THE DAWN OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Edited by James Lowell Underwood and
W. Lewis Burke
Introduction by Walter Edgar
Although South Carolina’s colonial charter promised a safe harbor of religious
freedom for these who were oppressed, eighteenth-century religious minorities in
the colony found their rights were subjugated to those of the Anglicans. A government-sponsored denomination, the Church of England received tax-funds from all
property-holders, church members or not, and participation in the political process
often depended on religious qualifications. The Dawn of Religious Freedom in South
Carolina contains eight essays by historians and legal scholars that trace the quest for
religious equality by Protestant dissenters, Huguenots, Jews, Quakers, Afro-Carolinians, and Roman Catholics. Uncovering the historical roots of the separation of
church and state, the contributors use South Carolina’s experience to illustrate that
religious freedom is more secure when widely shared.
South Carolina was a beacon of religious freedom when compared to many other
North American colonies. The contributors recount the incremental steps that
culminated with the 1790 Constitution’s grant of “free exercise and enjoyment of
religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference.” Separate
chapters revisit the experiences of the Huguenots, who found themselves caught in
a political crossfire between Anglicans and Protestant dissenters; the Quakers, who
ultimately left the state because of their inability to reconcile with the principles of a
slaveholding society; the Afro-Carolinians, who created “psychological living space”
through religion while their masters watched nervously for signs of rebellion; and the
evangelicals, whose emphasis on equality before God brought ideas about egalitarianism to South Carolina society.
The Dawn of Religious Freedom in South Carolina is augmented with an introduction by Walter Edgar, the Claude Henry Neuffer Professor of Southern Studies, the
George Washington Distinguished Professor of History, and director of the Institute
for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina.
James Lowell Underwood is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law at the University of
South Carolina Law School. His past
books include four volumes on the
Constitution of South Carolina and
At Freedom’s Door: African American
Founding Fathers and Lawyers in Reconstruction South Carolina.
W. Lewis Burke is a professor and
director of clinics at the University
of South Carolina Law School and
coeditor of At Freedom’s Door and
Matthew J. Perry: The Man, His Times,
and His Legacy.
March 2006, 248 pages
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