4-40 The State of South Carolina

The great state of South Carolina became the 8^th state in the Union on May 23, 1788.  Its state capital is Columbia.  South Carolina was named to honor King Charles I (Carolus is Latin for Charles).

Spaniards explored the South Carolina coast as early as 1514.  Spanish fears of French rivalry were heightened when Huguenots led by Jean Ribaut attempted to settle on what is now Parris Island near Beaufort in 1562.  Ribaut returned to France for reinforcements and the soldiers who were left behind revolted.  They built a ship and sailed for France. The horrors of that voyage went beyond eating shoes to cannibalism before an English ship rescued the remaining soldiers.

The Spanish built Fort San Felipe on Parris Island in 1566 and made the new settlement there, known as Santa Elena. The fort was abandon while under attack from Native Americans in 1576.  The fort was rebuilt the next year.  In 1587, South Carolina was left to the Native Americans until the English established the first permanent European settlement at Albemarle Point on the Ashley River in 1670.

King Charles II gave Carolina to eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors. The proprietors' settlements came to resemble the plantation economy of the West Indies.  By 1708, a majority of the non-native inhabitants were African slaves.  Native Americans, ravaged by diseases against which they had no resistance, threatened the colony's existence in the Yemassee War of 1715. After the colonists revolted against proprietary rule in 1719, the proprietors' interests were bought out and South Carolina became a royal province.

By the 1750s, rice and indigo had made the planters and merchants of the South Carolina the wealthiest men in what would become the United States.  By 1790, the spread of cotton plantations soon made African American slaves the majority.

Charlestonians were strong supporters of their rights as Englishmen in the Stamp Act crisis of 1765.  Charleston merchant Henry Laurens served as President of the Continental Congress in 1777 and 1778. The first decisive victory of the war was the repulse of a British fleet by patriot defenders in a palmetto log fort on Sullivans Island on June 28, 1776.  Over two hundred battles and skirmishes occurred in the State, many of them vicious encounters between South Carolinians who opted for independence and those who chose to remain loyal to King George. Battles at Kings Mountain (1780) and Cowpens (1781) were turning points in the war.

South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution in 1788, and in 1790 moved its seat of government from Charleston to the new city of Columbia in the state's midlands.

Emblem/Symbol	Name of Emblem/Symbol	Adopted
Motto	"Dum Spiro Spero" - While I breathe, I hope "Animis Opibusque Parati" - Ready In Soul and Resource
Nickname	Palmetto State
State Seal		1776
State Bird	Carolina Wren	1948
State Wild Game Bird	Wild Turkey	1976
State Flower	Yellow Jessamine	1924
State Wildflower	Goldenrod	2003
State Song	"Carolina" "South Carolina On My Mind"	1911 1984
State Tree	Sabal Palmetto	1939
State Flag		1776
State Dog	Boykin Spaniel	1985
State Insect	Carolina Mantid	1988
State Butterfly	Tiger Swallowtail	1994
State Fish	Striped Bass	1972
State Animal	White-tailed Deer	1972
State Stone	Blue Granite	1969
State Gemstone	Amethyst	1969
State Reptile	Loggerhead Turtle	1988
State Amphibian	Spotted Salamander	1999

Complete the questions below.

1.  South Carolina became the 8^th state in the Union on May 23, .

2.  The capital of South Carolina is .

3.  The state dog is the .

4. The Amethyst is the state .

5.  The state insect is the .

6.  "Animis Opibusque Parati" means .

7.  South Carolina was named after King .

8.  Blue Granite is the state .

9.  The state wildflower is the .

10.  The state nickname is the .