South Carolina, originally known as Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. It was the first state to secede from the Union and was part of the Confederate States of America. Named after King Charles II of England, as Carolus is Latin for Charles, the state stretches from the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the Atlantic Ocean. As the 4th largest state, geographically, the state's population is reported to be 4,321,249 (as of the 2006 census).
Originally explored by the Spanish as early as 1514, the Spanish Settlers would hold the area until 1587. Constant attack by Native Americans, threats of English encroachments, and french rivalries would have the Spanish abandon their clam and moved south. the area was again left to the Native Americans until 1670 when the first permanent European settlement would be founded by the English. This settlement was called Albernarle Point, located on the Ashley river.
Charlestonians would play a significant role when differences escalated into the American Revolution. In 1788 South Carolina would become the eight state to ratify the United Stated Constitution. Soon after, 1790 moved its seat of government from Charleston to the new city of Columbia in the state's midlands, to avoid the dangers of corruption in Charleston.
Early on South Carolina became a large supporter of states’ rights. In 1828, the state government, lead by John C. Calhoun, ruled that the state government of each state within that state had more power than the federal government. Consequently, if a state deemed it necessary, it had the right to "nullify" any federal law within its boundaries. When in 1832, South Carolina's houses quickly "nullified" the hated federally mandated tariffs, President Andrew Jackson declared this an act of open rebellion and ordered U.S. ships to South Carolina to enforce the law. On April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired in Charleston Harbor.
One-fifth of South Carolina's white males of fighting age were sacrificed to the Confederate cause, and General William Tecumseh Sherman's 1865 march through the state at the war’s end resulted in the burning of Columbia and numerous other towns, leaving a trail of destruction. Poverty would mark the state for generations to come.
On February 21, 1865, with the Confederate forces finally evacuated from Charleston, the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment marched through the city and a ceremony was held at which the U.S. flag was once again raised over Fort Sumter.
Rapid expansion of the textile industry in the 1890s began the state's recovery from a share-cropper economy, but the Great Depression of the 1920s hindered all progress. The expansion of military bases during World War II and domestic and foreign investment in manufacturing in more recent decades have revitalized the state. In the 1970s and 80s, South Carolina experienced economic growth similar to other Sun Belt states.
Low tax rates and a large nonunion workforce have attracted many firms from other states as well as foreign countries. In the 1990s job losses from the closing of naval facilities at North Charleston were largely offset by private undertakings, and the Greenville-Spartanburg area in the northwest was rapidly becoming home to new industries.
