Student Notes for Native Americans and Explorers
The Native Americans taught settlers about hunting, fishing, crops, and served as guides.
The lives of Native Americans were affected by the Europeans in South Carolina.
They were mistreated and taken from their homes.
The Yemassee War was fought because the colonists settled where they lived. In the end, the Yemassee Native Americans were forced to
move south of the Savannah River while the settlers began living in Beaufort and St. Helena.
The Cherokee War was caused because the Cherokee peacekeepers were held as prisoners by English settlers. This resulted in another treaty,
and the Cherokees moving farther into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Exploration
Charles Town (now Charleston) was the first permanent white settlement in South Carolina.
Beaufort is the second largest city in South Carolina.
Spanish Explorers
The first Europeans to land on the coastal regions of South Carolina were Spanish explorers. In 1520, Spanish explorers arrived on Hilton Head
Island; however, they did not have it for long. It belonged to the Spanish, French, and British. English planters claimed the area in the early
1700s and named it Beaufort Town.
A Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus, traded goods in Asia and Africa. They received gems, spices, and silk. Christopher Columbus
mistakenly landed on the continent of North American instead of Asia.
The French tried to make the Myrtle Beach area a home; however, it was not to be. Later, the Spanish returned to Florida to settle and moved
northward. In 1562 Jean Ribault and the French Huguenots arrived at Parris Island; however, the Spanish were already settled in this area and
forced them to return home.
The English arrived in 1629 with a grant to settle today’s North and South Carolina.
Explorers from Spain, France, and England came to South Carolina for new lands and treasures. Throughout their travels, they used latitude
and longitude assisted the explorers on the seas.
Why did explorers come to South Carolina?
They came to seek land and riches for their country and king.
They came to build settlements.
They came in search of gold.
They came to trade.
Some also came because they were curious.
Hernando de Soto, Spain Explorer
He came to search for gold.
He traveled north from Florida.
He mistreated the Native Americans by kidnapping them and stealing from them.
Jean Ribault, France Explorer
He came in search of land.
When he returned to France for supplied, he did not return.
The people he left did not remain in South Carolina but returned to France, too.
Juan Pardo, Spain Explorer
He claimed Parris Island for Spain.
He renamed the area Santa Elena and made a base from which he explored South Carolina here.
He was friendly to the Native Americans because he wanted to trade with them.