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.

Pre-Revolutionary War Events

In an attempt to increase revenue, the British began taxing the American colonies. The 1765 Stamp Act was a direct tax on the colonies that required many printed items in the colonies to be made on stamped paper produced in London and carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Some examples of these printed items are legal documents, newspapers, and magazines.
In 1767, the Townshend Acts added taxes on tea, oil, glass, wine, paper, and other goods. Christopher Gadsen, a soldier and a statesman, led the South Carolina movement that joined with the other colonies to oppose the new taxes. Although Britain did remove most of the taxes, the tax on tea remained. This resulted in residents of Charles Town mirroring the Boston Tea Party by dumping a load of tea into the Cooper River. Later shipments of tea were allowed to land, but the tea was confiscated and allowed to rot in storage.

Revolutionary War Begins

During the course of the Revolutionary War, 137 significant battles were fought in South Carolina, more than in any other state. Early in the war, Britain’s strategy was to take advantage of loyalists in the South and drive their military north through North Carolina and Virginia to take on George Washington’s army in the North.
In late June 1776, South Carolinians under the command of William Moultrie defeated the Royal Navy at Sullivan’s Island giving the American army its first major victory. The victory had two critical impacts on the path of the Revolutionary War. First, when word of the victory reached the delegates at the Second Continental Congress, it emboldened them to write and sign the Declaration of Independence. The second impact was that the British reconsidered their strategy and left the South for about three years.

British Return to South Carolina

South Carolina became the first state to ratify the first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation on February 5, 1778. Two years later, in 1780, the British attempted to retry their original strategy to trap George Washington between their troops moving up from the South and the British troops already fighting Washington in the North.
The British moved up from Florida, and took both John’s Island and James Island before attacking Charles Town. American General Benjamin Lincoln allowed his army to get stuck on the peninsula and after two months siege was forced to surrender to the British.
Governor John Rutledge traveled around the state and sent several letters demanding that the Continental Congress send the Continental Army to relieve South Carolina. Meanwhile, the British established control of the coast. Once the coast was occupied, the British moved inland and established posts in the upcountry.
In response to Rutledge and the growing British threat in the South, General Washington sent an army of Continentals under the command of General Gates. However, that army was defeated at Camden in August 1780 and retreated northward.

Americans Re-Take South Carolina

Before the battle at Camden, Francis Marion, a militia officer and considered an embarrassment by General Gates, was assigned use his small band of militia men to scout the British and destroy boats, bridges or other items that would be useful to the British.
Following Camden, by order of General Rutledge and invitation of the troops, Marion accepted command of the Williamsburg militia. This band, combined with a few other militia groups from around the state became known as Marion’s Brigade. After a small militia under Thomas Sumter was surprised and routed at Fishing Creek, Marion’s militia was the only viable patriot army in the South. Until the arrival of General Nathanael Greene, the outcome of the war depended entirely on the militia, and it was the militia that turned the tide.
On October 7, 1780 at Kings Mountain, a group of North and South Carolinians attacked British Major Patrick Ferguson and his group of American loyalists on a hilltop. It was a battle won by militiamen and not trained Continental soldiers and provided momentum against the British efforts to recruit loyalists. The battle at Kings Mountain is considered to be the the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
When General Greene arrived in December 1780 with an army of Continental soldiers, and later engaged Lord Cornwallis in a series of skirmishes in North and South Carolina. Lord Cornwallis decided to attempt to cut off the American supply lines from Virginia and proceeded north. With his departure, the opening was left for General Greene to retake South Carolina.
Following the siege of Ninety-Six and another siege of Augusta, Georgia, the British presence in South Carolina was reduced to Charleston where Greene kept them penned until the end of the war.