• WEALTH IN COLONIAL SOUTH CAROLINA• I. Geographic Factors that led to South Carolina’s

Prosperity• Abundance of DEER - made the fur trade possible • PINE TREES - made NAVAL STORES (pitch and tar)

industry possible. Used to make Ships watertight

• Fertile land, mild climate, long growing season and TIDAL RIVERS made rice cultivation possible

• A good PORT at Charleston and navigable waterways along the coast and interior made shipping goods to market easier

• Result of the use of SC natural resources• SC established a flourishing trade with

BARBADOS, selling CATTLE and NATIVE AMERICAN SLAVES to the island

• PITCH AND TAR (NAVAL STORES) were sold to the British to be used in ship-building.

• African slave trade brought people with the knowledge of HERDING CATTLE and

RICE CULTIVATIONto South Carolina.

• Rice became known as CAROLINA GOLD and brought LONG-TERM prosperity

• ELIZA LUCAS introduced the cultivation of INDIGO into South Carolina.

• INDIGO is used to make a valuable BLUE DYE.• The British government offered a SUBSIDY (bonus)

to anyone who would grow indigo, making it South Carolina’s second STAPLE (main) crop

• Political factors that led to South Carolina’s colonial prosperity

• MERCANTILISM - an economic system in which:

1. the Mother country controls TRADE in order to EXPORT more goods than it IMPORTS

2. The mother Country amasses more GOLD and SILVER and becomes wealthier and more powerful

3. COLONIES, like SC, were set up

• South Carolina was: – a source of RAW MATERIALS for the Mother Country– a MARKET for British manufactured goods

• By serving as a source of goods and a market for British goods, Britain was LESS DEPENDENT on foreign trade and thus able to have more exports than imports

• Both rice and indigo were on the ENUMERATED list of goods that could ONLY be sold to Britain. This ensured South Carolina planters a SECURE MARKET in which they could sell their goods.

• The British did not enforce this law on CAROLINA RICE, however, which gave the rice planters a WIDER MARKET in which to sell their goods.

• The British were very lax in enforcing the mercantilism laws which gave the people of British North America (including SC) the ability to develop their own economies without INTERFERENCE from the Mother Country.

Wealth and prosperity in Colonial SC

Pirates were a major threat to SC’s trade in the early 1700’s. twenty-nine pirates were hanged in one day in Charlestonin 1718.

• Edward Teach

AKA Blackbeard

Stede Bonnet

AKA the Gentleman

pirate

• Anne Bonney

and Mary Read

• SOUTH CAROLINA’S COLONIAL GOVERNMENT• In the early days of the colony South Carolina

developed an ELITE class of plantation owners who held most of the political power

• In Carolina there was a legislative assembly established to MAKE LAWS, including TAX LAWS for the colony.

• Initially the PROPRIETORS and the ELITE had greater representation in the colony

• This was later changed so that the representatives of the Proprietors, the elite and the common people would have EQUAL VOICE in the government BUT the LOW COUNTRY (where the rich rice planters lived) had greater representation than the poor backcountry

• By the end of the 1600’s most colonies had become ROYAL COLONY with a governor appointed by the king.

• Trouble with the Proprietors

• - The colonists felt neglected. The Proprietors collected RENT from them but offered no PROTECTION

• - The Proprietors thought the colonists were DISOBEDIENT and were making little PROFIT

• After the Council appealed to the king he bought out the Proprietors and Carolina became a ROYAL COLONY with a governor appointed by the king.

• The power of the governor was limited however because the colonial assembly controlled the TAXES and paid the governor’s SALARY.

• Most often the king and the British Parliament LEFT THE COLONIES to control their own local government.

• BENEFITS TO BEING A ROYAL COLONY

• The British government paid SUBSIDIES for naval stores and allowed merchants to sell rice directly to OTHER NATIONS

• TOWNSHIPS were established in the backcountry to encourage white settlers to come to SC

• TROUBLE BETWEEN THE LOW COUNTRY AND BACKCOUNTRY

• The wealthy class in the Lowcountry viewed the poorer backcountry settlers as UNCIVILIZED

• The backcountry population grew until it outnumbered the wealthier Lowcountry population but the backcountry had LESS REPRESENTATION in the assembly.

• The backcountry paid taxes but got little back from the colonial government. There was no COURTS or LAW ENFORCEMENT in the Backcountry so the settlers had to apprehend criminals themselves.

• This was known as the REGULATOR Movement

• The REGULATORS operated as VIGILANTES apprehending perceived criminals and hanging or beating them without a trial

• The government in Charles Town finally passed the CIRCUIT COURT ACT establishing courts and law enforcement in the backcountry. The Regulators then disbanded…..BUT the LOW COUNTRY Still kept greater REPRESENTATION in the Assembly.