Essential Question
How did South Carolina develop
during the colonial period in comparison
with other colonies?
The English Establish Carolina
• In 1629, English King Charles I gave Sir Robert Heath a charter to explore land south of Jamestown and west to the Pacific Ocean.
• The area was first named “Carolana,” (Latin for Charles).
• King Charles II later changed named the settlement Carolina, in honor of his father.
• Edward Hyde, earl of Claredon
• George Monck, duke of Albemarle
• William Craven, earl of Craven
• Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftesbury
• John Berkley, Baron Berkeley of Stratton
• Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia
• Sir George Carteret, Treasurer of the Navy
• Sir John Colleton of Barbados
Eight noblemen, known as the Lords Proprietors, received a charter from King Charles II, giving them
the power to rule Carolina.
The Lords Proprietors
• To finance the colony, they tried to collect an annual rent, called a quitrent, from settlers. But they had a hard time getting the money.
• None of the Lords Proprietors ever went to Carolina.
• Early efforts at colonizing failed. Eventually, all the Proprietors lost interest in Carolina, except one—Anthony Ashley Cooper.
• Carolina became a Proprietary Colony.
The Lords Proprietors (cont.)
Governing a Diverse Population• The Lords Proprietors’ controlled the colony
through a Governor and Grand Council, which included representatives of the proprietors.
• The first settlers were Englishmen who emigrated from the British Colony of Barbados and they brought a well-developed slave system.
• A diverse population of settlers came from France, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, and Ireland as well.
• Diverse religions arrived, including French Huguenots and Jews.
Attracting Settlers
• Lord Ashley was able to convince investors to funda new settlement at Port
• Royal. 100 settlers were recruited.
• Three ships, the Albemarle, the Port Royal, and the Carolina set sale, stopping in Ireland and Barbados on the way.
• Two of the ships bound for Carolina sank or ran aground; the Carolina, and The Three Brothers, were the only ships to arrive safely.
A Permanent Settlement• Charles Town was
Carolina’s first permanent settlement.
• Its location high abovethe Ashley River provided protection
• Charles Town moved to Oyster Point (between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers).
• Streets were laid out in a grid with zoned land.
• Charles Town, or Charleston, became the capital of the colony, one of the five largest cities and largest ports in the colonies.
The Barbados Connection
• Barbados was England’s most successful colony in the West Indies.
• In the 1640s, settlers realized that Barbados had the perfect climate to grow sugar cane. It became their cash crop.
• Settlers began to use slaves to grow sugar cane and used strict slave codes to control the slaves.
• Many settlers moved from Barbados to South Carolina to find more economic opportunity and to escape overcrowding.
Africans in Carolina• The African slaves brought by the Barbadians had
a rich heritage of music, dancing, wood carving, story telling and folk medicine, and worship.
• Additional slaves were forced through the Middle Passage from the west coast of Africa by way of the West Indies.
• These Africans brought a knowledge of cultivating rice, and tending cattle.
• The Africans came from many nations or tribes and spoke different languages. Once in America, they began to create a common language called Gullah.
The Gullah Culture • The Gullah people live on the Sea Islands along
the coast.
• “Gullah” is the name for the language along the sea islands. It is a mix of several African languages and English.
• They knew more about growing rice than the plantation owners.
• Since their knowledge of rice was so great, plantation owners assigned daily tasks instead of close supervision.