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| Carolina History ~ A Timeline
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efore Europeans arrived, the Carolinas were home to indigenous people
who built mounds at Cofitachiqui on the Wateree River near Camden.
Iroquoian, Algonquian, Muskhogean, Siouan and Cusabo tribes inhabited
this land between the Savannah and Roanoke rivers.
In 1540 Hernando de Soto crossed the Savannah River, traveled inland to
Cofitachiqui and then turned north, following the French Broad and
Tennessee rivers across the mountains.
In 1629 King Charles I of Great Britain granted the area between 31 and 36
degrees latitude to his attorney general Robert Heath. This grant
included the land between Florida's northern border and Albemarle
Sound, and stretching west to the Pacific. It was called Carolina
in King Charles' honor.
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harles I lost his kingdom and his head, but the monarchy was restored in
1660 with the return of his son, Charles II. In 1663, Charles II
granted the territory "Carolana" to eight political supporters,
styled Lords Proprietors: Edward Hyde (Earl of Clarendon), William Craven
(Earl of Craven), George Monck (Duke of Albemarle), John Berkeley
(Baron Berkeley of Stratton), Sir George Carteret, Sir
William Berkeley, Sir John Colleton and Anthony Ashley Cooper (Baron Ashley
of Wimborne St. Giles).
Although not formally separated until 1735, the Carolinas always had distinct
governments. Until 1710, the governor resided in Charlestown and
sent a deputy to govern at Cape Fear. Edward Hyde, North Carolina's
first governor, was appointed in 1712. The first attempt at defining
the boundary between North and South Carolina came in 1735. The
line then inched along in stages with the final portion surveyed
in 1815.
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History is abundant in both Carolinas. Colonial
structures, Indian mounds and battlefields are just a few of the
sites modern-day explorers can visit. The ruins of Sheldon Church
near Beaufort, SC, is a favorite for picnickers and painters.
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In 1701 a young Englishman
named John Lawson left Charles Town to investigate the interior
of the Carolinas. He traveled by water to the mouth of the Santee
and then followed the Santee, Wateree and Catawba rivers until he
crossed into present-day North Carolina. Lawson reached the Yadkin
River before turning east to the English settlements on the coast.
For part of his journey he followed the Eno and Neuse rivers. In
1706 Lawson helped establish the town of Bath. In 1711 on a trip
to survey the navigable reaches of the Neuse River, Native Americans,
angered by English land incursions and abuse, captured and executed
Lawson.
Others followed Lawson
down the creeks and rivers of the Carolinas to settle new homes.
The fertile river bottoms were preferred from the mountains to the
sea. Their rich loamy soil produced corn and wheat to feed the settlers
and their families. In the Lowcountry of South Carolina, flooded
creeks and rivers gave rise to the profitable cultivation of rice.
Growing Carolina Gold rice forever changed the lives of African
slaves imported to raise the new crop and the landscape diked and
terraced into submission.
North Carolina's
flag has been modified since its creation in 1861. The upper date
commemorates Charlotte's Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence,
signed more than a year before Independence Day. The lower date
reflects the Halifax Resolves, one of the first official documents
demanding freedom for the U.S. from foreign powers.
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Both colonies faced early and potentially disastrous challenges from
Native American groups
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North Carolina evolved from settlements in 1664 at Albemarle in the Cape
Fear area. Early settlers drifted down from Virginia or arrived
from Barbados. South Carolina owes its government to the 130 hardy
souls who arrived at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers
in 1670, settling what became Charleston.
Both colonies faced early and potentially disastrous challenges from
Native American groups -- the Tuscarora War in 1711 in North Carolina
and the 1715 Yemassee War in South Carolina. Both colonies survived,
thanks to the intervention of the other.
In the 1760s, both faced the regulatory movementa challenge of the backcountry
to government by coastal elites. The North Carolina piedmont and
mountains had more in common with the South Carolina piedmont and
Upcountry than either had with Tryon Palace at New Bern or Charlestown.
At stake were questions of representation in colonial legislatures
and access to the court systems.
In 1763, governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia
signed the Treaty of Augusta with chiefs of the Cherokee, Creek,
Chickasaw, Choctaw and Catawba. This treaty created a 10-square-mile
reservation on the Carolina border for the Catawba.
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South Carolina voted unanimously in convention to secede
from the Union December 1860.
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In 1767, Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaws near Lancaster,
an area spanning the Carolina border. His later election as president
created a long-standing controversy between the Carolinas,
both of which claim his birth site.
In 1775, the Mecklenburg Resolves nullified all royal commissions in North Carolina.
A year later, South Carolina adopted its first constitution, electing John
Rutledge its first president.
In 1780, North Carolinians, Virginians and the over-the-mountain men from
Tennessee defeated Major Patrick Ferguson and his force of loyal militia at the Battle
of Kings Mountain in South Carolina one of the defining conflicts
of the Revolutionary War.
In 1788, South Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution, but North Carolina, demanding a
bill of rights, did not ratify until 1789.
In 1791, President George Washington toured the southern states to promote
the federal union. He traveled through Fredericksburg, Richmond,
Petersburg, Halifax, New Bern and Wilmington. Crossing the North-South Carolina line
in March 1791, he proceeded through Georgetown to Charleston, and
on to Savannah, completing his circuit through Augusta, Columbia
and Charlotte, before returning to Philadelphia in July 1792.
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The modern landscape
of the Carolinas shows the importance of rivers in their settlement.
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South Carolina voted unanimously in convention to secede from the Union December 1860.
Six southern states followed and joined South Carolina to create
the Confederate States of America. Four more states, including North
Carolina, seceded after the fall of Fort Sumter April 14, 1861.
The United States blockaded the coasts of North and South Carolina,
primarily affecting the deep-water ports of Wilmington and Charleston.
The success of the blockade runners, particularly at Wilmington,
allowed Robert E. Lee to field an army as long as he did.
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman brought the war to South Carolina in January-February 1865,
and then turned north through North Carolina to meet Gen. Ulysses
Grant in Virginia. Sherman had already reached Goldsborough by the
time Major-General George Stoneman led a successful raid across
southern Virginia and western North Carolina. Upon learning that
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had surrendered the Army of Tennessee, Sherman
ordered Stoneman to Raleigh in a futile effort to block the escape
route of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
The Civil War, Reconstruction and the boll weevil's death
march on cotton drove the Carolinas into nearly 100 years of depression.
Economic stability returned with textile mills, and more recently
with manufacturing, exports and tourism.
Today, cotton is back, and the Carolinas attract 80 million visitors and billions of capital
infusion from foreign and domestic firms. They see what the eight
Lords Proprietors discovered three centuries before: The Carolinas
are a great place to live.
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Alexia Jones Helsley joined the SC department of Archives and History in 1968
and has served as Supervisor of Reference, Director of Public Programs and Director of Education.
At present, she is Director of Special Projects and Editor of the Biographical Directory of the SC House of
Representatives. Ms. Helsley is developing a genealogical guide for the Archives, teaching American History at
USC-Aiken. In 2001, she launched, AJH Historical Enterprises, genealogical and historical consulting business.
A magna cum laude Furman University graduate, she received her MA in history from
the University of South Carolina, and completed doctoral course work in Public
Administration. Ms. Helsley is the author of numerous books and has received
many prestigious awards. She is married, with two children.
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