senators and six representatives to
the U.S. Congress. The state has eight electoral votes in presidential
elections.
In local, state, and national elections, South Carolina
has
traditionally been a stronghold of the Democratic party. Since the
1950s, however, the Republican party has been gaining strength, and in
1975 the state’s first Republican governor in 100
years took office. In presidential elections, South Carolina cast
its electoral votes for the Democratic nominees from 1880 until
1948, when the state supported its own governor, Strom Thurmond
(1902-2003), running
as the candidate of the States’ Rights Democratic party.
Thurmond won election to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 1956 but
changed his party affiliation to Republican in 1964; reelected to his
eighth and last term in 1996, he became both the oldest person ever to
hold a Senate seat and the longest-serving member in Senate history.
Since the 1960s, Republicans have held the edge in South Carolina’s
presidential voting.
South Carolina’s economy was predominantly dependent
on agriculture until well into the 20th century. When industrialization
finally did become a presence in the state, it consisted largely
of low-wage manufacturing firms. Thus, the average manufacturing
wage in South Carolina is among the lowest in the U.S. South Carolina’s
leading employers are manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers,
other service providers, and government. U.S. military facilities,
such as Fort Jackson, at Columbia, the Marine Corps facility at
Parris Island, and the air force base at Charleston, are important
sources of employment in the state. The Charleston Naval Base closed
in 1996; the base’s shipyards and other installations were
developed for civilian use.
| SOUTH CAROLINA STATE ECONOMY (early 1990s) |
| STATE BUDGET |
|
| General revenue |
$6.9 billion |
| General expenditure |
$6.8 billion |
| Accumulated debt |
$3.9 billion |
 |
| STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, PER CAPITA |
$1562 |
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$11,897 |
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
15.4% |
| ASSETS, INSURED COMMERCIAL BANKS (82) |
$23.7 billion |
|
| LABOR FORCE (CIVILIAN NONFARM) |
1,502,000 |
| Employed in manufacturing |
26% |
| Employed in wholesale and retail trade |
23% |
| Employed in services |
18% |
| Employed in government |
18% |
|
| MAJOR INDUSTRIES |
% CONTRIBUTED TO GSP* |
| Commercial, financial, and professional services |
45% |
| Manufacturing and construction |
30% |
| Government |
15% |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries |
2% |
| Mining |
less than 1% |
*Gross State Product = total value of goods and services produced in a year.
Sources: U.S. government publications |
| PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA (early 1990s) |
|
Quantity Produced |
Value |
| FARM PRODUCTS |
|
$1.2 billion |
|
| CROPS |
|
$599 billion |
| Tobacco |
50,000 metric tons |
$174 million |
| Soybeans |
378,000 metric tons |
$80 million |
| Vegetables |
103,000 metric tons |
$39 million |
| Corn |
366,000 metric tons |
$38 million |
| Hay |
414,000 metric tons |
$31 million |
| Peaches |
43,000 metric tons |
$23 million |
|
| LIVESTOCK AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS |
|
$577 million |
| Cattle |
103,000 metric tons |
$150 million |
| Chickens (broilers) |
155,000 metric tons |
$108 million |
| Hogs |
72,000 metric tons |
$86 million |
| Eggs |
1.4 billion |
$83 million |
| Milk |
198,000 metric tons |
$73 million |
|
| MINERALS |
|
$425 million |
| Stone |
22 million metric tons |
$112 million |
| Cement |
2.0 million metric tons |
$99 million |
| Sand, gravel |
7.6 million metric tons |
$40 million |
| Clays |
1.5 million metric tons |
$39 million |
|
| FISHING |
9100 metric tons |
$25 million |
|
|
|
Annual Payroll |
| FORESTRY |
|
$28 million |
|
| MANUFACTURING |
|
$8.3 billion |
| Apparel and textile mill products |
|
$2.2 billion |
| Chemicals and allied products |
|
$1.2 billion |
| Industrial machinery and equipment |
|
$817 million |
| Rubber and plastics products |
|
$586 million |
| Electronic equipment |
|
$520 million |
| Paper and allied products |
|
$430 million |
| Fabricated metal products |
|
$375 million |
| Transportation equipment |
|
$297 million |
| Sand, clay, and glass products |
|
$260 million |
| Food and kindred products |
|
$256 million |
| Lumber and wood products |
|
$246 million |
| Primary metals |
|
$223 million |
| Printing and publishing |
|
$217 million |
|
| OTHER |
|
$20.3 billion |
| Government |
|
$6.8 billion |
| Services |
|
$4.4 billion |
| Retail trade |
|
$2.7 billion |
| Construction |
|
$2.2 billion |
| Wholesale trade |
|
$1.4 billion |
| Transportation, communications, and public utilities |
|
$1.3 billion |
| Finance,insurance, and real estate |
|
$1.3 billion |
| Sources: U.S. government publications |
South Carolina’s yearly farm income is approximately
$1.2
billion. More than half derives from the sale of crops and the rest
from sales of livestock and livestock products. South Carolina has
some 24,000 farms, which have an average size of 86 ha (213 acres).
Agricultural production is concentrated in the Atlantic Coastal
Plain. The most valuable farm commodities include tobacco, beef
cattle, broiler chickens, soybeans, dairy products, eggs, hogs, and
corn. Other important crops are wheat, oats, barley, tomatoes,
beans, peanuts, peaches, apples, and cotton.
More than 16 million cu m (567 million cu ft) of timber is
produced annually from South Carolina’s extensive forests.
More than three-fourths of the harvest is made up of softwoods,
such as loblolly pine. The wood is mostly used to make lumber and
paper.
The annual fishing catch in South Carolina is worth approximately $25 million.
Edible shellfish such as shrimp, crab, oysters, and clams make up
the most important component of the catch. Some freshwater fish,
including eel and catfish, are also sold commercially.
The annual value of South Carolina’s mineral output
is about $425 million. The principal mineral products include
gold, cement, stone, clay, and sand and gravel. South Carolina is
a leading state in the production of kaolin and vermiculite, which
are mined mainly in Aiken Co., part of the fall-line production
zone that extends into Georgia. South Carolina ranks among the leading
states in mica production and is an important producer of manganiferous
ore. Considerable quantities of granite and limestone are produced.
Manufacturing remains a leading sector of the South
Carolina economy.
The annual value added by manufacture exceeds $19 billion, and some
391,000 persons are employed in manufacturing. The leading
products are clothing and textiles, chemicals, industrial machinery,
rubber and plastics, electronic equipment, and paper. Other important
fabricated
goods of the state include metal items; transport equipment; stone,
clay, and glass products; processed food; and lumber. South Carolina
ranks
third to North Carolina and Georgia in yearly textile output, and
the apparel and textile industry employs more than a third of the
state’s manufacturing workers. Much of South Carolina’s
manufacturing capacity is located in the Piedmont Plateau region.
Among the major industrial centers in the state are Charleston,
Columbia, Greenville, Rock Hill, and Spartanburg.
Tourism is an important economic activity in South Carolina,
as visitors annually spend at least $4.5 billion in the
state. Leading tourist destinations are found along the South Carolina
coast. The Myrtle Beach area, known as the Grand Strand, is a major
coastal resort, as is Hilton Head Island. The Charleston area, with
its interesting history and architecture, is also an important tourist attraction.
South Carolina maintains 47 state parks, covering about 32,400 ha
(about 80,000 acres).
The state’s extensive transportation network encompasses
103,072 km (64,046 mi) of roads, including 1213 km (754 mi) of interstate
highways. The most heavily traveled route is Interstate Route 85,
which carries large volumes of truck traffic along the Piedmont
corridor of the southeast U.S. Interstate Route 95, which runs through
the Coastal Plain region, is an important tourist route between the
heavily populated NE states and Florida. South Carolina is also
served by about 3534 km (about 2196 mi) of Class I railroad track;
Spartanburg, Columbia, and Charleston are the state’s major
rail centers.
Charleston is the state’s principal port, but Georgetown and Port Royal also handle considerable waterborne freight. The
South Carolina section of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is
an important shipping route. The Greenville-Spartanburg, Columbia, and Charleston airports are the busiest of the state’s
128 airports and 22 heliports.
South Carolina has an installed electricity generating capacity
of about 14.9 million kw, and annual production is some 69.3 billion
kwh. About 62% of the electricity is generated in nuclear
power plants, and about 34% is produced in facilities burning
coal or refined petroleum; virtually all the rest is produced in
hydroelectric installations.
At the time of European settlement, South Carolina was inhabited
by various Indian groups, including the Cusabo, the Catawba, the
Yamasee, and the Cherokee. The Spanish were the first Europeans
to explore the South Carolina coast, and they established a temporary
settlement near present-day Georgetown in 1526; French Huguenots
attempted unsuccessfully to found a colony on Parris Island in 1562, and the Spanish built a fort there in 1566.
The Spanish settlement did not last, however, and in the early 1600s
Virginia, immediately to the north, was occupied by the English.
In 1629, King Charles I of England granted what is now North and
South Carolina to Sir Robert Heath (1575–1649). When this
grant lapsed in 1663, Charles II gave the territory to a new group
of eight proprietors, and in 1665 he expanded the area covered by
the charter. The proprietors were to govern “by and with
the advice, assent and approbation of the freemen” and
were empowered to grant religious freedom.
One of these proprietors was Anthony Ashley Cooper,
later
1st earl of Shaftesbury, who with the English philosopher John Locke
wrote the Fundamental Constitutions, a set of feudal laws intended
for the colony; these, however, were later rejected by the colonial
assembly. Charlestown, the first permanent English settlement, was
established in 1670, and North Carolina was governed as a separate
colony after 1712. Continuing conflicts between the proprietors and
popular interests led to a revolt in 1719 and the return of the
colony to direct royal authority. South Carolina prospered under
the Crown, because it conducted a thriving trade in furs, rice, and
indigo.
The lower house of the assembly insisted on control over financial
matters and avidly resisted British interference. The colony sent
delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and to the Continental
Congresses. South Carolina was heavily involved in the American
Revolution, repulsing the British at Fort Moultrie in 1776 but losing
Charleston to forces under Gen. Henry Clinton in 1780. Other major
battles during the conflict occurred at Camden and King’s
Mountain in 1780 and Cowpens in 1781. After the Revolution, state
politics were dominated by the conflict between the older communities near
the coast and the new upcountry, settled largely by the Scotch-Irish.
In 1790, as part of this conflict, South Carolina’s capital
was officially moved inland from Charleston to Columbia.
During the early 19th century, plantation agriculture continued
to develop. The state’s transportation system, including
highways, canals, and the South Carolina railroad, was extended
as well.
As time passed, the state became increasingly
interested in
defending slavery and resisting outside intervention in its affairs.
In 1832 the legislature passed the Ordinance of Nullification, which
disallowed a protective U.S. tariff unfavorable to the South. The
tariff was modified and the ordinance repealed in 1833, but only
after President Andrew Jackson condemned nullification and the rest
of the South failed to follow South Carolina’s lead. Sen.
John C. Calhoun became the principal regional advocate for states’
rights and southern interests. South Carolina was the first state to
secede
from the Union (Dec. 20, 1860), and the attack on Fort Sumter, in
Charleston Harbor, on April 12, 1861, marked the beginning of the
American Civil War. The state contributed heavily to the Confederacy
and suffered greatly from the war. Union forces under Gen. William
T. Sherman invaded the state early in 1865, burning Columbia and
leaving behind a swath of destruction.
South Carolina reentered the Union in 1868 under the
terms
of congressional Reconstruction and a new state constitution that
recognized black suffrage. Blacks were elected to office for the
first time, but state politics in this era were often confusing and
corrupt. In 1876, South Carolina whites elected Gen. Wade Hampton
governor, and the withdrawal of federal troops in 1877 marked the
end of Reconstruction.
The so-called Bourbons—conservatives who favored
pro-business policies and economy in government—generally
prevailed until the election of Benjamin R. Tillman (1847–1918)
as governor in 1890 by a state Democratic convention dominated by
agrarian reformers. The state’s agriculture, like that
of the South as a whole, was in serious difficulty, and poor rural
conditions turned sentiment away from the Bourbon regimes. The reformers
introduced a number of measures, including the state constitution
of 1895 that virtually disfranchised blacks. In general, South Carolina
politics were overwhelmingly Democratic.
The state’s economy was severely shaken by the Great
Depression in the 1930s. In 1948 the state cast its presidential
electoral votes for Gov. Strom Thurmond, a states’ rights
Democrat, or Dixiecrat, in protest against the Democratic party’s
considerably more tolerant position on racial issues.
South Carolina joined Mississippi
and Georgia in leading southern “massive
resistance” to the black civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s.
In 1951, Gov. James F. Byrnes began a long-range
program to provide better and more equal facilities for black schools,
but he also encouraged resistance to federal encroachment in racial
matters. A new amendment, ratified in 1952, absolved the state from
responsibility for providing free public schools. In 1955–56
the legislature enacted several anti-integration measures, including
the repeal of compulsory attendance laws, the denial of state funds
to integrated schools, and authorization for local school boards
to sell or lease public property. Federal courts, federal legislation,
and black protests, however, led to the eventual integration of
the public schools and the extension of suffrage to blacks in the
1960s.
The diversification of the state’s economy that began
in the first half of the 20th century was obvious by the 1970s.
U.S. government defense installations and contracts, tourism, and
new industries located in small towns and rural areas complemented
the earlier textile and furniture industries. The state’s
population increased modestly, from roughly 2.2 million in 1950
to almost 2.6 million in 1970 and nearly 3.5 million in 1990. The
1980s brought substantial improvements in social services.