About the author
Edward A. St. Germain created AmericanRevolution.org in 1996. He was an avid historian with a keen interest in the Revolutionary War and American culture and society in the 18th century. On this website, he created and collated a huge collection of articles, images, and other media pertaining to the American Revolution. Edward was also a Vietnam veteran, and his investigative skills led to a career as a private detective in later life.
1. South Carolina and North Carolina were originally part of the same colony
The Province of Carolina was established in 1663, and originally contained parts of modern-day Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, as well as North and South Carolina.
2. South Carolina split from North Carolina in 1712
Traveling between the northern and southern halves of the colony was challenging, so it was decided to divide the colony in two to make administration easier.
3. The population of South Carolina was estimated at 200 in 1670, 17,048 in 1720, and 124,244 in 1770
The colony’s population increased significantly during the 1700s, as its prosperity grew.
4. The biggest export of South Carolina was rice
Rice and other cash crops such as indigo (used to make dye) were grown on large plantations throughout the coastal lowlands of South Carolina. These plantations relied on slave laborers imported from Africa.
South Carolina eventually became known as “The Rice State” given the quantity of the crop it produced during and after the colonial period.
5. By 1770, South Carolina had the highest proportion of slaves of any of the Thirteen Colonies
In the early to mid 1770s, demand for slave labor exploded, and huge numbers of people from West and Central Africa were captured and brought into the colony.
Of the estimated population of 124,244 in 1770, 75,178 were recorded as Black.
6. South Carolinian plantations were often massive, complex operations
Large plantations were run like an army barracks, or a small town. They were often self-sufficient, providing everything that was needed to maintain constant agricultural output, including sleeping quarters for slave laborers, an office, machine/tool repair workshops, and kitchens.
Conditions on the plantations for slave laborers were extremely tough, with poor living conditions, long working hours (even for children), and strict discipline.
7. Elite plantation owners lived on the South Carolinian coast
The coastal lowlands of South Carolina offered the best soil for plantations and the easiest access to waterways and trade routes, making it the most valuable land in the colony.
8. South Carolina banned Catholic immigration in 1716
The Protestant majority in the colony discriminated against Catholics, preventing them from establishing churches or holding public office.
Fearing the potential that they would rise up against the government, and support an invasion by Spanish Florida, Catholics were banned from entering South Carolina in 1716.
9. South Carolina Colony was heavily militarized
Charleston was considered a primary target for invasion by the Spanish, and South Carolina also initiated pre-emptive attacks against the neighboring colonial power in the 1700s.
There was also the fear of a slave uprising, given that people of African heritage represented more than half of the colonial population by the early-to-mid 1700s.
10. More Revolutionary War battles occurred in South Carolina than in any other colony
More than 200 separate battles took place in South Carolina during the American Revolution.
