The colony of Carolina was settled by English settlers sent by the Lords
Proprietors in 1670, followed by French Huguenots. The Carolina
upcountry was settled largely by Scotch-Irish migrants from Pennsylvania
and Virginia. Carolina became a royal colony in 1712. North Carolina was
split off in 1729.
The state declared its independence from Great
Britain and set up its own government on March 15, 1776. On February 5,
1778 South Carolina became the first state to ratify the first
constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation.
South Carolina seceded from the United States on December 20, 1860. The
rest of the Southern states seceded in the following months; together,
they organized themselves as the Confederate States of America.
President James Buchanan took little action, preferring to let the newly
elected President Abraham Lincoln decide the matter. On April 12, 1861,
Confederate batteries began shelling Fort Sumter, which stands on an
island in Charleston harbor, thus precipitating the Civil War. Students
from The Citadel were among those firing the first shots of the war,
though Edmund Ruffin is usually credited with firing the first shot.
After the American Civil War, South Carolina was reincorporated into the
United States during Reconstruction. The state became a hotbed of racial
and economic controversy during the Populist and Agrarian movements of
the late 1800s.
In the 20th century, South Carolina developed a thriving textile
industry, converted its agricultural base from cotton to more profitable
crops, attracted large military bases and, most recently, attracted
European manufacturers.
