CHAPTER 2
Colonial South Carolina
Essential Question
How did South Carolina develop
during the colonial period in comparison
with other colonies?
LESSON 1
Settlement and Change
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.
Map of
Carolana
The Lords Proprietors
Eight noblemen, known as the Lords Proprietors,
received a charter from King Charles II, giving them
the power to rule Carolina.
• 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
The Lords Proprietors (cont.)
• 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.
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 fund
a 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 above
the 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.
Map of Barbados
Settlers from Barbados made up nearly 50%
of Carolina’s population
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.