South Carolina: The Palmetto State

South Carolina: The Palmetto State — page 3
6 SOUTH CAROLINA The Battery area in Charleston is lined with grand historic houses that look out onto Fort Sumter South Carolina’s area of 31,117 square miles makes it the 11th smallest state in the nation Its total area includes some 1,000 square miles of inland water The state was the site of many battles during the American Revolution The English captured the city of Charleston in 1780 About one quarter of the 63,000 troops from South Carolina who fought in the American Civil War were killed during the war For much of its early history South Carolina was ruled by a wealthy colonial society English settlers established a colony in South Carolina in the late 1600s Many of the colonists owned plantations and grew crops such as rice and cotton They brought slaves over from Africa to work in the fields About a century later the 13 colonies broke free from British rule and formed the independent United States In the mid-1800s a dispute between the Northern and Southern states arose over the issue of slavery While much of the North opposed slavery the South wanted to keep its slaves and plantation culture On Dec 20 1860 South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union It became part of the rebellious Confederate States of America The American Civil War began on April 12 1861 when Confederate troops fired upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor During the war South Carolina’s coast was the site of much fighting When the Union formed a blockade of Charleston Harbor the economy of South Carolina crashed Then in 1865 Union troops destroyed many of the state’s plantations Union troops also burned Columbia the state capital After the war the state was readmitted to the Union It began to rebuild its economy New industries such as textiles helped pave the way to a brighter future Historical reenactments staged in traditional battle uniforms replay the battles that took place on South Carolina’s soil during the American Revolution