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South Carolina: A History
The authoritative source for the Palmetto State's dramatic history
In this comprehensive history of South Carolina, Walter Edgar presents a sweeping chronicle of a state with an illustrious, sometimes infamous, past. He describes in very human terms 475 years of recorded history in the Palmetto State, including the experiences of all South Carolinians―those with roots in Africa and in Europe as well as Native Americans; male and female; rich and poor. In an eminently readable presentation, Edgar uses letters, diaries, and other writings to let voices from the past take part in telling the state's fascinating story.
Recounting the period from the first Spanish exploration to the end of the Civil War, Edgar charts South Carolina's rising national and international prominence and its parallel economic ascendancy. He dispels myths about the state's early history―including the notion that the colony was inhabited by a homogeneous white population―and tells how South Carolina developed an agricultural economy that relied heavily on African American slave labor. Edgar examines, among other topics, the impact of the American revolution, Charleston's significance as a metropolis and major seaport, and the state's leadership in the Secession movement.
With changes wrought by the Civil War, South Carolina slipped from national prominence into a period marked by economic, social, civil, and political strife. Edgar details the everyday life of blacks and whites during Reconstruction, the state's mixed efforts to join the "New South," and Benjamin Ryan Tillman's rise to power. He also chronicles South Carolina's changing politics in the once-solid South, the state's reawakening after World War II, the casualties and victories of an extended civil rights struggle, and the Palmetto State's present economic, educational, and political challenges.
In this comprehensive history of South Carolina, Walter Edgar presents a sweeping chronicle of a state with an illustrious, sometimes infamous, past. He describes in very human terms 475 years of recorded history in the Palmetto State, including the experiences of all South Carolinians―those with roots in Africa and in Europe as well as Native Americans; male and female; rich and poor. In an eminently readable presentation, Edgar uses letters, diaries, and other writings to let voices from the past take part in telling the state's fascinating story.
Recounting the period from the first Spanish exploration to the end of the Civil War, Edgar charts South Carolina's rising national and international prominence and its parallel economic ascendancy. He dispels myths about the state's early history―including the notion that the colony was inhabited by a homogeneous white population―and tells how South Carolina developed an agricultural economy that relied heavily on African American slave labor. Edgar examines, among other topics, the impact of the American revolution, Charleston's significance as a metropolis and major seaport, and the state's leadership in the Secession movement.
With changes wrought by the Civil War, South Carolina slipped from national prominence into a period marked by economic, social, civil, and political strife. Edgar details the everyday life of blacks and whites during Reconstruction, the state's mixed efforts to join the "New South," and Benjamin Ryan Tillman's rise to power. He also chronicles South Carolina's changing politics in the once-solid South, the state's reawakening after World War II, the casualties and victories of an extended civil rights struggle, and the Palmetto State's present economic, educational, and political challenges.
744 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1998
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392 people want to read
About the author
Walter Edgar
23 books21 followersDr. Walter B. Edgar was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1943. He received his undergraduate education from Davidson College in 1965 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of South Carolina in 1967 and 1969, respectively. Dr. Edgar served in the U.S. Army from 1969-71, including a year as an advisor in Vietnam. He has been a professor of history at the University of South Carolina since 1972, has served as graduate director of the Department of History, and has directed many graduate students in their studies for the M.A. and the Ph.D. Dr. Edgar was the founder and first director of the Applied History Program (now the Public History Program), offering graduate training in historic preservation, museum studies, and archival theory. He has also been the director of the Institute of Southern Studies since 1990, and has been the Claude Henry Neuffer Professor of Southern Studies since 1995.
Chief among Dr. Edgar’s many publications is his acclaimed South Carolina: A History, the first comprehensive history of the state published in the last fifty years, described as “a bold and sweeping reassessment and the history of South Carolina for this generation.” He is also the editor of several books, such as A Southern Renascence Man: Views of Robert Penn Warren and South Carolina: The WPA Guide to the Palmetto State. Dr. Edgar’s most recent major work was a multi-year project planning, supervising, and editing the South Carolina Encyclopedia, with articles by almost 600 contributors, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2006. An enthusiastic interpreter of South Carolina and Southern history, culture, and life, he does so in a public forum in his weekly radio series on South Carolina ETV Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and as a frequent speaker to many historical, civic, and other organizations in South Carolina, across the United States, and abroad.
(from SC Hall of Fame: http://www.scetv.org/index.php/sc_hal...)
Chief among Dr. Edgar’s many publications is his acclaimed South Carolina: A History, the first comprehensive history of the state published in the last fifty years, described as “a bold and sweeping reassessment and the history of South Carolina for this generation.” He is also the editor of several books, such as A Southern Renascence Man: Views of Robert Penn Warren and South Carolina: The WPA Guide to the Palmetto State. Dr. Edgar’s most recent major work was a multi-year project planning, supervising, and editing the South Carolina Encyclopedia, with articles by almost 600 contributors, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2006. An enthusiastic interpreter of South Carolina and Southern history, culture, and life, he does so in a public forum in his weekly radio series on South Carolina ETV Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and as a frequent speaker to many historical, civic, and other organizations in South Carolina, across the United States, and abroad.
(from SC Hall of Fame: http://www.scetv.org/index.php/sc_hal...)
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November 6, 2025
In 2016, I moved to South Carolina from Wisconsin. So, I have very little personal background in the history of the state. I’d heard Walter Edgar give history talks and interviews on radio broadcasts here and was impressed. When I found he had written a relatively recent comprehensive history of the South Carolina, it seemed an excellent way to learn more. My interest is primarily in Beaufort and the coastal area where I lived. But also in the far upstate Blue Ridge area where I have made a number of hiking, camping, and backpacking trips. At this date, the book is a quarter century old, but as it covers nearly four centuries, any datedness may be more one of emphasis rather than content. The organization of the chapters is topical rather than strictly chronological. In 2025, I moved back to Wisconsin, and finished this book from there.
Below are my notes from each chapter. (Wow, I did not realize there is a max number of characters allowed in a goodreads review. See the first comment for a continuation of my notes.) In general, I would say that the earlier chapters of the book are more interesting, as by the 20th century SC has become more just a very conservative region of the US rather than a unique land in its own right. The history then becomes more of a listing of the ins and outs of state politics.
Note that this is probably the heaviest book I have ever read. My kitchen scale reads a full four pounds (1.8 kg). I seriously feared dropping it on myself while reading – needing to sit at a desk or table.
1 The Land Called Chicora – Less is known of the pre-European peoples of the region than we might wish. Especially in the Coastal Region, even knowledge of the languages has been lost. But it seems that the organization was mostly by village, with little national identity among related villages. I have volunteered on archeological excavation on coastal shell rings, and was interested to learn that those settlements may have been seasonal migrations from multiple villages into larger common summertime gatherings.
2 Spanish South Carolina – Spanish settlements repeatedly failed, as did French incursion settlements into Spanish territory. De Soto’s exploratory trip into the Carolina interior involved the kidnapping of the queen of the Cofitachequi, a surviving nation of the Mississippian civilization within the less organized peoples of Carolina. Diseases imported by the Spanish explorers and settlers led to the deaths of large swaths of native peoples.
3 The Colony of a Colony – Many years later, a permanent settlement near Charleston was established in 1665 by emigres from Barbados, who were already experienced with survival in the New World. The Barbadian influence persisted with continued immigration, and differentiated South Carolina from New England. Self-determined, opportunistic, paying little heed to rules. Meanwhile, more conventional English settlers from Virgina overflowed into the northern regions of Carolina.
4 Peopling the Province – White settlers were brought in to townships on the South Carolina interior. Ethnicities included English, Scots, Irish, Welsh, German, and French. The few Dutch and Swedish assimilated into larger groups. Meanwhile the Low Country coastal areas maintained their West Indies English culture.
5 More Like a Negro Country – Unlike in Virginia, Africans were differentiated by their ethnic group. Over the centuries of the colonial era, relations of the enslaved Africans evolved through numerous codes, moving gradually away from the Barbadian model. African and Negro populations outnumbered the white population, and there was fear of the West Indies rebellions spreading into South Carolina. White settlers were recruited and importation of new African slaves taxed in order to reduce the population imbalance. There were several rebellions, the most significant being the Stono Rebellion.
6 The Proprietary Regime – From the beginning of English settlement in the mid-17th century until 1719, South Carolina was governed as a Proprietorship by a group of English investors. During this time, there was competition between local factions which favored proprietary control versus local control. Initially the Anti-Proprietary Party included Anglicans, and so the Proprietors encouraged immigration of Dissenters (protestants other than Anglican). However, by 1704 the Church of England had been established as the official church. Dissatisfaction with the Proprietorship grew with its failure to defend the establishment of Beaufort in Yemassee lands, during Yemassee War of 1715. In 1719, a local congress overthrew the Proprietor’s regime, and South Carolina became a Royal Colony.
7 Trying Royal Government – After 1720, power in the Royal Colony was contested between the Royal Council and the Commons House. The Commons House pursued primarily the wealth of the plantation owners and Charleston merchants that filled it. As the Commons House grew more influential, the Royal Council tended to be populated on an honorary basis with English loyalists.
8 The Riches of the Province – Initially, there was trade in deerskins. During 18th century colonial times, the major crop was high-quality rice, grown using tidal cultivation. It was staffed using knowledgeable enslaved Indians and enslaved Africans selected from rice-growing ethnicities. All exports were channeled through England, and during times of war that restricted that, an alternate crop of low-quality indigo was developed. By the time just before the American revolution, Charleston had the highest private wealth in British North America, three times the nearest rival of Anne Arundel County MD. The extreme wealth seems obviously the result of low-cost slave labor.
9 Everyday Life in Colonial South Carolina – An extensive survey of various attributes of life in the pre-Revolutionary colony, both the proprietary and royal periods. Each topic covers all the major population groups (Lowcountry whites, Frontier whites, black slaves, Indians) to the extent there are surviving artifacts or records, and the interactions between them. High death rates due to disease and healthcare, climate and hurricanes, transportation, commerce, newspapers, marriage customs, roles of women, entertainment, education, religion, clothing, food and eating, furniture and house layout. Ample color illustrations in this section.
10 Threats – The two decades before the American Revolution were a period of turmoil in South Carolina. In the 1750s, the French and Indian War (between England and France) included a conflict between the South Carolina colonists and the Cherokee. As that ended, conflict between the more loyal lowcountry and the largely ungoverned backcountry became more prominent. A vigilante governing force known as the Regulators organized in the backcountry, suppressing lawless thugs but also extortion for its own gain. Meanwhile, the lowcountry became involved in resisting imperial edicts such as the Stamp Act. Congresses were abolished and reformed repeatedly, neutralizing influence of the backcountry, and eventually electing delegates to Continental Congresses with other colonies. For practical purposes, royal government in South Carolina ceased in 1771. The last Royal Governor, William Campbell, governed in name only, and eventually fled.
11 The American Revolution - The last Royal Governor, William Campbell, fled in September 1775. South Carolina was functioning autonomously almost a year before the Declaration of Independence, with a President John Rutledge and Vice President Henry Laurens elected by its House of Representatives and Legislative Council. The upstate remained more loyalist than the lowcountry, but was defeated in skirmishes between militias. In June 1776, the British failed in an attempted a landing at Sullivan’s Island. The Cherokee Nation retreated to the mountains and ceded all else. Then South Carolina was mostly quiet for about two years. However, British forces invaded and seized Savannah in 1778, and then Charleston in 1780. Afterwards, there were battles in the upstate (Cowpens, Kings’ Mountain, etc.) until the war resolved in the larger conflict further north.
12 Quest for Order. In the immediate aftermath of the Revolution, South Carolina was financially damaged and the Lowcountry lost its trade with England. A political divide between the Federalist Lowcountry and Jeffersonian-Republicans Backcountry developed, with the Lowcountry extremely disproportionately represented in state politics, even though the landed white male population there was lower. The Lowcountry was dependent on slave labor, while the Backcountry farmers were more self-reliant. The capital was moved from Charleston to Columbia, and later the state college established there. In 1808, the state constitution was amended to provide proportional representation – half to be proportionate to voting population and half to be proportionate to taxes paid. The introduction of cotton crop brought increasing dependence on and support for slavery to the Upcountry. The new legislature grew then to be dominated by representatives of the slave-owning districts from both regions of the state.
13. To Raise Something for Sale. After the Revolution, existing South Carolina agricultural exports foundered. Indigo was low quality and expensive; without British protectionism the demand crashed. Rice expanded to brackish seawater production, but eventually it also lost out to low priced rice from the far east. Sea Island cotton did not grow well inland, but with the development of the cotton gin, short staple cotton took over in the backcountry. Beyond banking and some fledgling textile mills, there was no industry. Soil was worked to exhaustion, and there was a net population loss to more fertile cotton lands in the deep south states. Wealth was concentrated in human slaves, and somewhat in land. South Carolina remained wealthy on average, but its prominence in comparison to other states was lost.
14. A Visit to Antebellum South Carolina. Broad ranging descriptions of conditions in South Carolina during the 19th century up to 1860. Architecture of growing Columbia and establishment Charleston. Colleges, churches, arts and other institutions. Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists grew during the Great Awakening, eventually spreading amongst the black population through missionary work of white churches. Other denominations reduced. There was a connection between opposition to abolition and opposition to feminism. Dueling more common than other parts of the US. Sexual relations between white men and slave women was widespread, leading to a socially layered mulatto population. Evolution of the nature of slavery over the decades, between lowcountry (task management) and upstate (gang management), and size of plantation. Regulations and eventual outmigration of free blacks before the civil war. In 1860, most districts of South Carolina remained black majority.
15. Calculating the Value of the Union. Covers the year-by-year politics of South Carolina from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the Secession of 1860. Agitation for the right of states to overrule Federal law, focused on the state’s attempt to nullify tariffs. This was something of a cover for protecting the state’s right to maintain the institution of slavery, upon which its economy and society depended. South Carolina attempted to secede over the issue of tariffs in 1830, but was not followed by any other state, and John Calhoun negotiated a phasing out of the tariffs which gave a plausible excuse to backing down. South Carolina volunteers participated in the fight for slavery in Kansas and new states in the West. The final straw was the election of Abraham Lincoln and the newly formed Republican Party.
16. The Civil War, Part I, 1860-1865. South Carolina was the first state to secede, in December 1860. After that, the secession convention issued two documents – a Declaration of Cause, which emphasized the threat to slavery – and an Address to Other Slaveholding States, which was an invitation to join SC in a Confederacy of Slaveholding States. By the March 1861, the Confederacy was in formation, with a more “moderate” approach to secession than SC radicals wanted. Actual fighting began that spring with Fort Sumter in Charleston. Later in 1861, the Union determined to establish its own port on the coast, and Port Royal Sound was chosen. After an occupation on Hilton Head Island, plantation owners of Beaufort fled to Charleston and inland, leaving their estates and slaves behind. Beaufort was occupied with no resistance after several days of chaos. A series of smaller campaigns enlarged the union footprint by increments with only the coastal region experiencing actual fighting. However, by early 1865, the Confederacy was losing the war, and Union General Sherman marched on Columbia from Savannah, with widespread destruction. 90% of the eligible white male population (age 18-45) of SC was in uniform, and mostly out of state. Some of the black male population had mustered into fighting units of the Union Army. Economic privation was widespread among the women remaining, and bands of Confederate deserters preyed on them. Surrender was bitterly received. Casualties among white male adults was 30% by war’s end, and many survivors were injured condition.
17. The Civil War, Part II, 1865-1877. The author describes the conflict that occurred during the Reconstruction era, after the military surrender of the Confederacy, as an insurgency and a continuation of the Civil War in a new form. Political machinations that eventually included white boycott of elections and withholding of tax payments, combined with the militaristic Ku Klux Klan’s intimidation and murder, and armed support for white leaders like Wade Hampton, eventually led to Federal government capitulation on its military victory. Meanwhile the predominantly Black Republican Party that officially controlled the state had to contend with a large block of corrupt members. In the 1876 statewide election, the Democratic Party (whites) did not recognize the official election results, and held its own election. For four months SC had two state governments, and when the new US President Hayes withdrew the last Union army troops, the Reconstruction state government collapsed, and the Democratic state government replaced it.
18. Return of the Old Order. Governor Wade Hampton and the “Bourbons” championed a drive to re-establish white supremacy in a state whose population was 60% black. His Democratic Party practiced extreme gerrymandering and general principles of black disenfranchisement, pushing Republicans out of office at all levels. However, he maintained some public appearance of token black participation in his own party. For this, he was eventually replaced by more extreme elements who enacted explicitly racial exclusionary law. Black enfranchisement fell from 80% to 20%. The Lost Cause became a widespread and nearly religious attitude. This book was published in 1998, long before 21st century MAGA Republicans became a thing, but the strategy and tactics of grievance, a falsely utopian past, and pseudo-legalism are eerily similar.
19. Tillman. The “reform” movement which led to the defeat of Bourbon Democrats like Governor Wade Hampton was led by Benjamin Ryan Tillman. Tillman was a populist who mobilized poor white farmers, demonized the elitist conservative Democrats, and explicitly supported white supremacy. As governor, and then US Senator, he promoted the convention which replaced SC’s Reconstruction Era constitution, with a new constitution in 1895. That new constitution enshrined Jim Crow legally, creating separate and unequal institutions for Whites and Blacks. Blacks were nearly totally disenfranchised directly through law. His movement also created a state monopoly on alcohol sales and centralized state control over local and county governance.
20. South Carolina and the First New South. The “New South” was understood to mean industrialization in the pattern of the NE US (in particular textile mills). After Tillman’s government managed favoritism of farmers, came Governor Cole Blease, a crude de-regulator supported by mill workers. SC locally bucked the national trend towards “progressives,” even while favoring progressive President Woodrow Wilson. But eventually a progressive governor came to power – Richard Irvine Manning – and began the building of great public works and social programs – education, libraries, electrification, etc. However, it was all interrupted by World War 1, which was widely supported in SC.
21. The Draining Years. While the 1920s were a roaring success in other parts of the US, the economy of SC was suffering. Droughts and the infestation of boll weevils completely destroyed cotton farming. Farms were abandoned and returned to woodlands and swamps, especially in the lowcountry. Banks based on lending to agriculture collapsed. And then, the Depression hit. There was an exodus of population both Black and White. FDR was strongly supported in SC, and the New Deal made big changes. The CCC was especially successful in conservation projects and in getting cash into households. Eventually, as Blacks were benefitting from the New Deal, White resentments at threats to white supremacy began to undermine the popularity of the New Deal.
Below are my notes from each chapter. (Wow, I did not realize there is a max number of characters allowed in a goodreads review. See the first comment for a continuation of my notes.) In general, I would say that the earlier chapters of the book are more interesting, as by the 20th century SC has become more just a very conservative region of the US rather than a unique land in its own right. The history then becomes more of a listing of the ins and outs of state politics.
Note that this is probably the heaviest book I have ever read. My kitchen scale reads a full four pounds (1.8 kg). I seriously feared dropping it on myself while reading – needing to sit at a desk or table.
1 The Land Called Chicora – Less is known of the pre-European peoples of the region than we might wish. Especially in the Coastal Region, even knowledge of the languages has been lost. But it seems that the organization was mostly by village, with little national identity among related villages. I have volunteered on archeological excavation on coastal shell rings, and was interested to learn that those settlements may have been seasonal migrations from multiple villages into larger common summertime gatherings.
2 Spanish South Carolina – Spanish settlements repeatedly failed, as did French incursion settlements into Spanish territory. De Soto’s exploratory trip into the Carolina interior involved the kidnapping of the queen of the Cofitachequi, a surviving nation of the Mississippian civilization within the less organized peoples of Carolina. Diseases imported by the Spanish explorers and settlers led to the deaths of large swaths of native peoples.
3 The Colony of a Colony – Many years later, a permanent settlement near Charleston was established in 1665 by emigres from Barbados, who were already experienced with survival in the New World. The Barbadian influence persisted with continued immigration, and differentiated South Carolina from New England. Self-determined, opportunistic, paying little heed to rules. Meanwhile, more conventional English settlers from Virgina overflowed into the northern regions of Carolina.
4 Peopling the Province – White settlers were brought in to townships on the South Carolina interior. Ethnicities included English, Scots, Irish, Welsh, German, and French. The few Dutch and Swedish assimilated into larger groups. Meanwhile the Low Country coastal areas maintained their West Indies English culture.
5 More Like a Negro Country – Unlike in Virginia, Africans were differentiated by their ethnic group. Over the centuries of the colonial era, relations of the enslaved Africans evolved through numerous codes, moving gradually away from the Barbadian model. African and Negro populations outnumbered the white population, and there was fear of the West Indies rebellions spreading into South Carolina. White settlers were recruited and importation of new African slaves taxed in order to reduce the population imbalance. There were several rebellions, the most significant being the Stono Rebellion.
6 The Proprietary Regime – From the beginning of English settlement in the mid-17th century until 1719, South Carolina was governed as a Proprietorship by a group of English investors. During this time, there was competition between local factions which favored proprietary control versus local control. Initially the Anti-Proprietary Party included Anglicans, and so the Proprietors encouraged immigration of Dissenters (protestants other than Anglican). However, by 1704 the Church of England had been established as the official church. Dissatisfaction with the Proprietorship grew with its failure to defend the establishment of Beaufort in Yemassee lands, during Yemassee War of 1715. In 1719, a local congress overthrew the Proprietor’s regime, and South Carolina became a Royal Colony.
7 Trying Royal Government – After 1720, power in the Royal Colony was contested between the Royal Council and the Commons House. The Commons House pursued primarily the wealth of the plantation owners and Charleston merchants that filled it. As the Commons House grew more influential, the Royal Council tended to be populated on an honorary basis with English loyalists.
8 The Riches of the Province – Initially, there was trade in deerskins. During 18th century colonial times, the major crop was high-quality rice, grown using tidal cultivation. It was staffed using knowledgeable enslaved Indians and enslaved Africans selected from rice-growing ethnicities. All exports were channeled through England, and during times of war that restricted that, an alternate crop of low-quality indigo was developed. By the time just before the American revolution, Charleston had the highest private wealth in British North America, three times the nearest rival of Anne Arundel County MD. The extreme wealth seems obviously the result of low-cost slave labor.
9 Everyday Life in Colonial South Carolina – An extensive survey of various attributes of life in the pre-Revolutionary colony, both the proprietary and royal periods. Each topic covers all the major population groups (Lowcountry whites, Frontier whites, black slaves, Indians) to the extent there are surviving artifacts or records, and the interactions between them. High death rates due to disease and healthcare, climate and hurricanes, transportation, commerce, newspapers, marriage customs, roles of women, entertainment, education, religion, clothing, food and eating, furniture and house layout. Ample color illustrations in this section.
10 Threats – The two decades before the American Revolution were a period of turmoil in South Carolina. In the 1750s, the French and Indian War (between England and France) included a conflict between the South Carolina colonists and the Cherokee. As that ended, conflict between the more loyal lowcountry and the largely ungoverned backcountry became more prominent. A vigilante governing force known as the Regulators organized in the backcountry, suppressing lawless thugs but also extortion for its own gain. Meanwhile, the lowcountry became involved in resisting imperial edicts such as the Stamp Act. Congresses were abolished and reformed repeatedly, neutralizing influence of the backcountry, and eventually electing delegates to Continental Congresses with other colonies. For practical purposes, royal government in South Carolina ceased in 1771. The last Royal Governor, William Campbell, governed in name only, and eventually fled.
11 The American Revolution - The last Royal Governor, William Campbell, fled in September 1775. South Carolina was functioning autonomously almost a year before the Declaration of Independence, with a President John Rutledge and Vice President Henry Laurens elected by its House of Representatives and Legislative Council. The upstate remained more loyalist than the lowcountry, but was defeated in skirmishes between militias. In June 1776, the British failed in an attempted a landing at Sullivan’s Island. The Cherokee Nation retreated to the mountains and ceded all else. Then South Carolina was mostly quiet for about two years. However, British forces invaded and seized Savannah in 1778, and then Charleston in 1780. Afterwards, there were battles in the upstate (Cowpens, Kings’ Mountain, etc.) until the war resolved in the larger conflict further north.
12 Quest for Order. In the immediate aftermath of the Revolution, South Carolina was financially damaged and the Lowcountry lost its trade with England. A political divide between the Federalist Lowcountry and Jeffersonian-Republicans Backcountry developed, with the Lowcountry extremely disproportionately represented in state politics, even though the landed white male population there was lower. The Lowcountry was dependent on slave labor, while the Backcountry farmers were more self-reliant. The capital was moved from Charleston to Columbia, and later the state college established there. In 1808, the state constitution was amended to provide proportional representation – half to be proportionate to voting population and half to be proportionate to taxes paid. The introduction of cotton crop brought increasing dependence on and support for slavery to the Upcountry. The new legislature grew then to be dominated by representatives of the slave-owning districts from both regions of the state.
13. To Raise Something for Sale. After the Revolution, existing South Carolina agricultural exports foundered. Indigo was low quality and expensive; without British protectionism the demand crashed. Rice expanded to brackish seawater production, but eventually it also lost out to low priced rice from the far east. Sea Island cotton did not grow well inland, but with the development of the cotton gin, short staple cotton took over in the backcountry. Beyond banking and some fledgling textile mills, there was no industry. Soil was worked to exhaustion, and there was a net population loss to more fertile cotton lands in the deep south states. Wealth was concentrated in human slaves, and somewhat in land. South Carolina remained wealthy on average, but its prominence in comparison to other states was lost.
14. A Visit to Antebellum South Carolina. Broad ranging descriptions of conditions in South Carolina during the 19th century up to 1860. Architecture of growing Columbia and establishment Charleston. Colleges, churches, arts and other institutions. Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists grew during the Great Awakening, eventually spreading amongst the black population through missionary work of white churches. Other denominations reduced. There was a connection between opposition to abolition and opposition to feminism. Dueling more common than other parts of the US. Sexual relations between white men and slave women was widespread, leading to a socially layered mulatto population. Evolution of the nature of slavery over the decades, between lowcountry (task management) and upstate (gang management), and size of plantation. Regulations and eventual outmigration of free blacks before the civil war. In 1860, most districts of South Carolina remained black majority.
15. Calculating the Value of the Union. Covers the year-by-year politics of South Carolina from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the Secession of 1860. Agitation for the right of states to overrule Federal law, focused on the state’s attempt to nullify tariffs. This was something of a cover for protecting the state’s right to maintain the institution of slavery, upon which its economy and society depended. South Carolina attempted to secede over the issue of tariffs in 1830, but was not followed by any other state, and John Calhoun negotiated a phasing out of the tariffs which gave a plausible excuse to backing down. South Carolina volunteers participated in the fight for slavery in Kansas and new states in the West. The final straw was the election of Abraham Lincoln and the newly formed Republican Party.
16. The Civil War, Part I, 1860-1865. South Carolina was the first state to secede, in December 1860. After that, the secession convention issued two documents – a Declaration of Cause, which emphasized the threat to slavery – and an Address to Other Slaveholding States, which was an invitation to join SC in a Confederacy of Slaveholding States. By the March 1861, the Confederacy was in formation, with a more “moderate” approach to secession than SC radicals wanted. Actual fighting began that spring with Fort Sumter in Charleston. Later in 1861, the Union determined to establish its own port on the coast, and Port Royal Sound was chosen. After an occupation on Hilton Head Island, plantation owners of Beaufort fled to Charleston and inland, leaving their estates and slaves behind. Beaufort was occupied with no resistance after several days of chaos. A series of smaller campaigns enlarged the union footprint by increments with only the coastal region experiencing actual fighting. However, by early 1865, the Confederacy was losing the war, and Union General Sherman marched on Columbia from Savannah, with widespread destruction. 90% of the eligible white male population (age 18-45) of SC was in uniform, and mostly out of state. Some of the black male population had mustered into fighting units of the Union Army. Economic privation was widespread among the women remaining, and bands of Confederate deserters preyed on them. Surrender was bitterly received. Casualties among white male adults was 30% by war’s end, and many survivors were injured condition.
17. The Civil War, Part II, 1865-1877. The author describes the conflict that occurred during the Reconstruction era, after the military surrender of the Confederacy, as an insurgency and a continuation of the Civil War in a new form. Political machinations that eventually included white boycott of elections and withholding of tax payments, combined with the militaristic Ku Klux Klan’s intimidation and murder, and armed support for white leaders like Wade Hampton, eventually led to Federal government capitulation on its military victory. Meanwhile the predominantly Black Republican Party that officially controlled the state had to contend with a large block of corrupt members. In the 1876 statewide election, the Democratic Party (whites) did not recognize the official election results, and held its own election. For four months SC had two state governments, and when the new US President Hayes withdrew the last Union army troops, the Reconstruction state government collapsed, and the Democratic state government replaced it.
18. Return of the Old Order. Governor Wade Hampton and the “Bourbons” championed a drive to re-establish white supremacy in a state whose population was 60% black. His Democratic Party practiced extreme gerrymandering and general principles of black disenfranchisement, pushing Republicans out of office at all levels. However, he maintained some public appearance of token black participation in his own party. For this, he was eventually replaced by more extreme elements who enacted explicitly racial exclusionary law. Black enfranchisement fell from 80% to 20%. The Lost Cause became a widespread and nearly religious attitude. This book was published in 1998, long before 21st century MAGA Republicans became a thing, but the strategy and tactics of grievance, a falsely utopian past, and pseudo-legalism are eerily similar.
19. Tillman. The “reform” movement which led to the defeat of Bourbon Democrats like Governor Wade Hampton was led by Benjamin Ryan Tillman. Tillman was a populist who mobilized poor white farmers, demonized the elitist conservative Democrats, and explicitly supported white supremacy. As governor, and then US Senator, he promoted the convention which replaced SC’s Reconstruction Era constitution, with a new constitution in 1895. That new constitution enshrined Jim Crow legally, creating separate and unequal institutions for Whites and Blacks. Blacks were nearly totally disenfranchised directly through law. His movement also created a state monopoly on alcohol sales and centralized state control over local and county governance.
20. South Carolina and the First New South. The “New South” was understood to mean industrialization in the pattern of the NE US (in particular textile mills). After Tillman’s government managed favoritism of farmers, came Governor Cole Blease, a crude de-regulator supported by mill workers. SC locally bucked the national trend towards “progressives,” even while favoring progressive President Woodrow Wilson. But eventually a progressive governor came to power – Richard Irvine Manning – and began the building of great public works and social programs – education, libraries, electrification, etc. However, it was all interrupted by World War 1, which was widely supported in SC.
21. The Draining Years. While the 1920s were a roaring success in other parts of the US, the economy of SC was suffering. Droughts and the infestation of boll weevils completely destroyed cotton farming. Farms were abandoned and returned to woodlands and swamps, especially in the lowcountry. Banks based on lending to agriculture collapsed. And then, the Depression hit. There was an exodus of population both Black and White. FDR was strongly supported in SC, and the New Deal made big changes. The CCC was especially successful in conservation projects and in getting cash into households. Eventually, as Blacks were benefitting from the New Deal, White resentments at threats to white supremacy began to undermine the popularity of the New Deal.
December 24, 2022
Project Read-a-History-of-Every-State-in-Order-of-Statehood #8
I think this might be, in physical terms, the largest book I have ever read! It's massive and the content reflect its morbid obesity, with Edgar giving an incredibly detailed history of the Palmetto State. Kind of. There is certainly more weight given to the early, proprietary and then colonial period, and these parts will be the most fascinating to the SC newbie. For example, I had no idea that the plantation/slave culture of early SC was due to much of its upper classes being immigrants (English) from Barbados. These sections form the bulk of the first half of the book. The rest is a nice, even split between the antebellum SC of Calhoun, SC's role in bringing about the Civil War, the downfall of Reconstruction, the sheer racism of the white minority (yes, they were a minority well into the 20th century), and the vagaries of a SC struggling in the 20th century to be relevant and successful all in spite of its cloying, conservative racism and other stupidities. In many ways, then SC is a textbook case of a state that can't act in its own interest because of stale, silly prejudices, too often the case in the South.
This behemoth clocks in at over 600 pages, definitely the most comprehensive state history I've read so far, with tons of awesome maps, images, and photos. Needs an update, though, since Edgar wrote this back in the 90s.
I think this might be, in physical terms, the largest book I have ever read! It's massive and the content reflect its morbid obesity, with Edgar giving an incredibly detailed history of the Palmetto State. Kind of. There is certainly more weight given to the early, proprietary and then colonial period, and these parts will be the most fascinating to the SC newbie. For example, I had no idea that the plantation/slave culture of early SC was due to much of its upper classes being immigrants (English) from Barbados. These sections form the bulk of the first half of the book. The rest is a nice, even split between the antebellum SC of Calhoun, SC's role in bringing about the Civil War, the downfall of Reconstruction, the sheer racism of the white minority (yes, they were a minority well into the 20th century), and the vagaries of a SC struggling in the 20th century to be relevant and successful all in spite of its cloying, conservative racism and other stupidities. In many ways, then SC is a textbook case of a state that can't act in its own interest because of stale, silly prejudices, too often the case in the South.
This behemoth clocks in at over 600 pages, definitely the most comprehensive state history I've read so far, with tons of awesome maps, images, and photos. Needs an update, though, since Edgar wrote this back in the 90s.
July 8, 2012
An excellent, easily digestible yet entirely thorough history of South Carolina from pre-contact right up to modern times. Edgar's writing style is wonderful, and he brings to life the rich history of a state that has been catalyst, gadfly, scapegoat, bully, whipping boy, and whip wielder over the past several hundred years. Anyone who is curious about the South Carolina of today absolutely must begin with this book. Understanding the continuum of events in South Carolina's past is key to understanding the events of its present.
July 1, 2024
Excited to move there!
December 14, 2020
As a South Carolinian, I greatly enjoyed learning about the history of my state’s peoples and land. At times the political details were less than interesting, but I would recommend the book nonetheless. However, for a shorter and very enjoyable read, I recommend Fodor’s South Carolina by Henry Leifermann.
April 14, 2008
I know it's a weird to like a history book, but I'm really loving this one. Some of it is a little un-interesting, but for the most part I am learning a lot about my well-loved state. I had no idea that South Carolina was the wealthiest state in the colonies before the Revolutionary War.
December 21, 2023
There are a lot of good things to be said about this work. Writing a reasonably comprehensive account of 400 or so years of history about even a smallish area such as South Carolina is an impressive accomplishment. I certainly learned lots of stuff I didn’t know (Hootie and the Blowfish were from Columbia.) Still, I hope this book isn’t being used as a textbook. After all, what kind of historian quotes Mao tse Tung approvingly, about anything?
It’s time for a rewrite, or at least an update, critically edited.
With a work of this scope, only a few examples of its perceived (by me) shortcomings can be addressed. Most of the time, Edgar footnotes each paragraph, which is a good practice. Unfortunately, there are many un-footnoted paragraphs containing substantive assertions that cry out for clear documentation. And even when he does give a footnote, source documentation is often unclear. For example, in the first chapter, discussing the natives, p 17: “Sexual promiscuity was accepted from puberty until adulthood when a man and a woman decided to become a couple.” That seems to be a very bold assertion that merits a specific reference, not merely the paragraph footnote. I know that the Jesuit Relations (1640s) documented such practices with respect to the Huron (I believe) in Quebec, and I understand that Margaret Mead (‘Coming of Age in Samoa’) made similar assertions which have been totally discredited. So which of the dozen or so tribes in SC is the author talking about? Cherokee? Catawba? Creek? Was it true of all of them? Of any?
This weakness which showed itself so early was repeated throughout the text. Relatedly, there were many instances of footnoted references which were not listed in the bibliography. That just seems like sloppy work.
In terms of structure, chapters and sequencing, I might make a few changes, but within chapters, the reader really needs to weigh every word, every sentence, and ask “Why is the writer saying this?” Does it add any value? Sometimes the writer seems to just meander aimlessly, stringing facts together (which could be better done as tables or graphics.) Time after time, I found myself writing “So what?” in the margins.
One question that I believe Dr. Edgar never answered but which raised its head repeatedly has to do with the apparent imbalance between low country and upcountry representation in the State legislative body. I don’t think how the imbalance arose was ever explained but I suspect that it had to do with the counting of slaves. For US House of Representatives purposes per the Constitution, slaves counted as 3/5 of a “person”. (Otherwise the slave states would have had a majority in the early House.) Was this also the case for in-state headcount/representation purposes, or did slaves count as a whole person? The latter approach would, most of the time I think, give greater weight to the low country and thereby explain that persistent imbalance. I was surprised the author never addressed this issue.
Finally, to pick on a bit of content, the author’s discussions of Reconstruction and of the Progressive movement are shallow at best, and when the New Deal arrives, there’s not a bit of FDR’s alphabet soup that Edgar questions. Frankly, his understanding of economics generally is … not much in evidence. In many ways, this history is predictably tiresome, or vice versa.
I learned some interesting stuff, but somebody needs to update and critically edit and rewrite this book. Until then, keep it out of the classrooms.
It’s time for a rewrite, or at least an update, critically edited.
With a work of this scope, only a few examples of its perceived (by me) shortcomings can be addressed. Most of the time, Edgar footnotes each paragraph, which is a good practice. Unfortunately, there are many un-footnoted paragraphs containing substantive assertions that cry out for clear documentation. And even when he does give a footnote, source documentation is often unclear. For example, in the first chapter, discussing the natives, p 17: “Sexual promiscuity was accepted from puberty until adulthood when a man and a woman decided to become a couple.” That seems to be a very bold assertion that merits a specific reference, not merely the paragraph footnote. I know that the Jesuit Relations (1640s) documented such practices with respect to the Huron (I believe) in Quebec, and I understand that Margaret Mead (‘Coming of Age in Samoa’) made similar assertions which have been totally discredited. So which of the dozen or so tribes in SC is the author talking about? Cherokee? Catawba? Creek? Was it true of all of them? Of any?
This weakness which showed itself so early was repeated throughout the text. Relatedly, there were many instances of footnoted references which were not listed in the bibliography. That just seems like sloppy work.
In terms of structure, chapters and sequencing, I might make a few changes, but within chapters, the reader really needs to weigh every word, every sentence, and ask “Why is the writer saying this?” Does it add any value? Sometimes the writer seems to just meander aimlessly, stringing facts together (which could be better done as tables or graphics.) Time after time, I found myself writing “So what?” in the margins.
One question that I believe Dr. Edgar never answered but which raised its head repeatedly has to do with the apparent imbalance between low country and upcountry representation in the State legislative body. I don’t think how the imbalance arose was ever explained but I suspect that it had to do with the counting of slaves. For US House of Representatives purposes per the Constitution, slaves counted as 3/5 of a “person”. (Otherwise the slave states would have had a majority in the early House.) Was this also the case for in-state headcount/representation purposes, or did slaves count as a whole person? The latter approach would, most of the time I think, give greater weight to the low country and thereby explain that persistent imbalance. I was surprised the author never addressed this issue.
Finally, to pick on a bit of content, the author’s discussions of Reconstruction and of the Progressive movement are shallow at best, and when the New Deal arrives, there’s not a bit of FDR’s alphabet soup that Edgar questions. Frankly, his understanding of economics generally is … not much in evidence. In many ways, this history is predictably tiresome, or vice versa.
I learned some interesting stuff, but somebody needs to update and critically edit and rewrite this book. Until then, keep it out of the classrooms.
July 25, 2025
A creditable and comprehensive history spanning 300 plus years of South Carolina history, all crammed into 585 readable pages with a pallet load of helpful footnotes.
What sticks for this nonnative-born resident of ten years now (I was born in the Midwest but live in SC by choice) is that low-country elites fought hard for 200+ years to keep their privileged status.
The inauguration of JFK in 1964 marked a turning point that many entrenched elites never understood. Equality took another two decades or so to seep through all the power structures of South Carolina but it eventually did.
I recommend a careful reading of this landmark book for anyone newly relocated to this booming state.
What sticks for this nonnative-born resident of ten years now (I was born in the Midwest but live in SC by choice) is that low-country elites fought hard for 200+ years to keep their privileged status.
The inauguration of JFK in 1964 marked a turning point that many entrenched elites never understood. Equality took another two decades or so to seep through all the power structures of South Carolina but it eventually did.
I recommend a careful reading of this landmark book for anyone newly relocated to this booming state.
December 27, 2024
OK, this book is not a thriller, but it did end up at the top of the books I read in 2024. I picked it up because I wanted to reconnect with the state in which I spent my high-school and college years, met and married my sweetheart, and returned to over 50 years later. It came as a shock that the war histories were downplayed in the book to focus more on the life, times, and political battles that affected the personality of South Carolina. A pleasurable and insightful reintroduction to my home state.
March 8, 2024
This is a highly readable narrative history of South Carolina from its earliest European settlement to the end of the 20th Century. It blends the overarching issues of slavery and racial conflict with fascinating little details of people, places, and specific events. I now know the stories of the people for whom so many towns, roads, and buildings I encounter in my daily life are named. I did not expect a work of local history from a university press to be sure a pleasure to read.
November 9, 2021
The definitive book on South Carolina is a must read if you choose to live or spend time in the Palmetto State.
As the 19th Century South Carolinian James L. Petigru put it after the state's secession in 1860, "South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too small for an insane asylum."
Please read Dr. Edgar's masterful work and see if you agree.
As the 19th Century South Carolinian James L. Petigru put it after the state's secession in 1860, "South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too small for an insane asylum."
Please read Dr. Edgar's masterful work and see if you agree.
June 4, 2021
Being a native South Carolinian and a self-professed history buff I was amazed at how little I knew about my home state. Required reading for anyone interested in the history of one of the most interesting states of our Union.
December 3, 2019
Necessary.
February 4, 2022
Bravo!
April 29, 2023
A bit dated but still great.
December 17, 2025
The book was by no means bad, but it did start to feel awfully dry after reconstruction. As a disclaimer, I generally don’t care to read about post-reconstruction American history to begin with, so that may be why I feel this way. Overall, the book is forthright, honest, and thorough.
June 7, 2017
I moved to SC in April. I checked out Edgar's book from the library to get affiliated with my new state. I was reading about disasters that struck colonial Charleston on the night of the Charleston shooting. I read about the Confederate flag debate in the weeks following the Charleston shooting. Very timely.
Edgar's book is great for what it is: a textbook on SC history. Balanced discussion of historical events, plenty of primary sources, charts, maps, photos, etc.
I'm surprised by the short discussions of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, but this is probably because Edgar covers them elsewhere.
Edgar's book is great for what it is: a textbook on SC history. Balanced discussion of historical events, plenty of primary sources, charts, maps, photos, etc.
I'm surprised by the short discussions of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, but this is probably because Edgar covers them elsewhere.
December 15, 2017
Walter Edgar is South Carolina's premier historian! This book is such a comprehensive tome that I purchased it for our home library! Whether one is a new resident or a native of SC, he or she should own this history of the state!
November 25, 2010
Fascinating detail on South Carolina from Colonial times to the mid-90s.
January 9, 2008
Edgar is a thorough man. It starts out like one of Michener's novels, from primordeal soup, and quickly gets into the perplexing and intriguing history of the Palmetto State.
Currently reading
October 27, 2008ok so i'm not really expanding my mind here with this book.
May 18, 2009
Picked up on a whim and really enjoyed reading this... although the facts are well-researched and footnoted, the book has a narrative tone that makes it easy to read.f
July 18, 2010
Excellent book by the foremost authority on South Carolina history, Dr. Walter Edgar - distinguished professor of history at the University of South Carolina.
July 31, 2010
Very different attitude about South Carolina's involvement in the development of the American colonies and Civil War.
June 19, 2013
Excellent, Excellent!!!
June 5, 2015
Enjoyed it. Informative. Especially the reconstruction era, civil rights and the reluctance of this state to come into the 21st century.
October 14, 2025
Earlier chapters were best, but all provided context I should have, as a South Carolinian, and I enjoyed mostly, if some was a bit dry
April 17, 2011
Awesome.
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