European exploration and colonization of South Carolina began around 1540 when Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto visited as part of his expedition in what is now the southeastern United States looking for gold and a passage to China.

The colony of Carolina was first settled in 1670 at Charles Town (presently Charleston). Soon after, colonist discontent with the Lords Proprietors ultimately led to the overthrow of the Proprietors following the Yamasee War (1715 – 1717). In 1719, the colony was officially made a crown colony. Differences between the northern and southern parts of the colony led to the split of the Carolina colony into two, North Carolina and South Carolina.

As a result, South Carolina is one of the thirteen original colonies. On March 15, 1776, South Carolina declared independence from Great Britain and set up its own government. During that time John Rutledge served as President, then later as governor when South Carolina became the first state to ratify the first constitution of the United States of America, The Articles of Confederation.

Following the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President, South Carolina held a state convention. On December 20, 1860, that convention declared that South Carolina had seceded from the Union and was now independent. The following February, South Carolina joined the Confederate States of America, and not long after, in April, the Civil War started in South Carolina when Union ships attacked Fort Sumter in the Charleston harbor.

After the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, South Carolina underwent Reconstruction. Congress shut down the existing government, gave the Army control, gave freed slaves the right to vote, and prevented ex-Confederates from holding office. The Civil War left South Carolina as one of the poorest states for most of the next one hundred years.